Trailer Magazine February 2023

PUBLISHER

John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au

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Luke Applebee luke.applebee@primecreative.com.au

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ARTICLES

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The illustrious path

A newly established Net Zero Unit will work across government and industry to help achieve net zero emissions and improve the resilience of transport networks and supply chains.

Led by Ian Porter, it will support the cross-portfolio Net Zero Taskforce that will advise the Government on ensuring regional Australians benefit from Australia’s transformation to a renewable energy superpower.

Porter brings significant experience in climate change, energy and sustainability policy as well as working across government, public service, consulting and the not-for-profit sector –including heading up program delivery for Climateworks.

This builds on initiatives already underway across the portfolio, including creating a Jet Zero Council to promote sustainable aviation fuels in this country and consulting on fuel efficiency standards for light vehicles to support the National Electric Vehicle Strategy.

It also forms part of the Government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The unit aims to advance the Government’s emissions commitments by connecting government agencies, industry and climate experts to translate the latest research into action, while ensuring climate expertise is embedded into policies and investments.

Minister Catherine King said to achieve Net Zero by 2050 will require concerted action to drive emissions lower across the transport sector. She noted an increase in the uptake of electric vehicles.

Climateworks reported that state and territory governments have an implied combined zero emission vehicle sales target of 46 per cent by 2030.

King also mentioned consideration towards fuel efficiency and promoting

other technologies is helping to achieve Net Zero.

However, we would also need international cooperation, though, to realise tremendous change especially when it comes to shipping. And then there’s the annual average spending on physical assets which one report estimated to be in the ballpark of nine trillion dollars to achieve the 2050 target.

So, how is Australia going on the decarbonisation front?

In terms of overall emissions reduction targets, according to Climateworks, the Federal Government’s commitment to reduce 2030 emissions to 43 per cent below 2005 levels and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, brings it in step with 2021’s states and territories’ targets (with an implied 37–42 per cent reduction below 2005 emissions by 2030, and all committed to net zero).

Outside of transport, other key areas such as land emissions also need attention which would come in the form of incentives and plans for a

February 2023

The latest news and industry developments.

22 Economy

Changing demographics in Australia’s workforce is a growing concern for thriving industries and workshops.

26 Trailer builder

Seventy years in business is a milestone Tieman

Tankers is unconditionally proud of, and recently delivering its 6,000th tanker to bulk spring water supplier Black Mount, is one that will remain in the history books of both companies for a long time to come.

32 Moving floor

See the latest innovation from KEITH W

34 Trailer building materials/components

These are the suppliers that keep Australia’s heavy vehicles operating safer and more productive.

58 Special report

E-commerce demands to lead innovation in supply chain in 2023.

64 World map

TSE Trailer Engineering has experienced tremendous growth in Germany.

66 Fleet of the month

Global Product Supply Management runs its own transport division, making it a rare industry presence given its line of work.

68 Industry Innovators

Russell Baxter wanted to become a mining engineer before entering the transport industry. His career, however, took a different path.

70 What’s on

Upcoming shows and field days.

Silk has eye on organic growth, larger footprint in FY2023

Silk Logistics reports revenue growth across all service lines in the current financial year.

Despite significant challenges of the Covid pandemic, global supply chain issues and labour shortages, Silk Logistics Holdings has achieved outperformance against all metrics in FY2022.

The company has reported revenue of $394.7 million, which is a 22 per cent growth over FY2021.

Compared to the previous financial year it has also reported underlying earnings growth of 16.2 per cent, underlying NPAT growth of 45 per cent, and underlying free cashflow improvement of 37.5 per cent.

Silk has seen revenue growth across all service lines in FY2022, maintained its margins in challenging industry and market conditions, seen expansion into e-commerce, increased its warehouse occupancy, seen rapid growth in distribution revenue, and an ongoing growth in container volumes.

It has reported new annualised business wins of $46.6 million, renewed customer contracts worth $27.6 million, and recurring contracted revenue of $186.9 million.

The company has seen some key acquisitions in the past year, and it now has 47 operational sites strategically located in all major Australian capital cities.

“We remain focused on organic growth opportunities and are building a longterm strategic pipeline to support the development of new facilities,” said Brendan Boyd, Managing Director & CEO of Silk Logistics Holdings.

“This includes the Kemps Creek site, on which Silk purpose-built warehouses will come online from FY2025, enabling the establishment of a new hub in New South Wales, and creating increased warehouse capacity at reduced operating costs.

“Over FY2023 and FY2024 we expect to add over 115,000 square metres of new capacity, allowing us to further drive organic growth. Our five-year plan features a series of time horizons over which we will continue to strengthen our core service offer, grow our share of wallet and fill gaps in our capabilities. We have new sites and capacity coming online in the near term, in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, that will aid our geographic expansion where we will seek to deploy bespoke technology and automation solutions.

“In September 2022, we acquired Fremantle Freight & Storage Group, a leading Western Australian Port Logistics provider. This acquisition fulfils one of the primary growth targets flagged in our Prospectus and enables us to better service our blue-chip customer base on a national level. We have an exciting pipeline of acquisition targets and expect to continue to expand our service and

geographic coverage in the year ahead.”

The near-term focus of the company is on the further integration of 101Warehousing and Fremantle Freight and Storage, implementing new customer sites and developing technology including robotic solutions where appropriate. Its Corporate Development team is also actively seeking further acquisitions.

Silk was recently awarded the ‘Business Services Growth Company of the Year’ for 2022 by the Australian Growth Company Awards.

“This award is testimony to the success of The Silk Way and our performance in FY2022 and should give all shareholders comfort that the Board and management team of Silk Logistics Holdings are delivering,” said Boyd.

Subject to no material adverse change in current economic conditions (including in respect of Silk’s market, customers, suppliers and resources), Silk expects to grow revenue and underlying earnings in FY2023.

SAF-HOLLAND (Aust.) Pty. Ltd

ABN: 79004371215 | Sales: 1300 131 613 Email: sales@safholland.com.au

Kimberley communities receive flood support from Centurion

Transport and logistics company, Centurion, carried vital supplies by road and barge to Fitzroy Crossing and surrounding communities in East Kimberley last month.

Major road access to the region remained impassable from recordbreaking flooding.

Damage to the Fitzroy River bridge, the only sealed road linking Broome with the rest of the Kimberley and Northern Territory, will require extensive repairs.

Three fully loaded B-doubles

Additionally, Centurion worked with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Coles Group and Woolworths Supermarkets over the weekend to mobilise its emergency barge service to deliver essential items to affected communities.

The standby service is activated from Dampier and used to transport trailers into Broome in the West Kimberley if the town finds itself suffering from extended isolation due to floodwaters.

Centurion loaded five fully stocked

ensuring ongoing supply of much needed groceries.

Centurion CEO, Justin Cardaci, said the company was doing everything it could to support affected communities.

“We’re in constant contact with Main Roads through relationships that were established when the rail line between WA and the eastern states was washed out last year,” said Cardaci said.

“We came together quickly to ensure vital food supplies got through, proving that industry and government can work together at times like these to ensure communities are looked after and get the supplies they need.”

It will be weeks before the region’s major highways are safe to re-open and damage to road infrastructure will take some time to repair.

Cardaci said the massive and complex logistical exercise will go on for some time.

“There is a surprising and devastating amount of water in the area, and we’re seeing the benefits of the forward planning we had in place to be able to quickly move supplies to the region,” he said.

“Whether its by road or sea, our priority is ensuring we get what’s needed to the area, and we’ll continue operating frequent alternate routes to keep the shelves stocked.”

He has extensive product and application knowledge along with a commitment to customer service excellence.

“This role will see Shane working closely with fleets and assisting with product specification to maximise productivity and safety along with the introduction of new innovative JOST products,” said JOST Australia.

“Shane will also play a key role in helping fleets with training requirements, from driver training to maintenance and

workshop training, to ensure maximum benefit for our customers fitting JOST products.”

ALRTA supports targeted changes to horse transport standards

ALRTA supports targeted changes to horse transport standards

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters’ Association (ALRTA) has submitted its response to a consultation regulation impact statement proposing changes to horse transport standards.

The proposals were recently considered by ALRTA’s National Driver and Animal Welfare Committee, and its submission is supportive of targeted changes to the horse transport standards.

This will mean new legislation and new or modified rules specified in the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines – Land Transport of Livestock 2012 as it applies to horses.

The standards provide a basis for developing and implementing consistent legislation and enforcement across Australia, and provide guidance for all people responsible for livestock during transport.

ALRTA supports new standards requiring:

• a written record of last access to water;

• a transporter to manage welfare risks and take corrective actions due to heat stress;

• horses with poor body conditions score (0 or one) not to be transported without vet advice;

• foals with unhealed umbilical stumps not to be transported except to foster mares;

• transporters to ensure horses have sufficient space to maintain a comfortable

standing position and balance (instead of adhering to loading density tables);

• a prohibition on transporting horses in multi-deck trailers (except where only the lower deck is used and there is sufficient vertical clearance);

• a prohibition on transporting mixed loads of handled and unhandled horses; and

• removal of hind shoes where horses are travelling to slaughter.

In a statement, ALRTA has strongly opposed a proposal to move from a

Vale Frederick John (Ned) Amezdroz

An energetic and dynamic leader in the road transport industry, Frederick John (Ned) Amezdroz, has passed away.

Amezdroz joined the family transport business, Amezdroz & Menzies, aged 17, where he toiled for the remainder of his 57-year working life.

With his brother Bill, Amezdroz took over business in 1961, helping build it into one of Victoria’s leading carriers.

The company continued to grow and became Amezdroz and Sons in 1984. Following several strategic acquisitions, rapid expansion ensued resulting in a

group rebrand to Wettenhalls in 2004.

“He was instrumental in advocating for change within the Victorian transport industry, as a member of the Executive of the then Victorian Road Transport Association, which he served for 20 years,” the Victorian Transport Association said in a statement.

“Recognition of Ned’s outstanding service to the transport industry came in 2005 when he was admitted to the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.

“Away from business, Ned was a pillar of his local communities in Colac,

24-hour time off water limit to a 12-hour journey time limit.

“This proposal is inconsistent with standards for all other species and introduces unacceptable operational / regulatory risks,” it said.

“We have however supported a reduction in the time of water limit to 15 hours to align with BFM fatigue rules.”

ALRTA expects a decision regulatory impact statement on the refined proposal to be released in 2023.

Werribee and Geelong, through his charitable deeds, volunteer work and tireless community involvement.

“He was involved in numerous local organisations, volunteering with Rotary International, where his service was recognised with a Paul Harris Fellowship. Ned and his beloved wife Audrey also served on the Foundation Board of Mambourin Enterprises in Werribee, supporting people with disabilities.

“Our sincere sympathies to all who knew and interacted with Ned.”

Access to mental health support can be challenging for members of our blue collar industry and it shouldn’t be that way. Scully

RSV is on a mission with TIACS as an Alliance Partner, to not only spread the word about mental health support but showcase a great organisation in TIACS who are making it free.

Over 13,000 clients have been supported with over 10,000+ hours of conversations about mental health, since June 2020.

Wimmera Highway works to improve road train access

Two new junctions to be delivered on the Wimmera Highway nwear Naracoorte, South Australia, are expected to improve road safety and freight productivity.

The construction of two new junctions on the Wimmera Highway will help freight vehicles up to 36.5 metres in length (Performance-Based Standards 3A road trains) better access local businesses including the Teys Australia Naracoorte Facility and the Qube Hynam Depot. These two new junctions, with work expected to commence Monday 9 January, will provide sheltered right-turn lanes into both businesses.

The project will also include a dedicated left-turn deceleration lane into Teys Australia, new asphalt, line-marking, LED lighting, safety barrier installation and upgraded drainage.

Completion of this project is expected in mid-2023, weather permitting.

Works will be undertaken Monday to Friday between 7am and 5.30pm and

Saturday 7am to 3:30pm. Some work may be required outside of these hours.

To safely facilitate these works, the highway will be intermittently reduced to a single lane of traffic, with speed restrictions and temporary traffic lights in place to control the direction of traffic.

Outside of working hours the highway will re-open to two lanes of traffic (one in each direction) with speed restrictions in place.

Road users are asked to please plan ahead, expect delays, allow extra travel time and take extra care when workers are on site. Observe speed limits, lane restrictions and traffic controllers when travelling through the area.

The contract for these works has been awarded to South Australian company Bardavcol and will support approximately 25 full-time-equivalent jobs over the construction period.

The works form part of the $14.6 million Rural Roads Package — Naracoorte

Roundabouts project, which is jointly funded on an 80:20 basis by the Australian and South Australian governments.

“The two new junctions on the Wimmera Highway will be a great win for all road users, particularly freight operators with larger vehicles, who will have better access to local businesses such as Teys Australia and the Qube Hynam Depot,” said SA Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Tom Koutsantonis.

“Other upgrades as part of the project include new asphalt and line-marking, improved lighting and the installation of safety barriers, which will all contribute towards making Wimmera Highway safer and smoother for all road users.

“Congratulations to Bardavcol on winning the contract for these works, which underlines our commitment to supporting employment for South Australians.

“We thank the community for their cooperation and patience while these important works are undertaken.”

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Bridge funding to improve freight in NSW

The Australian Government is investing over $39 million towards 18 projects under the Bridges Renewable Program, as part of its ongoing commitment of $85 million each year.

As part of the program, the Albanese Government will be contributing $3.5 million towards the replacement of the Watergums Creek Bridge in Wonboyn, New South Wales.

The existing single-lane bridge will be replaced with a two-lane concrete structure, and will be co-funded by the Bega Valley Shire Council to provide a total project cost of $4.5 million.

The new bridge will be higher than the 100-year flood level and will be capable of carrying heavy forestry vehicles.

Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, and member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, said the Bridges Renewable Program improves freight through local communities.

“These projects will support local communities and holiday makers to travel in greater safety and assist businesses to deliver and receive their products and services more efficiently,” she said.

“I know this upgrade will be welcomed by the Wonboyn community and our forestry industry who depend upon this bridge for the daily commute to work, or to move freight or stock for their business.”

The Bridges Renewable Program provides funding to fix issues with bridges no longer fit for purpose, and often involves the replacement of historic single-lane timber bridges with doublelane, modern concrete structures.

WA launches infrastructurespecific initiative

The Western Australian Government has launched the Resources Community Investment Initiative which will facilitate investment in iconic state infrastructure projects and community and social initiatives across WA.

Established with founding partners, Rio Tinto, BHP, Hancock Prospecting, Roy Hill, Atlas Iron, Woodside Energy, Chevron Australia and Mineral Resources, the initiative provides a State Government-backed platform for direct contribution to iconic infrastructure and social projects.

The initial commitments total $750 million, with $250 million from Rio Tinto, $250 million from BHP, $100 million from Hancock Prospecting, Roy Hill and Atlas Iron, $50 million from Woodside Energy, $50 million from Chevron Australia and $50 million from Mineral and Resources.

The initiative will also extend to include transformational projects across WA, enabling companies to contribute to achieving long-term social and economic outcomes in each region.

WA Premier, Mark McGowan, said the strength of WA’s economy has placed it in a good position.

“We are proud that the partnership between our government and the resources sector enables us to continue to help make our state an even better place to live,” he said.

“I commend the efforts of Rio Tinto, BHP, Hancock Prospecting, Roy Hill, Atlas Iron, Woodside Energy, Chevron Australia and Mineral Resources as foundation partners of the initiative and acknowledge their leadership in contributing to our state in this capacity, which will have lasting benefits for generations.

“I am confident that other resources companies across WA will join this worthwhile initiative and look forward to seeing some iconic state projects delivered.”

Each company involved will decide the projects they wish to nominate funding to, and individual project agreements will be established with agreed project milestones.

An advisory committee comprising of an independent chair as well as government and industry representatives will be convened to oversee the initiative.

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Approved QLD coal mines to boost economy

Two steelmaking coal mine projects in Central Queensland have been approved, with construction work set to begin in early 2023 and coal production to begin within six months.

Futura Resources’ Fairhill and Wilton projects are located adjacent to one another and are about 50km north east of Emerald.

Its coal will be processed using existing infrastructure at the nearby GregoryCrinum mine.

Queensland Resources Minister, Scott Stewart, said the approval was a big boost for the regional workforce and economy.

“This investment is a strong vote of confidence in the Queensland resources sector and our state’s large deposits of

high-quality steelmaking coal,” he said.

“These projects are in the heart of the Bowen Basin and will benefit from the existing infrastructure in place from nearby mines.

“At their peak, these two mines will produce more than three million tonnes per year of steelmaking coal, which will be processed then transported by rail to the Port of Gladstone and exported to key international markets.

“This means from Emerald to Gladstone, regional communities will benefit from job opportunities and the economic flow-on effects of these projects.”

Both mines have an initial 10-year proposed lifespan, but according to the Queensland Government, it could be

expanded to more than 20 years with continued exploration.

Futura Resources CEO, Ben Dunlop, said coal continues to play a big role in steelmaking and energy mix.

“We see ourselves as a sustainable, low environmental footprint producer utilising nearby existing infrastructure, including coal processing facilities which will be 50 per cent powered by renewable energy by end of 2023,” he said.

“We believe these projects are well positioned to meet future market demand for high quality steelmaking coal and we will be supporting the people and communities of Central Queensland by using local suppliers and contractors where possible.”

Mark Nelson retires: Tieman Tankers

Tieman Tankers wishes Mark Nelson the very best for his retirement.

“Forty-eight years of service with one company is truly an amazing achievement and supported by his wife Wendy we thank Mark for his loyalty and dedication,” Tieman Tankers said in a statement.

“Mark started with Tieman in 1975 as a sheet metal apprentice and has worked in many senior roles over many years.

“He has been integral to the company’s success and in introducing new and innovative Tieman tankers around Australia, New Zealand and PNG.

“He has developed relationships with Tieman employees, customers and suppliers that will always be remembered and appreciated by his strong work ethics and willingness to share his wealth of knowledge.”

ACT Government increases funding for road repairs

The Australian Capital Territory Government will significantly increase maintenance funding to $153 million over the next four years, in a new strategic maintenance program to repair and preserve Canberra’s roads for a generation.

The program has been developed based on research undertaken by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) to support a new, strategic approach to maintenance, which will support freight movements and improve safety and ACT’s liveability.

The research-led approach aims to extend the life of Canberra’s existing high-quality roads through proactive resealing, while undertaking more rehabilitation work including using an up to 150 per cent increase in asphalting.

Minister for Transport and City Services, Chris Steel, said the new road maintenance program represents a 52 per cent increase in expenditure on road maintenance.

“This maintenance program is evidencebased and will have a greater focus road rehabilitation and use of asphalt, as well

as ensuring that we continue our focus on preventative resealing,” he said.

“With the annual road resurfacing program now underway, this new maintenance program will extend the life of Canberra’s roads by 20 years through additional resealing measures adopted across our rolling roads program.

“And investing now will reduce road maintenance costs in the long term.”

Increased investment in Canberra’s annual road maintenance program will now see resurfacing of the network grow by 268,000 square metres a year to cover an area of 1.26 million square metres resurfaced per year going forward, concentrating on arterial and collector roads.

Steel said the challenging climate, heavier vehicles and greater than anticipated ACT population growth had accelerated road degradation and the likelihood of defects such as potholes.

“It’s no secret that roads across southeastern Australia have taken an absolute battering over the past few years with constant La Nina weather cycles,” he said.

“Since 2020, Canberra has continued

to experience heavy and frequent rain events.

“In October, we experienced Canberra’s wettest month since records began, with more than 2,800 pothole repairs undertaken across the Territory in that month alone.

“This long term program will see smoother, more resilient roads, that result in safer travel and better drivability, meaning Canberra drivers will save on fuel and vehicle maintenance.”

ARRB CEO, Michael Caltabiano, said the ACT Government isn’t taking any shortcuts in the project.

“Our research looked at the condition of the ACT’s roads, and the investment and treatments required to ensure that they are well-maintained over the coming decades,” he said.

“Based on our research, the ACT Government has chosen the highest cost and highest quality option which will deliver good road conditions in Canberra over the years ahead.”

The new funding includes funding under the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.

NSW advances in fully sealed highway network

A decade-long project to completely seal 153 kilometres of the Silver City Highway in New South Wales has been achieved.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway, said NSW is now one step closer to a fully sealed highway network.

“The completion of construction and sealing on the Silver City Highway is an incredible milestone for people living in the Far West of NSW, not to mention the many freight operators and tourists who use the road every year,” he said.

“The NSW Government is building the infrastructure that matters to make daily life easier for regional communities and our $195 million investment to seal this vitally important highway is just one example of how we’re doing that.”

Farraway said the Highway is a vital north-south connection between Victoria and Queensland, with sections closed for up to 70 days a year due to poor weather.

“A sealed highway not only means quicker, safer journeys for all road users but will also mean it can stay open

more often when the region experiences extreme weather.

“Sealing the Cobb Highway remains the final piece in the puzzle for a fully-sealed highway network, which is due to be completed mid-2023.”

The NSW Government is providing $145 million to seal and upgrade the existing unsealed sections on the Cobb and Silver City Highways in Western NSW.

All remaining sections of the Silver City Highway have been completed, and 10.9 kilometres remains to be sealed on the Cobb Highway.

Livestock partnership delivers new code of practice for managing effluent

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has registered a new national code of practice developed in partnership with the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) to reduce the hazards and risks associated with effluent spillage during the transport of livestock.

NHVR CEO, Sal Petroccitto, said the Managing Effluent in the Livestock Supply Chain Code of Practice had been specifically developed by industry for industry, but would have farreaching benefits for all road users and communities.

“The ‘Effluent Code’ is a practical guide that helps livestock transporters and other

parties in the livestock supply chain meet their primary duty and other obligations under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) when managing livestock effluent during road transport,” said Petroccitto.

“It combines industry knowledge and experience in suggesting measures to minimise effluent loss that can be implemented at each stage of a land transport journey – from preparing livestock for transit to unloading – without impacting animal welfare.

“I’d like to congratulate ALRTA and the other parties involved for addressing this difficult issue and helping make the livestock transport task safer for all road users.”

ALRTA President, Scott McDonald, said ALRTA had worked with a wide range of stakeholders – including livestock producers, transport operators and drivers, vehicle manufacturers, agents, saleyards, feedlot managers, processors, regulators, animal welfare advocates, government agencies and the community – to develop a code that was both practical and workable.

“Historically livestock transport drivers have been left solely responsible for managing livestock effluent in transit,” said McDonald.

“This code is a game changer because it makes it clear that Chain of Responsibility applies to off-road parties in the livestock supply chain, and articulates the measures they can take to minimise the risk of effluent accumulation and spillage.

“This is a supply chain problem that requires a supply chain solution.

“While the Effluent Code will help to improve road safety, it will also improve animal welfare outcomes, mitigate biosecurity threats and contribute to the sustainability of the livestock industry.”

The NHVR is currently working with stakeholders to develop further industry codes of practice and welcomes enquiries and suggestions about other new codes.

Major NSW truck wash re-opens

A major truck wash on the Kamilaroi Highway capable of accommodating vehicles as large as road trains and B-triples has officially re-opened.

Located at the Gunnedah Regional Saleyards in New South Wales, the $1.8 million drive-through facility was funded by Regional NSW, Restart NSW Fixing Country Truck Washes Program and Gunnedah Shire Council as part of the Saleyards’ $14 million redevelopment.

The truck wash was designed following consultation with operators and industry organisations, and its realignment and modification now allows more trucks to move forward into the wash bays and exit

from the same direction.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway, said the project highlighted the important role truck washes play in vehicle productivity and maintenance.

“The upgraded truck wash facility at Gunnedah Regional Saleyards will provide access for all truck operators, including livestock carriers, and has capacity to cater for modern road trains as well,” he said.

“The new truck wash means drivers no longer need to reverse their vehicle to access and use the facility, creating a safer and more efficient wash-down process.

“Truck washes are essential to reducing the spread of weeds and disease across NSW and I’m pleased to see the new facility opened.”

Gunnedah Shire Mayor, Jamie Chaffey, said the completion of the truck wash was great news for the livestock industry.

“It’s fantastic to see this new facility now made available to livestock transporters who rely on truck washes to clean their vehicles,” he said.

“Since the introduction of road trains into this region, it’s great to see that transporters now have the ability to wash their vehicles, no matter the size.”

NSW world-class intermodal hub officially opens

The new Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics (RIFL) Hub in Wagga Wagga is officially open, increasing New South Wales’ freight efficiency and strengthening its supply chain network.

The new RIFL Hub will connect in with the $292.2 million, 60-hectare Bomen Industrial Precinct, supported by the NSW Government’s Growing Regional Economies Program.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway, said the RIFL is positioned to become a dynamic operations centre for freight operators.

“The 4.9 kilometre rail siding will be a game changer for the rail freight industry, allowing for longer trains with the capacity

to securely load and unload without holding up other services,” he said.

“These trains can carry loads the equivalent of 134 semi-trailer trucks, reducing the number of rigs on Riverina roads and allowing freight to move efficiently across the state.

“We know the Riverina and Murray accounts for 12 per cent of the state’s agricultural output and are important contributors to our economy. That’s why we are improving freight linkages to secure a brighter future for our state.”

Wagga Wagga City Council Mayor, Dallas Tout, said the project will benefit the region as a whole.

“It will prove a catalyst for freight

movements by all parties to be rethought in relation to form of delivery and structure,” he said.

“A once in a generation opportunity.” Visy Logistics will carry out operations at the RIFL Hub as an open access terminal and provide logistics solutions and services to businesses across the Riverina.

Lee Schmelich from Visy Logistics said Visy was proud to partner with the NSW Government and Wagga Wagga City Council on the project.

“The RiFL will turbocharge local agriculture and industry by making it easier to get local products from the Riverina to customers across the country and the world,” he said.

Leadership update at Australia Post

Siobhan McKenn is now the Chair of the Australia Post Board for a term of three years.

McKenna brings commercial, strategic, digital and technology experience to the role from her many years in the media, communications and telecommunications industries.

McKenna is currently Chair of Foxtel Group, an Independent Non-Executive Director of Amcil Limited and the Managing Partner at Illyria Pty Ltd. She has served on several company boards including Woolworths Group Limited and Nova Entertainment, and was a partner of McKinsey & Company. Ms McKenna has previous public service experience as a Commissioner of the Australian Productivity Commission and Chair of NBN Co Limited.

McKenna’s knowledge, leadership and experience will help support Australia Post as it modernises and adapts to meet shifting consumer demand. The Government looks forward to working with her in her new role.

The Government also acknowledges the service of Lucio Di Bartolomeo as Chair, who stepped down at the conclusion of his term on 21 November 2022.

Di Bartolomeo has had an extensive corporate career and led the Board in supporting Australia Post to continue to deliver postal services through the

challenges and parcels boom of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government thanks Di Bartolomeo – along with Ms Andrea Staines OAM for acting as Chair in the interim – for their stewardship of one of Australia’s most cherished public institutions.

“Australia Post has always been a driver of economic activity for small businesses and continues to deliver essential services to all Australians, particularly in regional, rural and remote Australia,” said Minister for Finance, Katy Gallagher.

“I welcome the appointment of Ms McKenna and thank Mr Di Bartolomeo for his years of service to Australia Post.”

Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said: “Australia Post forms an important part of Australian society, supporting communities, businesses, and our economy, and we are committed to ensuring it continues to deliver for every Australian.

“The appointment of Ms McKenna and her extensive experience in corporate governance will help support this treasured national institution in achieving these important outcomes. I acknowledge Mr Di Bartolomeo’s service and wish him well.

“The Government looks forward to working with Ms McKenna and the senior leadership team at Australia Post.”

Image credit: Jackson Stock Photography

Is mass immigration the solution to Australia’s skills shortages?

Following the disruptions of Covid-19, Australia is seeing a period of changing demographics in workforces across the country. With a large reduction in immigrant workers, a wave of skills shortages has also reached Australian borders.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) released its Skilling the Nation: Addressing Australia’s skills and migration needs now and into the future report earlier last year, which criticised the former Coalition Government’s lack of management between skilled migration and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system.

ACTU explained that during the Covid pandemic approximately 500,000

temporary migrant workers left Australia. Now that the country is rebuilding its economy, many businesses are claiming an urgent need for gaps in the workforce to be filled by short-term migrant numbers.

The report called for the reinvigoration of Australia’s TAFE by guaranteeing a minimum of 70 per cent public funding, as well as “repairing almost a decade of damage to our apprenticeship system”.

Following this, the 2022 Jobs & Skills Summit saw the Federal Government devise a clear plan which will aim to address skills shortages and strengthen the migration system. This includes its immediate actions, areas for further work, and complementary existing commitments.

Immediate actions

The Government will:

• I ncrease the permanent Migration Program planning level to 195,000 to help ease widespread, critical skills shortages

• Provide $36.1 million in additional funding to accelerate visa processing and resolve the visa backlog

• I ncrease the duration of post study work rights by allowing two additional years of stay for recent graduates with select degrees in areas of verified skills shortages to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour in Australia, informed by advice from a working group

• E xtend the relaxation of work restrictions for student and training visa

Changing demographics in Australia’s workforce is a growing concern for thriving industries and workshops, and a shortage of skills following Covid-19 has seen many organisations calling for a change.

holders until 30 June 2023 to help ease skills and labour shortages

• W iden the remit of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, making up to $575 million available to invest in social and affordable housing. The funding can be used to partner with other tiers of government and social housing providers, and to attract private capital including from superannuation funds

Areas for further work

The Government will conduct a review of the purpose, structure and objectives of Australia’s migration system to ensure it meets the challenges of the coming decade.

The Government will also progress work to:

• A ssess the effectiveness of the skilled migration occupation lists

• E xpand pathways to permanent residency for temporary skilled sponsored workers

• Raise the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) following broad engagement on equitably setting the threshold and pathway for adjustment

• Reform the current labour market testing process following consultation with unions and business

• B ring forward a package of reforms to address migration worker exploitation during 2023

• E xamine the potential for industry sponsorship of skilled migrants

• Embed a role for Jobs and Skills

Australia’s analysis of skill shortages in setting priorities of the skilled migration program

• Consider policies to address regional labour shortages and how to improve small business access to skilled migration All levels of government will work together to ensure infrastructure, housing and social services are wellplanned to meet the needs of a growing population

Complementary existing commitments

• I mplement the recommendations of the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce to tackle migrant worker exploitation

• Encourage more migration from our region by reforming the Pacific Australia

Labour Mobility scheme and creating a new Pacific engagement visa

• Under the one-year National Skills Agreement the Government is providing (unmatched) $50 million to modernise TAFE technology infrastructure and $24 million to support vulnerable students to be successful

According to ACTU, evidence suggests that although Australia’s borders have now reopened, migrant workers are not returning in large numbers. The reason, it said, is due to the poor treatment many migrant workers have experienced in Australia which has incurred significant reputational damage.

“This includes the lack of support for temporary migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing and systemic problem of migrant worker exploitation, both of which have damaged Australia’s international reputation and made us a less desirable destination for migrant workers,” the report read.

“In addition, the temporary nature of many visas, the visa processing backlog for skilled migrant workers, long wait times for applications for permanency and to bring family members to Australia has led to extensive delays and lives lived in limbo. All of this makes Australia a less attractive place to settle.”

ACTU dismissed the idea of an urgent need to restart temporary migration, labelling it as a “short-sighted outlook” that will not deliver the skills-based needed over the long term. Instead, it explained that the causes of the problem go much deeper, which include:

• The shift from an immigration system based on permanent migration, where previous generations of migrant workers brought their families and built lives in Australia, to a system based on temporary, employer-sponsored migration, where workers are on insecure short-term visas, in many cases tied to their employer

• A decade of stagnant wages

• A n overreliance by particular industries and employers, including the public sector, on migrant workers to fill skills gaps instead of investing in developing a local workforce

• A failure to address the structural issues that are driving local workers out of industries, such as low pay and insecure work

• A failure to develop career paths and develop workers to take on higherskilled roles within their industry

• The undervaluation of jobs traditionally done by women, for example jobs in the care economy

• Lack of industry planning and an adhoc approach to migration and skills development

• A decade of underfunding, cuts and marginalisation of TAFE, which has exacerbated skills gaps

• A lack of protection and a safety net for temporary migrant workers which leave them highly vulnerable to exploitation. Many industries and organisations believe mass immigration is the solution to fixing Australia’s skills shortages, while others say changing its current working conditions and increasing wellbeing in the workforce could accommodate the change in demographics.

Industry initiative, Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds, addressed the latter last November by making its information on looking after wellbeing more accessible and easily understood for different

cultural groups working across the industry.

This involved launching its industrytailored wellbeing resources translated into eight of the most commonly spoken languages other than English in the Australian road transport, warehousing and logistics sector. The information included in all English as Second Language (EASeL) resources derives from the Healthy Heads Workforce Handbooks, which is now available in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Filipino, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Sinhalese.

HHTS CEO, Naomi Frauenfelder, said stigma around mental health in this sector is a key risk factor and barrier for helpseeking.

“In developing this project, our ambition was the ensure that the information within the EASeL resources was not only more accessible from a language perspective, but, also through the simplicity of messaging,” she said.

“To achieve this, we created a set of positive messages, that call out some of

The National Skills Commission’s 2022 Skills Priority List found shortages in 286 occupations in 2022, compared to 153 occupations in 2021. These included nurses, software programmers, aged care workers, construction managers and childcare workers.

the key actions we can take to keep our wellbeing in check, including exercise, eating well, getting good quality sleep, cleanliness and drinking water.”

The project was funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, in partnership with the Federal Government.

NHVR CEO, Sal Petroccitto, said providing greater access to mental health resources was particularly

important as the transport industry approached the busiest time of the year.

“I am extremely pleased to see a dedicated project that focuses on inclusion and provides more people in the heavy vehicle industry with access to important information to help them maintain positive health and wellbeing,” he said.

“I encourage everyone in the sector to use the EASeL resources developed by HHTS and prioritise their mental health

and wellbeing this holiday season.”

The National Skills Commission’s 2022 Skills Priority List found shortages in 286 occupations last year, compared to 153 occupations in 2021. These included nurses, software programmers, aged care workers, construction managers and child care workers. With the Federal Government’s initiatives backed by industries and organisations nation-wide, the 2023 Skills Priority List could show a very different figure this year.

Tieman and Black Mount Spring Water, two family brands in sync

Seventy years in business is a milestone Tieman Tankers is unconditionally proud of, and recently delivering its 6,000th tanker to bulk spring water supplier Black Mount , is one that will remain in the history books of both companies for a long time to come.

Tieman Tankers was founded in 1953 by Neil Tieman, and while he sadly passed away in October 2021 at the age of 95, his respected legacy lives on behind the Tieman brand.

A loyal companion to Tieman Tankers since its beginning in 1993, Black Mount is a well-known bulk spring water supplier based in Millbrook, Victoria, established by Brian Carey. His son, Tim Carey, now guides the company with more than 50 prime movers towing single tri-axle trailers, 19m and 20m combinations right up to 26m and 30m A-double combinations throughout Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia – hand in hand with Tieman Tankers.

“The opportunity came up to supply water from our farm to one of the bottlers down in Melbourne,” Tim says. “At the time, bottled water was a very small industry and Dad recognised the potential. From the very start of the industry here in Australia we’ve supplied the water from our farm in a Tieman tanker that we purchased from Neil Tieman 30 years ago.”

Black Mount has always invested in dedicated spring water tankers of the highest standard to reflect the company’s quality in spring water. This philosophy, thanks to Tim’s father, has kept the business by Tieman’s side since it commenced operations.

“We’ve always held the Tieman product in our highest regard, and we keep coming back to Tieman because of the long-term relationship we have,” Tim says.

“We’re really grateful for the relationship that has got our business to where it is today.

“The second tanker we acquired from Tieman was a 26m B-double combination that still carts spring water to our customers today. That reflects the longevity and quality of a Tieman tanker, as we still have the trailer from the initial start of the relationship today.”

Tieman Tankers recently delivered its 6,000th tanker, a Performance-Based Standards (PBS) 20m B-double to Black Mount. Neil’s son, and Tieman Director, Colin Tieman, says it was a special achievement due to the long-lasting relationship between both families.

milestone tanker was made at Neil’s funeral, where Tim and Colin agreed that it would be a great way to tribute Neil and the everlasting bond between both companies.

“I was speaking to Colin at Neil’s wake, and I mentioned that we were approaching a milestone of 30 years and 50 Kenworth trucks,” Tim says. “Following a day of stories of how Neil started the Tieman business and how my father started the Black Mount business,

holds a payload of 42,500 litres and displays a quality finish that reflects Neil’s commitment to detail and Black Mount’s premium service offered to its customers. The combination is fitted with Hendrickson Intraax AA250 airbag suspension, MAXXT22 disc brakes, HXL7 bearings and a Tyremaax tyre inflation system that is proving to keep tyre wear even – hence increasing the life of the tyres. It also features a polished s/s steel barrel with electro polished rings, polished s/s mudguards and mirror finish s/s bumper bars.

The trailer is being towed by Tim’s 50th Kenworth purchased early 2022 and the combination will be located at Black Mount’s farm in Black Hill, Millbrook. From there, it will service its customers everyday – travelling between Metropolitan Melbourne and Black Mount’s various water sources located in the Yarra Ranges, the Macedon Ranges and the Central Highlands of Victoria. Tim says the trailer is the pride of his fleet.

“The 20m PBS combination has been a great unit throughout our fleet,” he says. “We ordered this one specifically to run from our Millbrook depot where we started 30 years ago. It looks terrific and it pulls really well. It did its first load in November, and the driver couldn’t have had better things to say about it.”

Combined with its PBS design innovation, there is little surprise why Tieman is a preferred supplier to so many fleets and contractors around Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

“Our

6000th tanker is a reflection of the pride and skill taught and handed

Tieman 42,500-litre PBS 20m B-double.

L-R Black Mount CEO, Tim Carey, and Black Mount founders Kate Carey and Brian Carey.

Tieman`s 6000th tanker.

RCT makes a special delivery with Vawdrey

Ron Crouch Transport , based in New South Wales, has taken delivery of a brand-new B-double from Vawdrey which will travel around the country promoting a message the transport industry holds very close to heart.

Ron Crouch Transport (RCT) specialises in general freight, Dangerous Goods (DG), warehousing and third-party logistics. The company was established in 1978 by Ronald and Beverly Crouch, with the family’s third generation now having key roles in the business.

RCT has expanded its operations during the last 44 years and now has a fleet of 40 trucks and 90 trailers, complemented by its six warehouses which service small rural customers to large multinationals.

For almost half of its existence, the family company has placed its trust in Vawdrey to provide quality trailers for its applications, and Executive Director, Geoff Crouch, says he hasn’t been let down once.

“I’ve been dealing with Vawdrey

personally for 25 years and I have never had any issues,” he says. “It’s always been run on the basis of mutual respect and ensuring that the high values and ethics of our companies are upheld for mutual benefit.”

RCT’s latest addition from Vawdrey is a B-double dedicated to Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds (HTTS) by promoting its values on the curtains. The B-double will travel across the state as well as to all major cities along the eastern seaboard and most regional areas.

HTTS is a non-profit organisation for mental health in Australia’s road transport, warehousing and logistics industries. It was founded in August 2020 in response to the poor state of mental health and wellbeing

across road transport warehouses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it has continued to improve outcomes drastically in areas relating to psychological safety and physical wellbeing.

Some of its most recent efforts include offering discounts on healthier meals at BP service stations, commencing a Nutrition Pilot Program to encourage longer-term healthy eating among truck drivers and launching industry-tailored resources translated into eight of the most commonly spoken languages other than English in workshops.

Due to commitments like these which aim to better the transport and logistics industry, Geoff says it is an honour to promote HHTS’ values alongside Vawdrey.

“I’ve been a very strong supporter of HHTS from the very beginning,” he says. “It’s an initiative that I passionately believe in, and I am determined to provide whatever assistance I can to get the message out there – that there is assistance for members of the Australian logistics industry for people that don’t have optimal mental health and wellbeing.

“Anything that I can do to get the message out there is worthwhile. I firmly believe in the initiatives that HHTS developed, and that over the course of time they will make a massive benefit to the mental health and wellbeing to thousands of people.”

Geoff explains that the purchase of the B-double was part of his plan to replace some older vehicles in the fleet while increasing its size by four units in preparation for planned growth over the next 12 months. Due to Vawdrey’s reputation for reliability, Geoff knew it was the right path to take.

“It’s a product with the highest quality

possible, and it stacks up perfectly on our business analysis proposition,” he says. “We’ve always been hugely impressed by the Vawdrey product. With its quality and attention to detail, the value for money is unmatched.”

In June last year Vawdrey announced that it had established a partnership with HHTS, and as part of this agreement, it would add a Healthy Heads sticker to each of its new trailers to promote the organisation’s key message. As a result, this decision has attracted the attention of many fleets such as RCT which support what Healthy Heads stands for.

HHTS CEO, Naomi Frauenfelder, says the culture and vision at Vawdrey led it to partnering with HHTS.

“Having such a well-known and respected Australian business like Vawdrey come on board is super important to us,” she says. “It means we can continue to delivery on our key target ambitions.

“Like many businesses in our sector,

Vawdrey would have seen the impact of the pandemic on trucking operators as well as drivers and logistics companies, so they’re looking for an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the lives of people working in the sector and other businesses.”

Geoff and the team at RCT are very happy with their latest purchase. And, with the help of Vawdrey and HHTS, it hopes to spread awareness on mental health and wellbeing in the workforce.

“This trailer is a very special one to us,” Geoff says. “We’re glad to be able to dedicate it to the amazing work that HHTS does: Improving the mental health and wellbeing of every single member of our incredible industry.”

Ron Crouch Transport Executive Director, Geoff Crouch.

Tough without compromise

Part of Chris’s Body Builders’ (CBB) Hardox product range, the Lumiere is a lightweight option for bulk carriers to get the resilience of the Hardox product while reducing tare weight.

The tipper body uses a formed side to increase capacity while reducing tare weight to ensure they are operating an efficient bulk transport solution.

For CBB CEO, Chris Debono, it’s

important that operators get every kilogram possible onboard.

“I think it’s a really good option for somebody who’s in the market for tare weight sensitive equipment but wants to have a bit of versatility in what their fleet can achieve,” he says. “It makes the fleet coordinator or owner operator a little bit more versatile. The traditional Hardox product is quite heavy, and this prohibits it from being used in tare weight sensitive applications. By using the Lumiere range you get that same toughness as the Hardox, but you don’t have to compromise on tare weight.”

Lumiere enables a reduction in fuel usage while giving better payloads and requiring less maintenance over an aluminium product.

It’s just a tougher solution, something that’s bulletproof that you can put into a variety of different situations and have one unit that will do them all.

The increased strength in the bodies design allows less material to achieve the same strength in the body. With the addition of wear plates in the body’s walls and the Lumiere’s signature curved sides, operators can achieve better payloads

Chris’s Body Builders’ Lumiere range is built to last, and with a combination of strength and weight saving innovations using the well-known Hardox range of materials, every opportunity could become the next job.

Customers lucky enough to have experienced the Lumiere firsthand say it’s great to have a steel product which can be used across a different variety of fields that aluminium bodies wouldn’t dare go.

can be customised to suit a range of applications to suit every individual need. Ph:

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Waste hauling efficiencies covered

Efficiency and safety are always top considerations when purchasing equipment in the solid waste and recycling sectors, which is why moving floors have become such a popular choice in the industry.

Moving floor trailers unload horizontally, with a series of hydraulically driven floor slats that ‘walk’ material out the rear of the trailer. This allows them to safely unload on uneven ground and during windy conditions, resulting in a much larger area at the landfill at which they can unload.

As a result, trailers equipped with moving floors can offer flexibility in unloading while eliminating the safety risk posed by traditional tipper trailers.

Building on this concept, KEITH Walking Floor systems have been designed for

durability in the waste and recycling industries and can easily handle high volume loads.

KEITH’s Walking Floor systems have been used in the waste industry since the early 1980s, with the unloaders gaining popularity for their safety features.

Zyggy Reinoga of KEITH Walking Floor Australia explains that its revolutionary product allows operators to unlock a level of efficiency unreached in other applications by taking full advantage of several benefits over tipping trailers.

“When the landfill is busy, trailers can position themselves closer to each other without compromising safety, which helps with operating efficiencies,” he says. “It isn’t unusual for trailers to handle six to eight loads per day. So, the wear and tear

the floors need to be able to absorb is substantial.”

Another area in which operators can benefit from versatility is how the trailer is loaded. Depending on the type of floor slat installed in the trailer, trailers can be top-loaded or compactor loaded. Zyggy explains that slats such as the J-MAX profile can also expand the types of materials that can be unloaded.

“A slat like KEITH’s steel J-MAX slat holds up well to compactors,” he says. “Because it is made from high strength steel, you can expect a longer slat life over our standard aluminium profiles.”

In addition to Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), trailers can unload products as diverse as wood waste, gravel and glass.

“Glass is a product that can be tricky to

With the capability to efficiently unload a wide range of products at nearly any location, increasing productivity is a breeze with KEITH Walking Floor systems.

Fast fact

The slats from KEITH Walking Floor are available in a wide range of profiles and thicknesses to address different applications and unloading needs. Whether you are transporting high moisture loads that require leakproof and leak resistant options, or abrasive materials such as asphalt, sand, scrap, glass or fly ash, or need backhauling options for bulk materials, pallets or bales, or simply need standard or high-impact flooring for top loading applications, KEITH Walking Floor has the right solution.

unload using standard aluminium flooring, and most operators use a slip sheet for the occasional load of crushed glass,” Zyggy says. “The steel slat is better suited for handling recycled glass, with no slip sheep needed to protect the floor.”

According to Zyggy, a versatile floor slat can also contribute to the financial bottom line.

“Customers tell us that in addition to giving them more choices for backhaul options, the trailers quickly pay for themselves because they are able to haul larger volumes,” he says. “Worker safety

is a major concern for the industry and the horizontal unloading of a moving floor system not only prevents toppling over like a tipper trailer, but also eliminates the risk of hitting overhead utility lines or trees during unloading.”

KEITH has spent the past 50 years designing a trailer unloading system aimed at providing customers the lowest cost of ownership of any moving floor on the market. By requiring very little maintenance and being engineered to make servicing as simple as possible, it’s a resource unbeaten in the transport industry.

Contact KEITH Walking Floor

Factory 2/11-15 Mario Place

Hallam VIC 3803

Ph: 0404 041 883

Web: www.keithwalkingfloor.com

HYVA set to launch new 50mm drawbar couplings

In less than two months Australia and New Zealand are set to see the arrival and launch of the Hyva JK51-C9 50mm automatic trailer drawbar coupling. This will be a breath of fresh air to the industry as the first coupling in a long time to be designed for Australian and New Zealand conditions and upgraded performance in mind. Having an exceptional D-Value of 330kn gives the new Hyva coupling the highest rating available in Australia and New Zealand.

The coupling is set to hit the market in March this year.

Discussing the new couplings Darren Stocks, Hyva Pacific’s National Manager for tipping solutions and truck and trailer components, said the Hyva couplings have been undergoing real-world trials in Australia on various combinations including

truck & dogs, A-doubles, AB-triples and standard road train combinations with outstanding performance and wear results.

With a standard bolt pattern and a host of innovative ideas the New Hyva JK51-C9 couplings will give performance and driver acceptance a new benchmark.

Two built-in safety security devices and a third external security device for ultimate protection from unplanned disconnection. Other design elements include:

• A compact auto balanced centering funnel system;

• rotating coupling pin to reduce wear, compared to non-rotating pin this extends the service life by 50-70 per cent;

• frontal crash damage prevention with a full cast top box with reinforced rhino horn front section for added strength;

• funnel locking system so opening of the

The innovative towing solution with a smart and compact design has gone through rigorous testing in Australia

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Based in Western Australia, Bruce Rock Engineering has been using JOST’s wide range of products for more than 25 years. The trailer builder turned to JOST after experiencing reliability and durability issues in harsh 24/7 operating conditions with a competitor’s landing legs, and it hasn’t looked back since.

Bruce Rock Engineering (BRE) has established itself as a superior trailer manufacturer and supplier in Australia with quality applications for any request. Because of this commitment, BRE has proven its ability to deliver innovative solutions across the transport, mining, agriculture, construction and retail industries.

The BRE heavy vehicle manufacturing process is carried out completely inhouse to ensure 100 per cent quality control, including the use of SSAB steel products along with JOST’s fifth wheels, kingpins and landing legs.

Prior to its first purchase with JOST, BRE had been using landing legs from an international competitor in the market. However, once establishing that JOST had surpassed it in every possible way, the company made the wise decision to apply JOST’s products to its combinations for the unforeseeable future.

“We were using a Chinese

competitor’s leg for a long time previously, but it had reliability issues with gearbox gear selection and a few other issues there,” says BRE Managing Director, Damion Verhoogt. “We always knew that the Modul legs were a good product, but they were more expensive than what we had been using. We made the call that the price difference was not worth the headaches that we were getting with what we were using previously.”

BRE trailers operate in remote areas all over Australia, so the reliability of components and landing legs fitted require the highest standard of durability. The design of JOST’s Modul Leg comes into play in this field as it provides multiple options in regard to backing plates, leg travel and interchangeable foot options.

With such a compact design, trailer builders like BRE can obtain unmatched flexibility with mounting on the chassis which results in maximum ground

Fast fact

JOST’s CA Modul Landing Leg is available in aluminium for trailer manufacturers looking for additional weight savings. The CA Modul is also available with two-sided operation and special crank and has continuous back plate for high variability during installation.

clearance without losing stroke.

Being corrosion resistant, the Modul is ideal for Australian conditions with first class pre-treatment and powder coating. And, being engineered in Europe with extensive life cycle tests, drop tests and bending tests, consistency is delivered with every leg manufactured.

“You just don’t have problems with the JOST ones, that’s why we changed,”

Damion says. “They’re definitely much more operator-friendly, they provide a smoother operation and they have better gear ratios.”

The design of the Modul delivers significant gain in stroke whilst keeping a large overlap, ensuring support and strength. With minimal parts, the Modul’s patented internal gearbox design delivers ultimate durability and reliability alongside a user-friendly crank speed within 15mm of travel per crank turn.

In addition to its exceptional quality, JOST offers its renowned aftersales support nationally with an unmatched promise. With the support of its distribution network, it guarantees the replacement of legs if required.

“JOST gives us really good support,” Damion says. “They’ve got a great range of products for a series of different applications. They’re amazing quality and their product gives us very little problems.”

Contact JOST Australia

Ph: 1800 811 487

Web: www.jostaustralia.com.au

Superchrome takes wheels from tired to tough

For more that 20 years Superchrome has been setting the standard in chroming truck wheels and has a well-earned reputation as the industry leader in aluminium wheel chroming. This reputation backed by exceptional customer service and product support. One of the most common conversations customers have with Superchrome is the economics of purchasing brand new chromed wheels versus re-chroming their old wheels.

The team at Superchrome have done extensive research around this subject focussing on three key factors – cost, downtime and quality. Freight costs and vehicle downtime add up very quickly to significant figures depending on where you are located and what work your vehicle is doing … they never come out positive. You want chrome because you want your truck to look good and so it is important to know that a quality finish is greatly influenced by the quality of the surface of the base metal being plated. This means

chroming old wheels, which may have marks on them which cannot be readily removed through the polishing process, may result in an inferior outcome. The team at Superchrome find that re-chroming old wheels is generally not a good idea either economically or cosmetically.

Superchrome has always been committed to enduring product value to the customer by reducing the costs associated with alloy wheel maintenance, creating everlasting presentation standards and outstanding reliability. Combining the technical skills of polishing and electroplating onto aluminium, today Superchrome is the global leader in chrome plating, Superchromes industry leading techniques guarantee low maintenance, high-quality chrome wheels for all trucks, trailers and buses. There are huge benefits of using chrome-plated alloy wheels such as:

• No polishing needed – chromed alloy wheels are resistant to stone chips, gravel and dirt scratch marks;

• Lower overall maintenance costs –quick clean-up and less frequent wheel replacement needs result in huge savings across the life of a wheel;

• Presentation – chromed alloy wheels stay clean and shiny at all times to meet high presentation standards;

• Longer wheel life – super hard chrome coating protects from harsh environments.

• chemical friendly – chromed alloy wheels won’t discolour or fade with the use of common cleaning chemicals; and

• alloy wheels are a big weight saver (40-50 per cent lighter) compared to mild steel wheels thus saving fuel and/or allowing greater load capacities. Superchrome is the chosen brand for chromed alloy wheels for many major distributors of trucks, trailers and buses across Australia. Superchrome’s unique chroming process provides maximum protection against corrosion of alloy wheels. Its wheels have been independently tested by metallurgy consultants under all conditions and passed

From presentation to longevity to cost savings, there are plenty of reasons to go Superchrome.

with first class results. All Superchrome wheels come with a chrome warranty to guarantee look and performance. In fact, Superchrome provides a world class seven-year chrome and five-year warranty that backing up the reliability of its chromed wheels.Superchrome was born as an offshoot of Astor Metal Finishes – a company that has been in the business

of polishing and electroplating since 1954. In 2001, Astor acquired All Models Superchrome, a business that had not only developed the process of chrome plating commercial steel wheels but had been successfully implementing the process for eight years. The combination of this process with that of electroplating aluminium alloy resulted in the development of a

unique process for successfully chrome plating alloy wheels – now known as the ‘Superchrome process’. While it has taken many years of technical diligence to perfect the Superchrome process, the result is now a proven success with outstanding reliability. Extensive research and development into the profiles and required racks for controlled plating thickness and testing has allowed for a complex shape with deep recesses that deliver brilliant, world-class plating results.

Superchrome’s team of experienced metallurgists and electroplaters are continually working on new and innovative production methods to ensure quality and durability. Superchrome delivers all around Australia. Orders to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane can arrive within 1-2 days, while all metropolitan and regional areas can expect delivery within 4-5 days.

Contact

Superchrome

Ph: 02 9060 1610

Web: www.superchrome.com.au

CHRIS’S BODY BUILDERS’ LUMIERE RANGE IS BUILT TO LAST

TOUGH WITHOUT COMPROMISE

“Me and my dad Graeme have been building with CBB for years, every unit we get is a new favourite.”

Dean Slingo I Slingo Earthmoving

Reliability is everything for Pacific Trailers

A shiny new 33-metre A-double car carrier is going to hit the Tasmanian roads soon. Custom-built to meet Performance-Based Standards requirements, the new combination was manufactured using BPW drum brake axles and suspension – a combination trusted by North Geelongbased Pacific Trailers for over two decades.

Nearly six months before the Covid-19 pandemic began, Mark Brandimarti had hung up the boots and retired into a life surrounded by loved ones and surfing – not necessarily in that order. He was proud of his legacy as a car carrier trailer manufacturer – a feat he started under his father Fernando Brandimarti’s able wings. The father-son duo worked hard to set themselves as one of the most wellrespected car carrier builders in Australia under the Pacific Trailers banner. It was probably this reason that Mark started to get calls from old and new customers to ask if he could still make this specialised equipment for them. He decided to ride this fresh tide, having found his mojo back.

Since then his team has already manufactured 27 trailers. Their latest one is a fiery red 33-metre A-double designed for a Tasmania-based civil

construction business. The A-double trailers with a dolly in the middle is the first Performance-Based Standards (PBS) combination built by Pacific’s team.

“We’re very proud of the combination,” Mark says. “It was our first PBS venture; the possibilities with PBS are amazing. I call it the Wild West. If you can think of it, and if you can prove it works, you can build it. We got this one to 33 metres but pending approval we can go out to 36.5 metres. It’s an amazing time in Australian road transport.”

Mark’s father passed away five years ago, but Mark believes he would have been incredibly proud to see his grandson, Nicholas, join the family business. He hopes one day his two daughters will join too.

Nearly 25 years ago Mark and Fernando decided to go from being ‘jack of all’ to becoming ‘master of one’, and that was

building car carriers. The business has manufactured nearly 320 trailers since then. Out of those, 270 trailers have had BPW axles and suspension.

“Back in the day BPW set a benchmark for quality products and excellent customer service and nothing has changed till today,” Mark says.

“They make a great product and stand behind it 100 per cent. Even though we’ve had minimum issues so far, I know I can trust them if any of the trailers have a problem anywhere in Australia.

“They took very good care of us during the unprecedented times of Covid. It was an incredibly tough time for them to be able to continue to supply us and keep us going. I’m a small builder compared to many others in the industry but the BPW team are incredibly good to me and I don’t forget that.”

The Pacific Trailers team mainly uses

BPW drum brake axles and suspension, and market-leading tyres. Mark’s customers tell him that the trailers ride very well with these combinations. His team uses local suppliers and subcontractors in Geelong for a majority of the trailer components, choosing quality, Australian-made components.

“We want to build a trailer that is reliable and offers excellent longevity,” Mark says. “I recently spoke with a customer whose trailer has done 750,000 kilometres and only now needed a bearing re-pack. He’s still using the original brake shoe lining and reckons it will go on for a million kilometres before needing a replacement. I asked him about the trailer itself and he said that it doesn’t cost him a thing other than regular servicing. So when we use quality axles and components, we are able to manufacture trailers that are reliable.”

Mark is incredibly proud of his small team. One of his old customer-turnedteam member, Jason Crawford, and his wife Andrea Crawford, had brought in wealth of hands-on knowledge in the car carrier trailer space.

“Jason and Andrea’s years of experience in application of these trailers has been indispensable,” he says. “Their feedback has been priceless. I’m fortunate to have a strong team of people working with me.”

transport manufacturing industry.

“My amazing apprenticeship with my dad gave me an incredible knowledge of what you need to build a good product,” Mark says. “I knew all the other components I was going to use, and I knew BPW was always going to be a part of it. That’s how we came about building a trailer that was bulletproof. Reliability is more important to me than anything else, especially in a cutthroat industry. If the trucks are not moving or are in the workshop all the time then you’re not making any money, no matter how good the technology you’ve got. As far as that goes, reliability is everything.”

Contact

Ph:

”

Driving mental health awareness for truckies and tradies

In December 2022, refrigerated transport service provider, Scully RSV, added a special two-pallet truck to its extensive hire fleet. It is no ordinary truck. It features a special TIACS Alliance vehicle livery in TradeMutt branding. The purpose of this truck is to spread the message of mental health awareness wherever it goes. It is just one of the ways Scully RSV is working as a TIACS Alliance partner to drive awareness, spread the message and start the conversation on mental health.

TIACS is a free and confidential chat, text and call-back service, providing early-intervention mental health support for Australia’s truckies and tradies, and those who care about them. With help from financial partners like Scully RSV, a member of the TIACS Alliance, the group has so far supported over 13,000 clients with over 10,000-plus hours of conversations about mental health, since June 2020.

“As Scully RSV continues to grow and

is able to expand its reach commercially, it allows us to give back more broadly and systemically to the community,” says Scully RSV CEO, Andrew McKenzie. “Be it to organisations like OzHarvest who provide a means to those who would otherwise go without or to organisations like TIACS, that are heavily focused on our people and the welfare of their families. It’s projects like these that are critically important to Scully RSV.”

Founded by Dan Allen and Ed Ross, the co-founders of social impact workwear brand TradeMutt, TIACS aims to remove the physical and financial barriers that prevent blue collar Australian workers from accessing the help they need and deserve. The initiative was launched after Dan and Ed admittedly realised how many people mustered the courage to ask for mental health support but were left unheard and abandoned.

“TIACS is a not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to the industry and funded

by the industry,” says Jason Banks, Head of Partnerships, TIACS. “Our Alliance partners make a direct social impact in the community through their contribution. Funds from our partners provide free mental health counselling support to Australian blue-collar workers and those that care about them. We are excited that Scully RSV have joined our Alliance to make our service available to those that need it most.”

The TIACS Alliance currently includes 40plus financial partners.

“Scully RSV is an Alliance Partner, investing money directly to TIACS,” Andrew says. “The financial contribution from an organisation is key because it keeps the doors open and the support service at the ready for those who need it. And we are proud that we can assist with this, but what’s even more important now is that we start to create awareness about the service to ensure that people are ringing and utilising services. If we can

Life can be complicated, but your mental health doesn’t have to be. That’s a key message that the good folks at TIACS and Scully RSV are trying to promote through their new partnership.

– then this is the conversation we want to be having in the market, across all of our channels. We thought what better way than a moving billboard in the TIACS Truck.”

The TIACS Truck will spread the message that sometimes it can help just to have someone to talk to, and that there is free counselling support for those in need. Based on the customers who hire this truck, the vehicle branding will be seen driving around South East Queensland and beyond.

Scully RSV supplier ColorCorp kindly donated their staff, time and materials to ensure the TIACS Truck was possible. A long-standing partner of Scully RSV, ColorCorp jumped at the chance to become involved in supporting this cause that will directly make a difference to the industry. Staff working at ColorCorp were excited to see the finished truck following the briefing and proofing process –showcasing some pretty bold colours.

Scully also honoured the partnership by giving all its staff members their very own TradeMutt shirt proudly displaying its support for TIACS. Throughout the year and at every opportunity Scully RSV aims to have the conversation about TIACS and raise awareness of the partnership and the support out there for those in need.

“The best way to get involved is to start a conversation and ask someone if they are okay,” Andrew says. “It doesn’t cost any money and it’s the simplest way. This partnership is about creating awareness

mechanism to get the help that they need. What is important to the industry is the outcomes that TIACS are able to achieve and deliver. This partnership plays a role in helping TIACS to be able to go out and do that.”

One of the best things about TIACS is that you don’t need an appointment to get free mental health support. Call or text anytime Monday to Friday from 8am-10pm AEST to have a chat. For readers who want to contribute or become an Alliance partner like Scully

In the meantime, Scully RSV plans to have events, social media and other activity throughout the year with an aim to continue spreading the message of ‘starting a conversation’.

Contact

Scully RSV

Ph: 1800 728 559

Web: www.scullyrsv.com.au

TIACS

Ph: 0488 846 988

Web: www.tiacs.org

No hitch for new road train with Fuwa K Hitch

Road transport equipment manufacturer, Howard Porter (HP), recently built a number of new Performance-Based Standards (PBS) road train combinations for Qube’s bulk transport operations in Western Australia. The combinations are 42m PBS level 3B triple road train specification with Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of 148 tonnes with a payload of 109 tonnes. The new road trains features Fuwa K Hitch unitised hub disc brake axles, 11.5-tonne capacity Fuwa K Hitch mechanical spring suspension, Fuwa K Hitch fifth wheel range, and Fuwa K Hitch landing legs.

“K Hitch have been a key supplier of semi-trailer components to Howard Porter for more than 30 years,” says Roy Lombardi, CEO of Howard Porter. “The relationship continued when FUWA purchased K Hitch and entered the Australian market.”

The new road trains, which are expected to move concentrates into Geraldton, is one of the many standard and custom-made combinations built by HP for Qube’s WA operations in the last 10 years. Established in Fremantle in 1936, HP is one of the most trusted semi-trailer manufacturers in Australia,

with manufacturing and service centres located in Perth, Brisbane, Asia, Malaysia and New Zealand.

“HP prides in the ability to design and build high-productivity transport equipment such as PBS combinations that result in less truck movements for the transport task,” Roy says. “We work closely with customers and suppliers to make sure the right equipment is supplied to suit the working environment that the equipment is operating in.”

HP has been using a number of Fuwa K Hitch components, including axles, suspensions, kingpins, and landing legs,

Trailer component specialist, Fuwa K Hitch, has been constantly proving the durability and efficiency of its products in the bulk transport industry in Australia.

extensively across its wide-ranging road transport equipment manufacturing.

“Fuwa K Hitch has been an established brand in the market for a long time, offering components that have proven their quality and reliability,” Roy says. “They make good products, and their technical support and back-up is excellent. Their spare parts are readily available, which minimises downtime for us and our customers. In case a component is not available off-the-shelf, they are able to arrange supply for us within a reasonable lead time.”

According to Roy, a big advantage of putting the Fuwa K Hitch axles into service is the ability to use unitised disc wheel bearings. Not only do unitised wheel bearings allow pre-adjustment of the bearings, the unitised bearings are a sealed, and since they can also be prelubricated there is no need to grease or adjust them unlike adjustable bearings. “The continuous product development

of the unitised cartridge style bearing has seen it become one of the most popular choices of axles amongst the range of Fuwa K Hitch products,” says Ryan Ussher, State Manager WA/NT, Fuwa K Hitch. “The advantages fleets have with this application, is the significant reduction in downtime. With the bearings assembled and set to a precise factory setting, this enables our fleets to significantly reduce maintenance costs by eliminating the need to remove, replace, re-lubricate and reset bearings and seals.”

Mechanical suspensions are a common choice for heavy-duty off-road combinations. With its tried and proven suspension design, the Fuwa K Hitch mechanical spring suspension was an easy pick for this new HP road train. Its main components are made from cast steel and can be fitted to a wide range of axles and applications.

The Fuwa K Hitch ROADBOSS fifth wheel is a non-adjustable two-piece jaw design,

fully fabricated from high-quality steel. The simple and positive connecting ability of the two-piece jaw design is renowned for its robustness in tough applications. It is available in four basic tops.

The other Fuwa K Hitch product featuring in the new road train combination, are the Fuwa K Hitch landing legs. Built to the latest standards and manufacturing processes, the K Hitch landing legs are all of a two-speed design and available with different feet and different travel.

“Fuwa K Hitch make a broad range of both on-highway and heavy-duty offroad equipment for mining applications,” Roy says. “The HP patented PBS roll coupled drawbar system helps improve stability and handling of the combination, particularly in tough road conditions.”

Fuwa K Hitch has expanded to become a leading supplier of trailing equipment in Australia. FUWA is continuously working to improve its designs and manufacturing techniques. Currently, its global manufacturing facility produces nearly 800,000 axles, 200,000 landing gear sets, 40,000 suspensions, along with fifth wheels, kingpins, slack adjusters and other components per annum. Fuwa K Hitch incorporates the national sales and distribution of the entire product offering across Australia, as well as the final assembly of the Fuwa K Hitch range of axles, suspensions and fifth wheel assemblies – all of which are designed and tested for the Australian market and transportation needs.

Optimal truck and trailer battery operations with Lucidity

Lucidity was established in 1981, and over the years it has acted as a primary and leading manufacturer of wiring and lighting products for transport industries around the world. With quality lighting products across the board at an affordable cost, it’s a brand many fleets continue to invest in with each trailer delivery.

According to Lucidity Australia President, Mathew Jenkins, the refrigerated transport industry heavily relies on battery power, but many operators forget to consider the loss of income with battery maintenance.

“Starting engines, powering lighting and electric hydraulic power packs are essential tasks which batteries are used for,” he says. “But when aftermarket products are fitted to these vehicles it’s often not considered how they may contribute to the loss of income or costly battery maintenance. For example, fridge plants all rely on a 12V battery to keep engines starting, and for every refrigerated trailer there are an array of accessories fitted to them sharing the very important power resource – for instance interior lighting.”

Mat says that during these instances it’s easy to completely flatten batteries. If this does occur, the battery will experience a shortened fundamental lifespan which is irreversible.

To mitigate this issue, Lucidity supplies the Charge Plus range of timer switches which prevents interior lamps from flattening fridge plant batteries. When operating, the switch will see a low voltage condition and switch off the interior lamps protecting the power source. And, once the fridge plant is started, it will begin recharging the battery and the interior lamps will be turned back on.

Charge Plus transport chargers can charge an onboard battery used in electric hydraulic power packs. To do this, the charger has dual inputs which allows users to charge from two sources. Mat explains that one of these can be a park lamp circuit

and the other can be via an auxiliary input which can be a direct feed from the truck.

“The truck input has a Voltage Sensing Relay (VSR) that only turns on if the engine is running,” he says. “When a trailer is not in use, the charger draws no energy which ensures the truck doesn’t suffer a flat battery. So, if you intend to buy new or used equipment, it is important to understand that your vehicle combination is suitable for the task.”

The range of transport chargers is also designed to work on the three voltage inputs seen within the Australian truck

market – 12V, 24V and reduced 24V. According to Lucidity, this is a feature no other manufacturer currently replicates.

“With truck and trailer combinations being able to be interchanged at any time, this factor is very important to understand,” Mat says. “Reduced 24 volts is not 12 volts, these electronic reducers do not produce the clean 12V supply a battery does.”

Along with the VSR charger, Lucidity Australia sells a Battery Voltage Assurance (BVA) which is designed to disconnect the supply to any electronic unit if the input voltage drops below 12.1V, or if it detects

When a truck or trailer build does not factor in battery requirements it can present issues for the fleet. Fortunately, Lucidity Australia caters for this while striving to protect equipment with every design in its Australian-made Charge Plus product range.

excess current through the relay. Like many of Lucidity’s products, the LED status of the BVA provides a clear distinction for owners and operators. When a green flashing light can be seen, it means the output is on with a load under one amp. A solid green light indicates that the output is on, but there is a load of between one to 10 amps.

However, an amber light tells users that the output is on with a load between 10 to 15 amps. A flashing red light means the output is off and has detected the voltage to be under 12.1V, while a solid red light means the output is off and has detected the voltage to be over 12.1V.

“The BVA allows the use of an onboard battery for aftermarket accessories such as telematics, and it turns off when batteries reach low voltages but before any damage has been done,” Mat says. “As a result, this protects the primary investment function which is critical to income. When fitting aftermarket equipment it is important to ensure that even when the equipment is not being used, products don’t flatten your

battery. Products such as telematics are always reporting, and even when idle will draw power continuously and will flatten a battery if it sits long enough.”

Electrification in motion: SAF-Holland

Equipment specialist, SAF-Holland, continues to play a vital role in the decarbonisation and electrification of the national heavy vehicle fleet. Instrumental to this revolution is the e-axle, SAF TRAKr, which recuperates energy during operation and reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Electric axle technology is changing the game for road freight businesses Australia-wide. The SAF TRAKr e-axle from SAF-Holland generates additional electrical energy to lower the emissions and fuel consumption of a truck and trailer combination. The recuperated energy can be used, for instance, to run the trailer refrigeration unit completely with electricity which also helps to reduce noise generated by the cooling unit diesel engine. This is SAF-Holland’s proactive response to curbing traffic noise, carbon emissions and related environmental concerns.

In addition to supporting reefers, the stored electrical energy from an e-axle can be used to operate an electrical compressor independently from the truck in a tanker or silo vehicle combination; run the moving floor of a moving floor trailer; operate an electrical pump for a hydraulic liftgate separate from the truck; and charge mounted e-forklifts in-transit.

SAF TRAKr is designed for axle loads of nine tonnes and is available with different

disc brakes for 19.5” and 22.5” wheels. The axle uses a high-voltage generator module with a maximum power of 20 kW. Also, the differential is connected to both wheel hubs with two shafts for optimal efficiency.

Maintenance work on the axle is also simple and cost-efficient. The drive unit does not have to be removed for uninstalling the wheel ends and wheels. The spare parts supply is also uncomplicated, as wear parts such as brake

Fast fact

The SAF TRAKe trailer lowers the emissions and fuel consumption of the overall vehicle. To do this, the centrally positioned high voltage generator unit converts the kinetic energy of the trailer into electrical energy. The generated energy is stored in a Li-ion battery and then used to run the electrical units in the trailer, or to provide additional propulsion when needed.

Fast fact

The electrical recuperation system of the e-axle converts trailer kinetic energy to electrical energy by an electrical high voltage generator. The generated energy is stored in a Li-Ion battery and can be used to operate electric consumers of the trailer. The battery can be also charged by an integrated onboard charger.

pads, brake rotors or wheel bearings are identical to the components for the nondriven SAF-Holland axles. This makes the spare parts supply easier and more reliable.

Similar in principle to the SAF TRAKr, the SAF TRAKe electric trailer axle is a more powerful unit designed to operate other components of a trailer but can also be used for the drive mode to bolster the main engine during difficult road conditions.

Last year, SAF-Holland won the European Transport Award for Sustainability for its electric trailer axles in the ‘Components and

Aggregates’ category.

The award recognises that acting responsibly not only contributes to solving ecological and social issues but also promotes the competitiveness and profitability of a company.

It is known that SAF-Holland’s e-axle works predominantly in ‘dyno’ mode, effectively using the truck engine to generate electrical power – this is more efficient than using smaller trailer mounted motors such as those found in refrigeration units, pumps and blower. In addition to reducing fuel consumption, the SAF TRAKr also cuts carbon and particulate matter emissions from the trailer.

Ultimately, SAF-Holland’s e-axles will assist transport operators with cutting operational costs and make heavy duty transport more sustainable.

Contact

SAF-Holland Australia

115 High St, Melton VIC 3337

Ph: +61 3 9971 7900

Web: safholland.com/au/en/

Fast fact

For maximum flexibility and ease of maintenance, the individual components of the SAF TRAKr are perfectly coordinated. Numerous components are permanently integrated into the electric axle. This allows vehicle manufacturers to install or retrofit the SAF TRAKr with minimal effort while using standard interfaces (the TRAKr axle is interchangeable with standard INTRA range axles).

SAF TRAKr energy axle.

40-year anniversary

In the past four decades Powerdown has successfully captured the heart of Australian commercial transport – understanding the local roads, climate and freight needs like none other. The 2021 launch of its ultra-high performance and environment-friendly shock absorber fluid, Enveero, is a testament to its commitment to providing innovative, quality and cost-effective suspension components for Australian commercial vehicles.

When Australia II was crossing the finish line in the America’s Cup in 1983 for a historic win, the roller doors at Powerdown were opening for the first time. From those humble beginnings, this year Powerdown is celebrating its 40-year anniversary – a significant milestone along its successful ongoing journey.

Founded in 1983 at Cardiff, New South Wales as part of a heavy vehicle wheel alignment business, Newcastle Truck and Bus, Powerdown started as an importer of shock absorbers from North America and Europe. It quickly became apparent though that these shock absorbers worked well on concrete highways and autobahns, but they were not up to the rigours of Australian roads and hot climatic conditions. This requirement led Powerdown on the path to design and develop shock absorbers specifically suited to our roads, loads and local conditions.

Here are some of the key highlights from Powerdown’s illustrious 40-year journey:

In just three short years, Powerdown outgrew its humble location and in 1986, moved to a larger 1000-square-metre premises.

In 1990, Powerdown’s engineering team designed and developed Supershock, which was the first commercial shock absorber designed in Australia, specifically for Australian roads and conditions.

Following on from the successes earnt in the Australian heavy vehicle market in 1995, Powerdown established its distribution network in New Zealand partnering with John Bates Automotive that would later become part of the BNT group.

After 17 years of continued growth in Australian and overseas markets in 2003, Powerdown custom-built its new office and warehouse facilities. This new position placed Powerdown’s head office

and warehouse in a prime position at the end of the freeway leading from Sydney to Newcastle improving freight access and improved product delivery Australia wide. Once the facility was completed, one of the largest shock absorber dynamometers in Australia at the time was installed for research and development purposes.

In 2004, Powerdown’s work was recognised when it was awarded the State and National Telstra and Australian Government Small Business of the Year title.

Just 10 years after the new facility was constructed at Beresfield, in 2013 the warehouse space was doubled to accommodate the increasing demand for products. The extension also included a new manufacturing area that allows Powerdown to build some of its product range in-house.

As an industry-first in 2017, selected Powerdown shocks were fitted with an

on-vehicle ride height indicator allowing operators to check at a glance if a shock is at risk of topping or bottoming out.

In 2020, Filpro Automotive, a supplier of automotive aftermarket products, acquired Powerdown Australia. Under the acquisition agreement, Powerdown continues to manufacture and distribute all current aftermarket products for trucks, heavy commercial trailers, buses and light commercial vehicles; and RAW 4×4 branded products for four-wheel drive

Continuing its proud heritage of innovation in 2021 Powerdown launched Enveero at the Brisbane truck show. An Australian first, Enveero is an ultra-High performance environment-friendly shock absorber fluid developed by Powerdown as an alternative to traditional mineral oils currently used in shock absorbers. The base fluid used as the key component

of Enveero is made from renewable resources and is carbon negative. Not only is Enveero a better-performing product, but it also lasts longer and is better for the environment and the people using it.

In 2022, Enveero was one of the national finalists in the HVIA Awards in the Product Innovation category.

“For the past 40 years Powerdown has been committed to supplying the highest

quality, innovative and cost-effective suspension components for commercial vehicles. We would like to thank our past and present customers for supporting us through our journey,” the Powerdown Team says.

Contact

Powerdown

Ph: 02 4949 0000

Web: www.powerdown.com.au

Filpro Automotive Managing Director, Roger Lassen, and Powerdown Managing Director, Bruce Gatgens.

A bond for excellence

Vawdrey Australia has a solid reputation for exceeding expectations when it comes to delivering state-of-the-art trailer equipment. For almost two decades it has turned to Capral for unmatched aluminium solutions.

Capral commenced operations in Australia in 1936 and is now known as one of Australia’s largest manufacturers and distributors of aluminium profiles. The company has extrusion manufacturing facilities in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, which has allowed it to supply world class products within short lead times.

It also has an extensive network of added value facilities which can supply aluminium extrusions while providing customers with a streamlined final product. These services, including knurling, anodising, power coating, drilling and precision cutting, are designed to meet the needs of customers like Vawdrey Australia which operates at high production rates.

Vawdrey was founded by Mick Vawdrey in 1974. He has gradually grown the business into one of Australia’s most prominent trailer builders while managing to retain local manufacturing. This, Mick says, has been key to the business’ survival.

“Being an Australian manufacturer means everything to us,” he says. “Everything is about quality. We buy the best. If we can buy it Australian, we will –and I think it’s paid off over the years.”

While Mick’s son and Director of the business, Paul Vawdrey, guides the company through Australia’s next generation of transport, the founder is still very much involved in the production process. To this day, Mick still checks every trailer combination before it leaves

the yard to ensure customers are receiving the renowned quality Vawdrey has been known for since he opened its doors.

“Everything revolves around the quality, and I stress that,” he says.

For over 20 years, Capral has been supplying Vawdrey with quality aluminium options through a series of combinations. Mick explains that every aluminum roof on a Vawdrey trailer is made with Capral product, along with all of the aluminium extrusions on Vawdrey’s dry freight and refrigerated trailers.

“Everybody knows that our product’s better than our opposition and it’s got to be, and that’s why we use Capral’s aluminium,” Mick says.

“They’re working with everything. If we need something special, they do it for us. Delivery is on time all the time, which makes it handy because a lot of these trailers have got to be finished at a certain date because they’re replacing another one that contractor that had beforehand. Because of this, we depend on Capral just as much as our blokes.

“We’ve had a pretty good relationship, and you can see by the quality of the product that it’s second to none.”

Mick says aluminium is a good fit for Vawdrey’s semi-trailers because it looks great, it doesn’t deteriorate, and it’s light but still very strong.

The process of constructing aluminium panels is more precise these days. Vawdrey has its own extrusions for everything, meaning each component is drawn up before it is produced. From there, Capral creates a mock-up of what each panel will look like and sends it back to the team to double check that everything fits in before precision cutting and drilling is completed.

This approach allows Vawdrey to produce the end product twice as quickly, as prototypes are ready before all of the parts are even ordered.

“It’s a good working relationship, and we’ve found over the years that if you have a good working relationship it helps with everything,” Mick says. “Capral has always been really good with that, so there’s no need for us to change or look at anybody else. We are quite happy with how everything’s been going.”

E-Max talks On-Board Mass

Phillip Carthew, the Managing Director of E-Max Australia, explains that for the OBM system to be used in a Smart On-Board Mass (OBM) or IAP-M program it must be able to be integrated with the telematics provider.

“There are some instances where an OBM provider may have met the technical requirements for Category B approval for the scale but then cannot connect to an approved Smart OBM telematics provider yet,” he says. “The risk here is that there is no way knowing whether they will ever get a working connection or how far down the track that might be. So, it is

worth checking on the TCA website which telematics provider the OBM system has inter-connectivity with.”

Air-Weigh, one of E-Max’s leading products, currently has connectivity with every approved telematics provider approved for Smart OBM and IAP-M. Phillip says he and his team truly believe that they have created the most streamline and easiest-integrated OBM system possible.

“We have developed over the years a system that I believe to be one of the most user-friendly systems for use in both small and large fleet applications,” he says.

“A focus of our development was to

produce a system that, once setup, requires little or no additional pairing of truck to trailers like many of our competitors. Once installed into a fleet and set up properly, it requires no ongoing pairing of trailer scales or truck scales when they are swapped between prime movers within a fleet.

“We call this a hot swap function. Essentially it is seamless – the user has to hook up trailers as normal then and the system will automatically do the rest. By using this hot swap function and the FSK technology, we remove the time wasting for the driver of having to find and pair

Heavy vehicle operators across Australia are improving their productivity and efficiency by working within the National Telematics Framework and taking advantage of programs such as On-Board Mass systems and intelligent access.

trailers within the system while eliminating the frustration of pairing into nearby trailers that are not actual trailers behind the prime mover. Key on and go, is the best solution of any size fleet, big or small.”

Air-Weigh integrates with all approved telematics providers within the National Telematics Framework, and integration with all of these providers is also a seamless process. Once connected, the Air-Weigh system processes mass information within a secured network

Fast fact

Transport Certification Australia (TCA) generally grants approval for OnBoard Mass (OBM) systems which are independently tested against its OBM System Functional and Technical Specification. The OBM supplier meets the required technical specification as published by TCA which gives them categories A, B or C. Category B is required to be ready to be used in a Smart OBM or IAP-M program and Category A is not sufficient for Category B functions.

between the telematics device and the OBM system.

“It is a native integration with the telematics provider and there is no requirement for a third-party device such as a smart phone or tablet,” Phillip says. “Some other systems require the aggregation of information on a thirdparty device, which then passes off the information to the telematics provider.

I see some challenges here – when a driver is required to use his own phone to be a link between the OBM devices and telematics device there is a potential of privacy breaches of the data and also the unwanted collection of data through a device that does not belong to the transport company.”

When it comes to E-Max’s Air-Weigh product, Phillip explains that complete data security is one of its top priorities.

“Air-Weigh data is encrypted across the OBM network on the truck,” he says. “The system contains its own 128-bit security and electronic PIN, so there is no requirement to seal up the calibration process or any protective box. It can be an inconvenience at a calibration interval to remove the seal before calibration

and replace it with a new one after the calibration is complete, not to mention the ongoing cost of the seal. Also, a physical seal does not stop tampering and you must have seals on hand to complete a calibration to be compliant with the regulators.”

Security of the system like all other features is seamless. According to Phillip, once setup it doesn’t to be addressed again unless there is a requirement to change PIN numbers.

“We have served this market here in Australia for over two decades,” he says. “Our product comes with an industry leading three-year-warranty with national coverage. We are grateful and feel privileged to be involved in the Australian transport industry, they are some of the greatest people on earth. We look forward to continuing to serve this great sector of industry.”

Contact E-Max Australia 69 Acacia Road, Ferntree Gully VIC 3152

Ph: 1300 850 575

Web: www.e-max.com.au

E-commerce demands to lead innovation in supply chain in 2023

In a highly competitive transport and logistics environment businesses must have a future-proof strategy that helps their operations to meet growing e-commerce and consumer demands, while also being able to weather the rigours of transportation and supply chain movement. Many operators are investing in automation and advanced technologies, with more electric vehicles and freight capacity, increased delivery days, and seasonal workforce.

Our research shows that shoppers spend more at sales events that offer the deepest discounts. Despite cost-of-living pressures, consumer spending is on the rise

Richard Thame

It was predicted that 2022 would see record-breaking online shopping trends and boy, did those predictions come true. Australia Post reported that November 2022 turned out to be the biggest month in Australian online shopping history, with over six million households making an online purchase during the month, which was half a million more than the October 2022 average and up 3.0 per cent from November 2021. The two-week period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales saw online shopping figures move up 4.0 per cent from the same period in 2021. New South Wales saw the highest spending figures, followed by Victoria and Queensland.

While the early stages of Covid created continuing production constraints that affected the consumption of goods and services, the slew of repeated lockdowns and other health-related restrictions resulted in various transportation and supply chain issues that, albeit difficult operations-wise, did not have a debilitating effect on most transport businesses in Australia. But with great power comes great responsibility.

Although that isn’t exactly news to the industry as experts had already warned of supply chain pressures in the lead up to the pre-holiday and Christmas shopping season.

Holiday peak

While some in the industry had expected online shopping to weaken in November / December compared to the lockdown highs of 2020 and 2021, the result would have surprised even the best of them. Gary Edstein, DHL Express Australia CEO, expected the return to bricks-and-mortar shopping was likely to soften 2022’s peak parcel delivery period.

“I don’t envisage peak to be as big as what we’ve had before,” he said. “Back in 2020-2021 people were locked up, isolated, shopping online. Now that we’re out and about we’re spending discretionary income on things like hospitality and travel. We’ve also seen inflation and interest rates go up and there is less discretionary income for online retail, so it’s sort of softening in B2C (business-to-consumer).”

However, despite increased foot traffic back into retail stores, online shopping showed no signs of slowing. An e-commerce update published by the Australia Post Group in November titled ‘Inside Australian Online Shopping’, looked at deliveries data across 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 to predict that despite a surge in online buying in November, the Boxing Day sales would again see a hike in parcel volumes travelling across Australia.

“This year’s Cyber Weekend sales (Black Friday and Cyber Monday) was almost 7.0 per cent higher than last year’s record Cyber Weekend period,” the report noted. “We saw a significant spike in volumes a few days prior to the official commencement of Black Friday on 25 November. This indicates that retailers are beginning their sales early to capture a larger share of the wallet.”

Seasonal stress

Co-founder and director of Software as a service (SaaS) platform provider Cario, Fiona Marshall, said carriers often have to use sub-contractors or seasonal workers to tide over the holiday peak combined with staff shortages, which can affect overall operations, particularly in a consistently increasing online shopping landscape.

“Traditionally, the holiday pressure was on the Christmas period, as the main event,” she said.

“We are now seeing several new peaks, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, combined with extreme weather events such as the flooding across parts of the country.

“Carrier performance naturally drops during peak periods due to the large increase in demand, coupled with a fairly fixed supply of trucks, warehouses

and staff. Typically it is expected for this performance to rebound in January. However, this isn’t always the case, as many companies also use this time to give their team a much-needed break. This results in subcontracts taking over runs, some of whom may not understand the operation so intimately.”

Marshall said e-commerce is bringing about unique pressures on freight operations, particularly in regional and thinly populated areas. With carriers under the pump with increased demand, some end up choosing jobs that offer higher earnings. She added the industry needs to come up with better B2C strategies in handling freight as customer demands increase in a burgeoning e-commerce sector.

“Since Covid, Australia has seen a large uptake in online shopping,” said Marshall. “This can be anything from running

shoes, and grocery shopping, right through to larger items like fridges and beds. The freight network as it stands is poorly equipped to deal with servicing Australia’s sparsely populated area for the range of goods consumers may buy online. At the same time, carriers have experienced excess demand therefore have become more focussed on highmargin activities. They are therefore exiting freight that doesn’t fit their network.

“For a lot of carriers this means stopping or reducing B2C deliveries and charging

new or increased B2C delivery costs. With B2C shopping predicted to continue increasing, carriers and consumers need to find better B2C solutions. This will likely include more secure parcel letter boxes with delivery codes that can be provided to freight carriers, carriers focused on B2C deliveries like Allied, Aramex and Couriers Please. There will also likely be new, out of hours services continuing to develop around delivering to customers when they want to be delivered to (e.g. 9pm at night). Additionally, there will be services needed to deliver heavy or

…carriers have experienced excess demand therefore have become more focussed on high-margin activities. They are therefore exiting freight that doesn’t fit their network

Fiona Marshall

awkward goods to residential addresses. The current solutions are often cost prohibitive.”

Infrastructure issues

Natural disasters could continue to remain a threat to the industry, causing significant supply chain disruptions across freight networks. The 2022 flooding events across New South Wales and Victoria had serious impact on transport and delivery networks, including a train derailment in regional NSW that was caused by the tracks buckling due to unprecedented rainwater continuously seeping underneath them. The event affected freight deliveries between NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. The disruptions led various sides of the industry to rally round and call for urgent federal and state funding to create a plan to tackle the repairing and restoring of

road and rail freight networks. Regional areas rely on an accessible road network and reinstating road access as quickly as possible is critical to ensure the supplies, support and equipment needed to recover from a natural disaster can get where it’s needed, NSW deputy premier and minister for regional NSW Paul Toole said at the time.

The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) had called for governments to invest up to $1 billion to fix the flood devastated transport networks, including gazetted routes that operators rely on to carry freight. The state body said that while the repair bill may seem extraordinary for state road infrastructure damage, the impact of the transport disruptions are felt nationally, particularly in the lead up to a busy holiday season.

In NSW, the state government recently announced a $500 million funding under the Regional and Local Roads Repair Program to restore roads damaged by months of wet weather in both Greater Sydney and Regional NSW. The funding is in addition to the NSW Government’s $1.5 billion commitment to maintaining state roads each year, and on top of the $50 million already provided to help regional councils carry out emergency pothole repairs.

Earlier in May, union bodies and associations joined forces to form an alliance that sought to better protect the transport industry and supply chain sector in the face of external pressures. The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) came together to make a Retail Supply Chain Alliance (RSCA) that represents workers throughout supply chains from farms to stores. The unions say transport issues as a result of extreme weather events and supply chain disruptions in the face of the pandemic were some of the factors that pushed them to collaborate on an alliance created with a set of supply chain safety principles.

Private sector investment

At the same time as federal and state governments led infrastructure investment across various part of Australia, many big and small private players in the market invested in advanced tech and warehousing upgrades in 2022.

In November, DHL Supply Chain announced its plans to deploy 1,000 robots to its warehouses by 2025 – its largest Australian investment to date and its largest investment in robotics and automation in the Asia-Pacific region. The $150 million investment in warehouse robotics solutions and automation aims to support faster delivery to customers, improve operational efficiency, and reduce employee workloads. In addition to the investment in robotics, DHL Supply Chain aims to grow its Australian workforce over two years and will provide retraining and development opportunities to existing employees.

Also in November, DHL Express opened its first Australian shopping centre Service Point in Sydney. Located at Stockland Merrylands, the 63-square-metre store offers improved express parcel shipment services to customers. It is also DHL’s first standalone Service Point in Australia, where customers have the option to lodge a shipment in-person.

“Until recently, our Service Points have been located near airports or in business parks, some distance from the main shopping areas frequented by consumers,” said Edstein. “During the pandemic, with the closure of Australia’s international borders, more people chose DHL’s express delivery service to send important shipments overseas to their family and friends. With this new retail Service Point at Merrylands, we’re stepping into the retail sector to make express delivery services more accessible and convenient for all our customers.”

In December, Australia Post opened Perth’s new state-of-the-art parcel processing facility with advanced

We saw a significant spike in volumes a few days prior to the official commencement of Black Friday on 25th November. This indicates that retailers are beginning their sales early to capture a larger share of the wallet AusPost report

automation and the ability to process close to 200,000 parcels a day during peak periods. “Online shopping continues to grow in WA. This $82 million facility is a significant investment in our overall network and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to meet growing e-commerce needs,” said Australia Post Group CEO and Managing Director, Paul Graham.

“The automation inside the new facility means significantly reduced manual handling keeps our people safer, parcels are processed faster with more scanning events, which is fantastic for our customers.

“This state-of-the-art facility is allowing us to deliver in Perth like never before and continue to connect Australians to each other and the world.”

The extra processing capacity delivered by the Boorna Wangkiny Mia facility helped Australia Post to process over 650,000 parcels over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.

Global shipping giant FedEx also made major investments across its international locations, with $6.8 billion invested in facility improvements, network optimisation and infrastructure improvements in 2022, which was a 15 per cent increase over FY2021.

A CouriersPlease report had earlier forecast that despite a climate of high inflation and increasing interest rates, Australians may be prepared to strongly spend this year during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, and the November-December gift shopping period. “Our research shows that shoppers spend more at sales events that offer the deepest discounts,” said CouriersPlease CEO, Richard Thame. “Despite cost-of-living pressures, consumer spending is on the rise. Last year, we delivered more than eight million parcels during our peak period. This year, we’re further streamlining our processes and technologies to reduce our parcel handling times, and onboarding more drivers and franchise partners to continue delivering parcels safely and swiftly to millions of households.”

2023 outlook

The long-term effects of Covid on the Australian supply chain are still far from over. How the latest Covid wave in China is going to affect the logistics and supply chain here remains to be seen.

However, some issues may be more predictable than the others, Marshall noted.

“While the Reserve Bank has been trying to curb spending, we are still seeing consumer spending remaining strong,” she said.

“Combined with the uptick in B2C deliveries, this means that demand for freight services are still running at near capacity.

“On the supply side, we are still experiencing a shortage of drivers and warehouse workers (traditionally helped by migration). While the worst of Covid’s last wave appears to be behind us, any absenteeism still has long lasting consequences. With China abandoning its zero-Covid policy, this should mean a smoother supply of goods from China.

“In saying that, it will likely put extra pressure on the fuel price in 2023 as their demand bounces back.”

Roads Australia (RA) has called for a range of procurement reforms to lift transport infrastructure productivity and resilience. RA’s December 2022 report not only highlighted the need to encourage further momentum in procurement processes to meet the challenges of delivering the transport infrastructure Australia needs, but also includes 28 recommendations for reform across core areas of procurement designed to foster collaboration, promote innovation, manage risks more effectively and help build a stronger, more diverse workforce for the sector.

Michael Kilgariff, Roads Australia CEO, said challenges in the market have brought greater urgency to the need for reform. “Without further progress in the near term, we are likely to see government clients unable to deliver planned transport projects, industry exposed to increased risk of business failure, and the community not receiving the full benefits of projects, harming our

industry’s social licence.”

RA’s recommendations aim to reverse stagnation in productivity growth in the sector by encouraging more collaborative approaches to contracting, reducing regulatory barriers to innovation, embracing circular economy opportunities, forging improved risk management strategies and developing industry skills-driven training programs.

On the supply side, we are still experiencing a shortage of drivers and warehouse workers

Fiona Marshall

Industry experts believe that advanced planning through new customer strategies, modern technologies, partnerships, and a focus on new markets can help many businesses navigate their way out of the challenges predicted for 2023. The Australian logistics sector will face continued pressures from rising costs of fuel and warehousing spaces, labour shortage, cybersecurity risks, demand for

sustainable deliveries, new customer expectations and the risk of natural disasters, Thame predicted earlier. While the pandemic accelerated a paradigm shift towards the digital economy, both SMEs and consumers believe that e-commerce is here to stay. In fact, the overall industry and consumer outlook for the 2023 indicates a huge latitude for further growth in an already booming e-commerce sector.

Leveraging e-commerce growth is a golden opportunity for SMEs in Australia and Asia Pacific where cross-border e-commerce is estimated to grow at a 13 per cent annual growth rate between 2020-2025, a recent e-commerce trend report by FedEx Express states. Additionally, Australasia and Asia Pacific will account for more than 45 per cent of the global absolute value growth in e-commerce during 2020-2025.

The measure of all things

Since 2021, TSE Trailer System Engineering has been offering curtainsider kits and other transport solutions with integrated load restraint technologies. In the first half of 2022, the business recorded a spike in growth, producing 1,000 curtainsiders and material transport kits as well as 40,000 soft top systems. In addition to this, the OEM committed to a major project for a publicly listed client which is currently being implemented with a further 2,000 bodies. These are designed and certified according to special specifications and are to be manufactured within nine months.

To be able to meet such a sharp increase in demand, the number of employees at the firm has increased by almost 50 percent to 90 since January last year. Work is carried out in multiple shifts with up to three shifts between six to seven days a week. Depending on the size and structure of the project, TSE can manufacture partially automated series production or individual production.

In 2021, around 8,000 tonnes of steel

and around 750 tonnes of aluminium was processed at the two TSE locations in the neighbouring communities Ratshausen and Dotternhausen in Baden Wurttemberg.

In order to be able to offer customers from the vehicle construction industry added value, TSE has further developed its products either in-house or in cooperation with its strong partner network. An example of this is powder coating: Here the process flow includes a previous treatment to cover all cut and milled edges. For this purpose, TSE has set up a lean process in order and production control to be able to continue to meet its short delivery times. This results in several advantages for the vehicle manufacturer: The end user receives a finished product from a single source; all gaps, cut and milled edges are protected against corrosion with coatings inside and outside; and an additional, separate work step for colouring is no longer necessary.

Another additional benefit for customers is tarpaulin manufacture. The vehicle manufacturers can now also order the

tailor-made tarpaulin with their ordered kit and then receive the entire delivery in one shipment as usual.

Series production, individual production and project business complement each other as TSE’s competencies are concentrated in the three areas of serial production, individual production, and project business. Thanks to the growth, investments and innovations in recent years, TSE Trailer System Engineering has been able to expand its series production and is now able to operate with large quantities.

TSE Managing Director, Stephan Girnt, elaborated on the strategy.

“We continuously deliver consistently high product and process quality and know how to deal with tight tolerances on the component,” he said.

“In doing so, we rely on our experienced employees and our semi-automated production. Another important factor is our stable supply chain, which can also cushion market fluctuations and individual failures.”

With production facilities in Ratshausen and Dotternhausen in Germany, and increasing demand for its rigid body kits, TSE Trailer Engineering has experienced tremendous growth.

Travelling through transport

Straight after high school in 1984, Russell Baxter began driving trucks for his uncle at the family’s business located in a country town in Kempsey, New South Wales. Shortly afterwards he left to join TNT on the Gold Coast to deliver bricks and roof tiles, but after an accident left him unable to drive trucks for a period, he was positioned in an office role and was later influenced to go to university.

“I was going to be a mining engineer, but I decided to defer my university entry and was given the opportunity to drive trucks for my uncle. I ended up doing a Bachelor of Business in Management Economics and then I jumped up into management in the early 1990s. I also ended up driving a lot of different types of semis including flat tops, pneumatic tankers and crane trucks while I was at university because they had me relieving

people while I was on holidays.”

Following his studies, Russell ran a wharf for TNT which was the company’s first venture into the waterfront with a fleet of tippers and storage sheds. This involved integrating the logistics of a minerals sand mining operation at Hawk’s Nest from dredge, to plant, to shed, to ship, and later led to a promotion as National Operations Manager.

After deciding to move back to the Gold Coast due to family commitments and following a position at Toll in its bulk and resources side, Russell joined the team at Brambles Industrial Services which presented him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“During this role I was running the first commercially operated dual-powered road trains at Burton Coal Mine,” he says. “I was heavily involved with the development and operation of those

Russell Baxter wanted to become a mining engineer before entering the transport industry. His career, however, took a different path and over the years he has been involved in several projects of note including the first commercially operated dual-powered road trains in Australia.

DO YOU KNOW A DRIVER OF CHANGE?

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8 JUNE 2023

The Women in Industry Awards recognise outstanding women leaders from across Australia’s industrials sector.

Truck Shows & Field Days 2023

Pencil in some information on dates and venues of various truck shows, field days and road transport industry conferences both locally and internationally.

February

South Australia

evokeAG 2023

21-22 February

North Terrace

Adelaide, SA

Visit: www.agrifutures.com.au

March

South Australia

South East Field Days

17-18 March

Lucindale, SA

Visit: www.sefd.com.au

Victoria

Wimmera Machinery Field Days

7-8 March

Horsham, VIC

Visit: www.wimmerafielddays.com.au

Farm World

24-26 March

Warragul, VIC

Visit: www.lardnerpark.com.au/event/ farm-world/2022-03-24/

May

Tasmania

Agfest in the Paddock

4-6 May

Quercus Park, TAS

Visit: www.agfest.com.au

New South Wales

Tocal Field Days

5-7 May

Paterson, NSW

Visit: www.tocalfielddays.com

Queensland

Brisbane Truck Show

18-21 May

Brisbane, QLD

Visit: www.brisbanetruckshow.com.au

South Australia

South East Field Days

17-18 May

Lucindale, SA

Visit: www.sefd.com.au

AUGUST

Western Australia

Dowerin Machinery Field Days

30-31 August

Dowerin, WA

Visit: www.dowerinfielddays.com.au

SEPTEMBER

South Australia

Yorke Peninsula Field Days

26-29 September

Paskeville, SA

Visit: www.ypfielddays.com.au

OCTOBER

Victoria

Elmore Field Days

3-5 October

Elmore, VIC

Visit: www.elmorefielddays.com.au

Wandin Silvan Field Days

13-14 October

Wandin, VIC

Visit: www.wandinsilvanfielddays.com.au

The final countdown

Position your brand among the best in the business in the industry’s most trusted reference for trailer and body technology

Showcase your products and services to decision makers Australia wide with an advertisement and editorial

Features include

Modern road tankers

Container transport

Tow couplings

Finance

Insurance & repairs

Lifting equipment

Booking deadline: 3 March 2023

CON ZAROCOSTAS

Business Development Manager

M: 0422 222 822

E: conzarocostas@primecreative.com.au

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