Trailer Building Materials/Components

from Trailer Mag February 2022

Fleet of the Month

Bright ideas for better outcomes

BASED IN THE CENTRAL WESTERN NSW CITY OF PARKES, TRAILER BUILDER MIDLAND INDUSTRIES HAS BEEN USING LUCIDITY LIGHTING PRODUCTS FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. RELIABILITY, DURABILITY AND EASE OF INSTALLATION AND REPLACEMENT ARE KEY REASONS FOR THE ENDURING RELATIONSHIP.

When you’re on a good thing stick to it. It might be a well-worn cliché but it certainly sums up the thought processes behind Midland’s decision to solely rely on Lucidity for the electrical fitout of its trailer builds. The company was established in 2007 and quickly found its feet in the dog and tag trailer realm, carving out a niche building specialty trailers for the transport of plant and earthmoving machinery. It subsequently evolved and diversified with a broad product range that now includes flat-tops, drop-decks, deck-wideners and extendables, along with highly complex Performance-Based Standards (PBS) combinations. Martin Larsen co-founded Midland Industries with his brother (brother’s name?) and this arrangement continued until late last year when the Larsens welcomed a Melbournebased investor with a background in trailer building into the partnership to enable the company to expand its operations. As such, the company recently opened a new facility at 8 Hoyle Court, Kyneton – about a 50-minute drive northwest of Melbourne. Further to this expansion, Midland has also shifted the location of its Parkes operations to a larger site at 3 Billy Mac Place. Asked about his initial experience with Lucidity products, Martin says the company was recommended to him by a friend. “Someone recommended we try Lucidity products due to their plug-and-play (P&P) lighting system, which we did, and we fitted them to a trailer for the first time about 10.5 years ago,” Martin says. “We could see a real benefit in the P&P system because no other manufacturer offered it and we soon started using it to advertise what we believed to be an important point of difference between our products and those of our competitors.” Martin goes on to explain that the P&P system not only expedites wiring the trailer at the manufacturing stage, but also saves time for the owner if lights need to be replaced down the track. “Each light has its own plug on the back so if one needs to be replaced due to being cracked or otherwise damaged, it only takes a few minutes compared with about 20 minutes for other hardwired lights,” Martin explains. “The system also makes faultfinding much easier.” He also mentions that the after-sales support from the team at Lucidity has been

outstanding. “With any new product there can be some back and forth to ensure it meets all requirements and Lucidity have always been on the ball in this respect,” Martin says. “Any feedback we have given them they have listened and taken onboard and made the changes that were required.” According to Mathew Jenkins, President of Lucidity Australia, the business relationship between the two companies really shifted up a notch when the concept of trailer kitting was introduced to the team at Midland. “In a very short time, standard trailer kits were being fitted to the entire Midland product range,” Mathew says. “Kits are assembled and delivered specifically for each trailer build and feature all the electrical technology in the Lucidity Australia arsenal, including lighting, wiring, DC charging and Dangerous Goods options. All are designed specifically for transport applications as an integrated plug-in package.” Martin adds that in addition to being a key and valued supplier to Midland, Lucidity is an excellent resource for solving electrical incompatibilities that are often ignored within the industry. “For us at Midland, a partnership such as this one, where information is readily shared, has helped create some ground-breaking industry solutions that assist everyone,” Martin says, adding, “Lucidity has considerable experience making products that suit the rugged Australian environment which is an important consideration for us. “We build our trailers to stand up to these harsh conditions and we rely on the products Lucidity supplies to do the same,” he says. In a similar vein, Martin attests that Ludicity is always looking for better and more innovative ways to do things, which matches well with Midland’s ethos of continual improvement in designs in order to stay ahead of the competition. He mentions the DC charging system that draws power from the parking light circuit to charge the batteries used to operate the hydraulic powerpacks on widening trailers. “Again, it’s a P&P system that quickly and easily plugs into the lighting circuit without the need for hardwiring,” Martin says. In summing up, Martin says he has complete confidence in Lucidity to supply Midland with everything electrical required for its trailer builds now and well into the future.

Contact

Lucidity Australia Pty Ltd 37 Paraweena Drive, Truganina, VIC 3029 Ph: (03) 9219 4074 Web: www.lucidityaustralia.com.au

Fast Fact

As a loyal user of Lucidity electrical products on its trailer builds for more than a decade, Midland cites the ease of installation and replacement of lights and electrical equipment due to the plug-andplay system as a major advantage.

JOST in time for Easter

A DESIRE TO KEEP AHEAD OF THE GAME BY ENGAGING THE LATEST TURNTABLE TECHNOLOGY HAS LED PROMINENT BRISBANE-BASED HAULIER, KS EASTER, TO FIRST TRIAL AND NOW STANDARDISE ON JOST JSK37CXW GREASELESS FIFTH WHEELS FITTED WITH THE SENSOR COUPLING OPTION ON ITS NEW PRIME MOVERS.

Haulage company KS Easter was founded in Newcastle 45 years ago by Managing Director, Ken Easter, who started out as a single truck owner-operator. Over the next decade the business grew quickly and Ken made the decision in 1988 to up stumps and move to Brisbane. As much of the work was linehaul between Melbourne and Brisbane, it made sense to be based at one end or the other. The business has since continued to grow. Ken’s eldest son Kenny is General Manager and has been involved with the business since 1991. With an emphasis on safety and wellbeing for its drivers and the general public, KS Easter made the call to standardise on JOST JSK37CXW fifth wheels with the sensor option that alerts the driver if a miscouple has occurred. One difficulty associated with tackling the problem of miscoupled trailers – and what makes this such a critical issue – is the huge variety of causes that can lead to a trailer being miscoupled and when or how a miscoupled trailer actually becomes separated from the prime mover. In the best-case scenario, the driver will notice a miscoupled trailer when he or she follows best-practice procedures and visually inspects the coupling to ensure the kingpin is secure in the lock jaw and the safety mechanism is in place, prior to performing a tug test after coupling. If the check is not made on the kingpin in the jaw, then a miscoupled trailer can separate from the fifth wheel during the tug test or when manouevering in the yard, which can cause damage to the truck or trailer and delay deliveries. However, the weight of a loaded trailer sometimes puts enough force onto the fifth wheel that it can pass a hasty tug test and give the driver a false impression that the trailer is securely connected. This can lead to a potentially far more dangerous situation if the trailer separates from the prime mover when travelling at speed on the road. JOST’s solution to this major safety factor is its Sensor Coupling System which gives the driver a visual and audible warning if it detects that any one of the skid plate, kingpin or safety latch are not in the correct position for a secure connection. This system has the potential to avert disaster if the abovementioned scenario should ever occur. “We believe that JOST’s Sensor Coupling system will help reduce the incidents that happen due to drivers cutting corners and

JOST JSK37CW greaseless fifth wheel.

not physically checking that the fi fth wheel jaw and locking bar are fully engaged,” Kenny says. “In our view the extra investment is well worthwhile because it will reduce our damage bill and the time and cost involved with fi lling out incident reports and paperwork that must be done every time a trailer is dropped.” He also mentions that the frustration of customers when events happen has a negative impact on the business and must be avoided as much as possible. The fact that most drivers now own a smartphone with an LED fl ashlight incorporated means the excuse of not having a torch to check if the turntable jaws are locked correctly is hardly valid anymore. Having put one of JOST’s JSK37CXW fi fth wheels with Sensor Coupling on trial for several months, both the driver and management at KS Easter were pleased with the results. “There were a few very minor teething issues, but these basically centred around housekeeping — ensuring the sensors are kept clean so they can do their work properly,” he says. “Other than that, there were no issues at all, so the last new truck we bought we had the standard turntable replaced with the new JOST unit and that will now be the standard fi t for any new trucks we buy.” KS Easter has been using JOST turntables and landing legs since Ken fi rst started the business and today the entire fl eet is now equipped. Nowadays the company runs over 100 prime movers and more than 250 trailers The decision to exclusively use JOST equipment, and now even more so with the addition of the Sensor Coupling technology, is an important element in this ongoing strategy. According to Kenny, the products are bulletproof and rarely if ever have any issues. “We’re very happy with the JOST low maintenance greaseless turntables,” Kenny says. “They’re very reliable and they do the job well.”