Trailer Magazine April 2023

PUBLISHER

John Murphy

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Luke Applebee luke.applebee@primecreative.com.au

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ARTICLES

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COPYRIGHT

Trailer Magazine is owned by Prime Creative and published by John Murphy.

All material in Trailer Magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material.

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The opinions expressed in Trailer Magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

End of an era

When Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics entered voluntary administration last month the news came as a shock to many. For a business 70 years strong, comprised of 1,500 personnel and a modern fleet of trucks and trailers, along with a sizeable warehouse portfolio, this was not the end the iconic fleet deserved.

At the time of writing, I’ve seen nothing but praise for those directly impacted. Their commitment to quality, working hard, has been celebrated online in the hopes that those suddenly without employment find a new opportunity in the nation’s essential service.

Peter Anderson, the CEO of the Victorian Transport Association, said the collapse of Scott’s is sad but tangible evidence of the challenges facing freight and logistics. He said this should be a wake-up call for governments both state and federal where industry has reached the ‘tipping point’ when it comes to fuel, infrastructure, labour and business

costs. Without genuine relief, he contends that other operators may face a similar fate. Regardless, Anderson is resolute that a longterm solution will emerge.

In 2020, Automotive retail Group, AP Eagers, sold Automotive Holding Group Refrigerated Logistics for $100 million to Australia-based private equity firm, Anchorage Capital Partners. The sale included the Rand, Harris, Scott’s and JAT businesses. It is understood as part of this 2020 deal the Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics business was purchased for $75 million.

To add to the conversation, the Transport Workers Union agrees that the fall of Scott’s is a tragedy of a suppy chain crisis but caused by wealthy clients squeezing transport contracts and profiting from ‘razorthin’ margins of operators.

Michael Kaine, the TWU National Secretary, agrees that other businesses may be at risk without action.

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April 2023

See what Liquip and Lucidity are contributing to Australia’s road tanker industry today.

36 Trailer builder

This month we take a look at the latest trailer deliveries and even celebrate a milestone.

44 Tow couplings

Hyva and JOST showcase their tow coupling developments.

48 Trailer building materials/components

Familiarise yourself with these prominent suppliers. They keep this industry moving in the right direction.

68 World map

California here we come – learn a little about US-based trailer builder, Hyundai Translead.

70 Fleet of the month

Tempus Group has strengthened a new business unit.

72 Industry Innovators

Made possible by Smedley’s Engineers, Industry Innovators is a series dedicated to honouring the individuals who are transforming the commercial road transport industry.

74 What’s on Upcoming shows and field days.

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Rising costs driving fleet management

A new survey of more than 1,800 global fleet operators has revealed the foremost challenges today facing businesses in the industry.

The survey conducted by telematics company, Teletrac Navman, confirmed that rising fuel costs (39 per cent), disruption due to the impact of Covid-19 (32 per cent), and supply chain pressure (31 per cent), remained the biggest obstacles for transport companies worldwide.

“The past 12 months have created new complexities for fleets, but fuel cost rises are the number one concern for operators globally,” said Alain Samaha, President and CEO of Teletrac Navman.

“As the cost per gallon of fuel spiked throughout last year, many operators looked to overcome the rising costs with driver behaviour programs and EV transition plans,” he said.

As rising fuel costs and the global response to reducing carbon emissions continued to build, fuel conversion (23 per cent) remained a key challenge with EV supply, alongside purchase price and charging infrastructure concerns.

A third (32 per cent) of respondents said that the conversion to next generation fuels is one of their largest areas of expense (second to purchasing new vehicles).

Conversion is also high on the agenda for fleet owners due to concerns about their environmental impact.

More than a third (41 per cent) of those surveyed said environmental impact was their biggest concern.

Outside of transitioning to next generation fuels – of which 30 per cent were looking to transition to EVs in the next 12 months – maintenance of existing fleet continued to be the largest expense

for 39 per cent of those surveyed.

“With supply chain issues continuing to impact EV vehicle availability and cost, some fleets are struggling to start the transition and are having to find ways to safely extend vehicle life through preventative maintenance and more conscientious use on the road,” said Mayank Sharma, Head of Global Product Management & UX.

“However, those with the available Capex to be early movers to EVs could gain a competitive advantage as they won’t be exposed to any further rising petrol or diesel costs, they’ll be reducing their environmental impact which is coming more into play in customer contracts, and will likely benefit from government grants and subsidies that will later be removed,” he said.

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Over the course of 2023, fleets are looking to make investment in expanding their offering through technological integrations (48 per cent), while also using technology to aid compliance (39 per cent). Improving customer experience (39 per cent) and recruiting and retaining drivers (31 per cent) were also high on the list of planned investment for the next 12 months.

As with the start of any new year, the market experiences emerging opportunities and technologies that will benefit fleets.

In terms of emerging technologies, fleets are focusing on implementing more digital workflows (39 per cent) and video telematics (38 per cent), as they seek to increase efficiency and manage the top three fleet business costs (fuel, payroll, and maintenance).

On the technology front, nearly all (98 per cent) respondents said they were using

either a sourced or manufacturer-provided telematics solution across their fleet.

While vehicle tracking (43 per cent) was understandably the number one reason for utilising telematics, managing driver performance (33 per cent) was the next priority, followed by using it for proof of service/job completion (32 per cent), and of course monitoring fuel usage (30 per cent) in tough economic conditions.

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Regarding driver performance, improved driver safety (37 per cent) was the biggest benefit of using telematics, with nearly a quarter (24 per cent) stating it helped prevent fatigue on the road.

Moreover, 89 per cent of those surveyed used telematics to benchmark behaviour, with 91 per cent also seeing a reduction in accidents and 24 per cent implementing new driver behaviour to help navigate the high fuel costs.

While 31 per cent of global fleets were concerned about increasing wage demands in a cost-of-living crisis, 37 per cent are using benchmarking to provide performance-based bonuses in a bid to retain drivers.

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“Driver performance benchmarking is a great method of inspiring drivers to perform better and safer on the road,” added Sharma.

“With the growth in mobile applications it has never been easier for drivers to see how they are performing against targets and peers. In fact, 40 per cent of our respondents say that implementing telematics has helped to build a safe driving culture within their organisations.”

Increasingly strained fleets have been turning to smart technology in order to maintain productivity while putting driver safety first.

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Driver health boosted by new partnership

A new partnership between Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds (HHTS), Prime Creative Media (PCM) and Australian Truck Radio (ATR) has been announced.

As part of a joint statement PCM and ATR said they were proud to support HHTS for the great work it continues to do within the transport industry.

HHTS is a registered not-for-profit charitable foundation, created to improve mental health and wellbeing across the road transport, warehousing and logistics industries in Australia.

“People who work in the road transport, warehousing and logistics industries have long faced challenges relating to mental health and wellbeing,” stated the media release.

“Risk factors varying from long hours, shift work, fatigue, isolation, social disconnection, high job demands, and potential exposure to trauma and critical incidents are all contributing factors,” the statement continued.

“The stigma surrounding mental health is an added component that leads to poor uptake of existing resources and support services, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

“As a result, the sector is ranked the lowest of 19 sectors in Australia

when it comes to thriving workplaces, according to Superfriend’s Thriving Workplace Study in 2021.

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

“As such, the primary objective of many of our resources and programs is to drive a reduction in mental health stigma and improve access to information,” she said.

“This invaluable partnership with Australian Truck Radio provides a medium for us to connect directly with those on the road and the broad range of people in our industry working 24/7 to keep our supermarkets stocked, our cars fuelled, and our packages delivered,” said Frauenfelder.

“It’s important for everyone to know it’s ok not to be ok, and that we can all seek help, information, and support when we need it. All levels of industry need to have the knowledge and skills to be able to look after their own mental health and wellbeing and to support others when they need it.”

Getting the word out to drivers on the road through Australian Truck Radio was important according to Prime

Creative Media CEO, John Murphy, who said PCM was proud to be working with HHTS.

“It is a great way to reach a large number of those working on the road and they can listen anywhere and anytime,” he said.

“We can also share where they can obtain the resources available to assist on their road back to better mental health,” said Murphy.

This partnership aligns with PCM’s values of growth and humility by supporting HHTS and the support it provides those in need in essential service roles.

B-triple road trains boost efficiency for ACFS

Container freight specialist, ACFS Port Logistics, is now operating B-triple road trains at the Port of Brisbane.

With a combined length of 42m, these B-triple road trains can carry six 20′ containers or three 40′ containers.

The company claims these high productivity trailers, manufactured by Vawdrey Australia, will boost efficiency by approx. 33 per cent and also reduce the carbon emission footprint per container by 33 per cent.

“ACFS will be working with the terminal operators at the Port of Brisbane to ensure that this vehicle configuration is widely accepted, in order to achieve the

above stated benefits,” the company said in a statement.

“All ACFS depot facilities and empty parks are configured correctly to accommodate, as is Australian Amalgamated Terminals as a terminal, whilst DP World and Patrick discussions are progressing well. Hutchison is not in a position to adopt the new triple configuration.”

ACFS Port Logistics has thanked Nicola Murray from Port of Brisbane, Andrew Rankins, Wayne Jenkins, National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Chief Engineer, Les Bruzsa, and driver/ operator Michael Zunker for their key

involvement in the B-triple road train initiative.

Performance-Based Standards vehicles, according to Bruzsa, are significantly safer than the prescriptive fleet. He also recently told Trailer that B-triples are among the safest trucktrailer configurations on the road today.

The container logistics operator is committed to innovations that introduce smarter processes that reduce carbon emissions and increase productivity.

Last year, ACFS Port Logistics announced it was using Vawdrey A-double Titeliners along the East Coast of Australia.

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Team Global Express calls for decarbonisation

Team Global Express, among other freight companies and vehicle manufacturers, is calling for stronger government support for decarbonisation in Australia.

According to the Australian Government’s latest Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, transport accounted for 18.6 per cent of Australia’s total emissions for the year to June 2022.

National emissions for the June quarter increased by 0.3 per cent in trend terms on the previous quarter, which was driven by a 2.8 per cent increase in diesel consumption, a 2.3 per cent increase in petrol consumption and a 42.7 per cent increase in domestic jet fuel.

Team Global Express ESG Director, Heather Bone, said Australian policy around transport is actively impeding progress.

“There is no policy framework encouraging the use of low emission fuels and there is an inherent conflict of interest that fossil fuels are such a huge income source for government,” she said.

Bone explained that bio-derived fuels such as biodiesel and renewable diesel are available now, but the Australian Government’s single biggest source of income is still fuel excise from fossil fuels.

“Indeed under current tax guidelines, if you use renewable diesel, it’s still considered to be 100 per cent fossil fuel for tax purposes.

“We would be using renewable diesel now if we could get it in bulk in Australia and our customers are absolutely demanding low carbon solutions.”

Australia is also limited in its biodiesel use to 20 per cent for the fuel tax credit, according to Bone.

“Not because our engines can’t take a higher blend, but we are limited by our fuel tax credit regime,” she said.

Bone said the path to decarbonisation may contain another hurdle, in the move to electric trucks.

“They are great fun to drive, but you can’t overstate how this is going to be the biggest change to our industry since the internal combustion engine was invented,” she said.

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M1 Pacific Motorway transformation approved

One of the Hunter Region’s biggest infrastructure projects, the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace, has been approved by the Australian Government.

The $2.1 billion project will deliver a 15-kilometre extension of the M1 Pacific Motorway from Black Hill to Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, including a 2.6-kilometre bridge over the New England Highway and Hunter River.

The surrounding network will also be upgraded, including the Hexham Straight Widening of around six kilometres of the Pacific Highway/Maitland Road to three lanes in each direction between the Newcastle Inner City Bypass at Sandgate and the New England Highway at Hexham Bridge.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway, said the upgrade will cater to the transport industry.

“This project is also set to create better access for key employment areas and support freight servicing the Hunter Valley mining industry, the Port of Newcastle and interstate freight – meaning it will have local, regional and national economic benefits,” he said.

“The 15-kilometre extension includes a four-lane divided motorway with two lanes in each direction, four new interchanges and a 2.6-kilometre viaduct over the Hunter River and floodplain, the Main North Rail

Line and the New England Highway.

“We now have the official planning approval to get on with the job of delivering one of the biggest infrastructure projects the Hunter region has ever seen to make daily life easier for families, businesses and truckies.”

John Holland Gamuda Australia Joint Venture has been announced as the contractors for the southern section of the project, covering a 10-kilometre section extending from Black Hill to Tomago.

Seymour Whyte Constructions will deliver the northern contract, completing the five-kilometre section that will bypass Heatherbrae.

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, said the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace will be a key link in Australia’s infrastructure.

“Demand on the road network in this area is only expected to increase as local populations grow,” she said.

“We know that extending the M1 will provide improved traffic flow and increased connectivity.

“Getting the official tick to move forward is exciting news for the community as we continue to build the infrastructure that communities in regional NSW deserve.”

The project is expected to be open to traffic in mid-2028, weather permitting.

Freight upgrade for key Katunga intersection

Works are underway to improve a key freight intersection in the farming community within Katunga, Victoria.

The intersection of Numurkah, Sandmount and Hendys Road is being upgraded to two new simplified T-intersections.

The works will see the northern stretch of Hendys Road closed, a new right turning lane added on Numurkah Road, the relocation of the Sandmount Road intersection to meet Numurkah Road and improved signage and line marking.

Member for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes, said the upgrade will benefit heavy vehicle operators in the region.

“Katunga is in the heart of the Goulburn Valley’s rich farming region, so this upgrade will help our farmers, freight operators and suppliers travel safely and easily navigate the intersection,” she said.

The project is being delivered as part of the Australian and Victorian Governments’ jointly-funded Targeted Road Safety Works (TRSW) Program, with $105.7 million invested to deliver infrastructure projects and urgent road safety improvements in Victoria.

“We’re upgrading this intersection at Katunga to improve road conditions for motorists as they travel through the area, and to help make sure that locals get home safely,” said Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne.

The works are expected to take 14 weeks to complete, weather permitting.

Wiseway reports positive rebound in first half of FY2023

Integrated freight and logistics operator, Wiseway Group, has released its financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2022 (1H2023).

Group revenue grew to $54,991 million in 1H2023 compared with $52,781 million in 2H2022.

There has been an encouraging turnaround in Wiseway’s core Australian divisions, with a reported EBITDA of $2.4 million.

The Group’s imports operations and sea freight operations have seen an over 23 per cent increase respectively, with the perishables division reporting the biggest improvement of over 79 per cent. The big growth is a result of the company’s continued efforts to diversify its revenue streams.

The company attributes the overall growth on improving business environment, strong customer relationships, a focus on cost management and margin improvement, and a diversified business model.

“Our Australian business has consistently performed and delivered profits and value for our shareholders,” said Wiseway Co-Founder and Managing Director, Florence Tong. “It is pleasing to see the company’s imports operations rebound and our perishables divisions doing very well throughout the period.”

The overseas divisions have reported mixed profitability as the company continues to invest in building its global network.

“Wiseway’s overseas operations have seen mixed results in 1H23, as the company continues to invest in building its global network. Achieving growth and profitability in Wiseway’s overseas operations will be a key focus for management in the coming months,” Tong said.

“Management believes that business performance will improve in the next 12 months as these impacts abate. Importantly, we are seeing early indications that sales volumes are rising across the board. With China’s reopening this calendar year we should see a marked pick-up across relevant sectors.

“Furthermore, management has started implementing measures to cut costs and improve productivity and margins, following investments for growth in recent years. These initiatives include rightsizing assets and staff, consolidating contracted services and exploring additional financing opportunities.

“The Group has maintained solid revenue growth in our Australian business division. This provides a springboard for Wiseway’s international business divisions to gain momentum and attract more customers, as we work towards sustainable profitability in our new growth segments.

“With the tactical investments and foundations in place, we will focus on untapped and underserviced markets in the Asia Pacific region, and gain enhanced access to the fast-growing markets in North America and Asia.

“Our diversified business model, growing customer base, strategic industry partnerships, and expanding global footprint will enable Wiseway to benefit from growing demand for returning global trade and integrated logistics solutions.”

Construction on new Dubbo bridge begins

Major work is now underway to lay the foundations for the new Dubbo bridge across the Macquarie River in Dubbo.

The Australian and New South Wales Governments have jointly funded the New Dubbo Bridge project, which forms part of more than $1 billion in upgrades along the Newell Highway.

Upon completion, the upgrade will improve traffic efficiency and reduce congestion for the freight industry while improving access across the Macquarie River floodplain during extreme weather events.

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, said the project is hitting a milestone with the start of construction.

“Crews are now ready to start constructing the bridge’s permanent supports and 660 metre span,” she said.

“This will start with a drill rig that will bore holes into the bedrock beneath the Macquarie River to guide crews to drive steel tubes about 60 metres into the ground.

“From there, crews will construct the

columns that will hold up the new bridge.”

The bridge will use 123 reinforced concrete girders to provide the framework to hold the 5,000 tonne weight of the bridge deck.

“Once the 89 piles are installed, the first massive girders would be moved into place from late 2023,” said Sam Farraway, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads.

“We will really see this work start to come together in early 2024.”

Early works on the project started in August 2022, with the Brisbane Street and Darling Street intersection works now nearing completion.

During November last year a key milestone for the New Dubbo Bridge took place, with piling work on the floodplain adjacent to River Street, NSW.

The New Dubbo Bridge project is a $220.2 million investment, with major construction now starting and the project expected to be open to traffic by late 2026.

The Australian Government is providing $176.2 million for the bridge, and the NSW Government $44.0 million.

Arrow Transport announces new GM

Arrow Transport has appointed Barbara Karipis as its new Group General Manager.

After working alongside Arrow Transport Logistics & Quarantine Services Managing Director, Craig Webster, for nine years as an operational account at Chalmers, Karipis joined the team six years ago and has been involved in many roles including CFO, establishing and managing backroom offshore functions and setting up and managing the company’s centralised invoicing team. Karipis also played a key role in the development of Arrow’s internal operating system, AOS.

With Arrow now operating out of the five major ports around Australia, the board identified the importance of appointing the right Group General Manager to lead the company into its next phase of growth.

Managing Director, Craig Webster, said the business did not have to look very far. “With her natural leadership skills, industry knowledge, customer focus, true passion for the business and its success, a work ethic second to none, I think its fair to say she appointed herself! And I could not be happier,” he said.

Blank sailings see container volumes collapse

The decision to schedule a large volume of blank sailings to Australia by international shipping companies will reportedly impact on one of its largest shipping terminal operators.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has warned that the blank sailings will throw the waterfront industry into disarray and cause significant economic hardship, with the latest example of shipping company cartel behaviour bolstering the case for government intervention into Australian supply chain security.

Hutchison Ports has advised the Union it expects the impact of the

shipping companies’ withdrawal of sailings to its two terminals in Sydney and Brisbane will last four months.

The reduction in volumes will reportedly drive potential job losses and necessitate significant wage reductions and hardship for the entire workforce.

MUA said terminals operated by DP World in Fremantle and VICT in Melbourne are also affected.

“This is a prime example of persistent market failure in Australia’s supply chains, with Australian workers once again bearing the brunt of international cartel conduct on our coast and on our

waterfront,” said Paddy Crumlin, MUA National Secretary.

“During Covid, this cartel behaviour took the form of rampant price gouging and scheduling and vessel allocation manipulations that created a false scarcity amidst the global pandemic. “Now, they’re slashing sailings and leaving a massive vacuum behind to exert pressure once again on Australia’s supply chains and working people.”

The MUA said it will work with Hutchison and all affected stevedoring operators to protect job securities and manage the impact the scheduling gap will have on workers and their families.

CouriersPlease celebrates women in leadership roles

Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, CouriersPlease is celebrating the success of women in leadership and franchisee roles.

CouriersPlease prides itself on a supportive culture, diverse team and a high-performing female workforce throughout its 40-year history.

The company’s senior leadership team comprises 62 per cent women, an increase from the 50 per cent that represented the team in early 2022.

Female franchise territory managers are also well-represented at CouriersPlease, with 36 per cent of those roles being held by women. These roles work directly with franchise partners, working alongside them, as well as supporting and overseeing them.

CouriersPlease COO, Janine Zammit, was appointed to the role in October 2022 and has spent more than 20-years driving success and sustainable growth for companies in the finance and logistics industries.

Zammit has extensive experience in senior leadership, operational excellence and strategic planning roles. In her previous positions at Commonwealth Bank, Citibank and Prosegur, she led the companies through transformational change, innovation and expansion into new markets.

In her Sydney-based role at CouriersPlease, Zammit will drive efficiency and create a seamless experience for customers and employees. She is also driving the company’s commitment to sustainability and seeking opportunities for its franchise partners to grow profitable businesses.

Zammit said the support and nurturing of women at CouriersPlease is inherent.

“A dedication to bringing and supporting women in the industry permeates across our company and starts at the top with our senior leadership team,” she said.

“Thanks to our hardworking staff and support from our CEOs, past and present, women are present in every facet of the

company which, in turn, encourages other women to enter the industry and build their career.”

Shannon Menzies is one of CouriersPlease’s longest-serving team members, having joined the company as a relief driver nearly two decades ago before starting her business as a franchise partner 13 years ago.

Since starting as a Franchise Partner, Menzies has maintained her run in Brisbane’s Salisbury and Robertson as a one-woman business, and completes more than 100 daily deliveries to industrial, commercial and residential areas. She delivers on behalf of small businesses and large corporations, such as Kmart, and family-owned national business Richmond Wheels.

“I’ve been in the transport and logistics industry for my entire career, as I love of driving, physically active work and the outdoors,” she said.

“I also love connecting with people in the community I service, and building strong relationships.”

Brisbane-based Franchise Territory Manager, Jasmin Ginn, manages a fleet of 28 franchise partners and depot staff.

Ginn joined CouriersPlease more than a decade ago as a customer service agent, before becoming one of the company’s most dedicated and successful Franchise Territory Managers in 2017.

Ginn has achieved numerous successes in her role, including being awarded Singapore Post Best Ambassador of the Year in 2019.

Adelaide-based Franchise Partner, Carolyn Van DeLeur, joined CouriersPlease as a relief driver five years ago, before purchasing her first territory as a franchise partner in 2021.

“I was drawn to CouriersPlease by my love of the outdoors and I absolutely love my job as a Franchise Partner,” she said.

“My ultimate goal is to continue doing this until I retire.”

Since starting her business, Van DeLeur has seen an exponential growth in parcel

volumes and now delivers to 140-190 customers a day across several Adelaide suburbs, including Blakeview, Evanston South and Elizabeth.

CouriersPlease Head of People and Culture, Hannah Dunlop, recently accepted the role after more than two years at the company as a Human Resources Business Partner and Acting Head of People and Culture.

Dunlop has been in the transport and logistics industry for her entire career and is the youngest team member at CouriersPlease to hold a senior leadership position, at age 28. In her role, Hannah leads a team of four and last year was instrumental in hiring women in key roles, supporting the company’s CEO to find key talent.

“Throughout my career at CouriersPlease, I’ve also helped initiate programs that have equally benefitted both men and women, including our graduate program in 2021,” she said.

“I designed and implemented the program, which saw two operational graduates join the team, both of which remain in permanent positions at the company.

“I was also involved in the launch of our company intranet, One Place, which contains valuable resources and information for our staff, including a Mental Health Hub, with key advice to keep employees happy and healthy.”

This year, Dunlop will also play a key role in implementing a learning management system – an online platform that will provide key information and advice to Franchise Partners, encouraging them to invest in their own self-development and upskilling.

Dunlop grew her profile as a key industry and HR thought leader, delivering presentations at two Franchise Council of Australia events in 2022, including a panel on recruitment at the Victoria Chapter Breakfast and a panel on upskilling and building a learning culture at the Franchising and Small Business Summit.

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Followmont Transport embraces growth mindset

On the back of acquiring Bradco Transport in North Queensland, Followmont Transport is exploring other strategic opportunities.

Followmont Transport Managing Director, Mark Tobin, said the business has a clear business and growth strategy which sees the company target acquisitions that add value to its customers, progressively grow and ensure service levels are maintained.

Working with Bradco owners since October last year, Followmont’s Senior Executives, identified the opportunity to leverage Bradco’s existing network and provide additional infrastructure for their produce service.

This approach has reportedly resulted in 80 per cent growth for the FNQ Solutions arm of Followmont and has meant they have been able to assist their valued customers in their own business growth and begin to build solid foundations with new customers.

Tobin said the venture had been on the cards for some time as they have a close relationship with the Bradley family.

“I have the upmost respect for Ken and everything he has achieved with his family

and through his career,” he said.

“So after many discussions on his retirement, I knew Followmont would serve his customers well, carry on the partnerships he had created and also offer future growth for Followmont’s existing customers.”

Followmont’s successful model has seen the company sustainably grow year after year and future proof their business through their property portfolio.

Strategically investing in a footprint that allows their network to offer a reach and solution that works in with their customers’ needs.

“Our property is actually the backbone of our business,” said Tobin.

“We developed Bootooloo Property in 2017 with the intention of owning our own assets, controlling our future, and driving organisational agility.

“Working alongside Bootooloo, we have secured real estate throughout Queensland and New South Wales to invest in our network and complement our business strategy.”

The significant real estate portfolio allows Followmont to leverage its property plan

and maximise return on investment.

Since July 2016, Followmont has invested over $180 million in its fleet, network infrastructure and property and has plans to invest up to $230 million more in the coming years.

The latest project in Followmont’s midst is a new Sydney development, providing the company the freedom of expansion as they continue to outgrow their current site.

Even with this large project underway, Tobin said the transport leader is on a path to source suitable bolt-on businesses, that will only strengthen their pipeline.

“We will continue to grow and are on the hunt for further mergers and acquisitions,” said Tobin.

“We will do this the right way though, and our commitment and service will not waiver.

“I am so confident with our Senior Leadership Team and the level of knowledge and passion that our entire team brings.

“I know we have the right people on the ground to continue our success and invest in the right places.”

Milestone for $200M supply chain program in WA

A groundbreaking ceremony in Brookton has marked the milestone for Western Australia’s $200 million Agricultural Supply Chain Improvement Program.

Site works have begun at the Wheatbelt town on the first of 11 rail siding upgrades to optimise the safe and efficient transport of WA’s bumper grain harvests to domestic and international markets.

The upgrade is part of Package 1 of the $200 million Agricultural Supply Chain Improvement (ASCI) Program, jointly funded by the State and Federal Governments.

Constructed by WA company, Multiplant, the Brookton rail sliding extension will connect to the Co-operative Bulk Handling (CBH) grain bin allowing longer trains to load grain adjacent to the Great Southern Line without causing congestion on the main line.

To complement the Government funding and further improve grain handling and loading, CBH will also invest in rapid loading bins and elevators at all 11 rail siding upgrade sites.

In addition to allocating $68 million for 11 rail siding upgrades, $60 million has been allocated to upgrade the main Midland Rail Line between Carnamah and Mingenew, and $72 million for

investigation and recommissioning of rail lines in the Narrogin-Wickepin-Kulin area.

Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti, said WA’s agricultural products contribute $8 billion annually to its economy, and are sold to more than 30 countries around the world.

“With WA’s recent run of recordbreaking grain harvests, it’s more important than ever to optimise the efficiency of our agricultural freight transport supply chains to manage the increase in product,” she said.

“As well as an economic boost, the ability to transport more grain by rail will improve community safety and decrease environmental emissions and road maintenance, by reducing the need for road freight.”

Agriculture and Food Minister, Jackie Jarvis, said the Brookton rail siding extension, combined with CBH’s new rapid loading infrastructure, will maximise value for WA growers.

“In recent years, we’ve seen recordbreaking grain harvests, and while our supply chains have stood up to the huge level of demand, we need to keep investing in projects that will support greater capacity in the future,” she said.

Vale Gary Liddle AO

Non-profit organisation, Roads Australia, mourns the passing of former Board Director and transport industry leader, Gary Liddle AO.

Liddle served the transport industry for more than 40 years.

“In that time, he occupied senior leadership positions in the sector, including as Chief Executive of VicRoads, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure (Vic), Chair of the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), Chair of Austroads, Chair of iMOVE and Chair of iRAP,” Roads Australia said in a statement.

“Gary’s passion for the transport sector and sharing his knowledge with the next generation was further reflected in his role as Enterprise Professor, Transport at the University of Melbourne.

“In 2017, Gary was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for ‘distinguished service to public administration in the Victorian transport sector through leadership in policy direction, infrastructure development, road safety and regulatory reform.’

“RA extends is deepest condolences to Gary’s wife Meredith, his family, friends and all Gary’s former colleagues across the industry.”

Former CEO of the Victorian Transport Association (VTA), Philip Lovel AM, said Liddle was a true-blue good guy.

“He helped out the VTA many times whether it be in sponsorship, speaking at our events or assisting our individual members with their issues.

“He was also a very important leader in overseas charities involved in building houses and facilities in Cambodia.”

The VTA Executive and members extend their condolences to Liddle’s family and friends.

Liddle was also a Life Member of the Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association (ARTSA).

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Food supply shortage concerns escalate

Did you know that more than half a million Australian households struggle to meet their food needs?

Households with children have been reported to be 32 per cent food insecure over the past year compared to the national average of 21 per cent. Meanwhile, single parent households are 37 per cent severely food insecure.

The rising cost of living is the most common explanation for why people are failing to meet their household food requirements (64 per cent of food insecure households).

The cost of food and groceries is the top cause (49 per cent), followed closely by energy (42 per cent) and housing (33 per cent) costs.

Over half of food insecure households (54 per cent) had someone in paid work.

Nearly a third of households with mortgages (30 per cent) have experienced food insecurity in the last year.

The situation is even worse in regional areas (36 per cent compared to 27 per cent in metro areas).

On a typical day, 306,000 households are receiving assistance from food relief organisations.

These are the results of Foodbank Hunger Report 2022.

This pressure could be further exacerbated by the current state of Australia’s cold chain network.

Following the collapse of Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics, and the possibility of food waste as a result of insufficient storage capacity, this has potential to further disrupt the nation’s food supply.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, has witnessed the rise in demand for food relief services over the past year, but even she was shocked by the troubling picture of today’s Australia exposed in the report.

“We know how important it is for people to have access to nutritious food, yet the rising costs of energy, fuel, groceries, rent and mortgages have put this fundamental need beyond the reach of more and more people with no respite in sight,” said Casey.

“These results should make everyone stop in their tracks. The numbers being reported are massive and hard to process, but they represent the harsh reality of living week to week when the cost-ofliving crisis collides with an income crisis and the household budget now lists food as a discretionary spend.”

The report signals that the problem is only set to get worse with half of all households experiencing difficulty saying that being unable to afford food is happening more often.

The report presents key findings from a survey which was conducted between 11 and 28 July 2022, through an online questionnaire of 4,024 people in Australia aged 18 years or older. The sample was nationally representative by age, gender and location (capital city / rest of state) in each major state, with stratified quotas to ensure all major states have a robust minimum sample size of n=600 or above. The data was weighted to nationally representative proportion of age, gender, state and location (capital city/ rest of state).

‘Food insecurity’ covers a range of experiences from being uncertain about getting enough food and compromising on nutrition right through to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

Device Technologies to upscale national logistics capabilities

Medical technology company, Device Technologies, is building a custom, stateof-the-art national distribution centre.

Located in Sydney Business Park in Marsden Park, the distribution centre will be the epicentre of the Device Technologies’ operations, warehousing and logistics for Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

With completion slated for late 2023, the Device Technologies distribution centre is designed around the future needs of customers, logistics partners and employees.

“Device Technologies is driven by growth, and we have reached the stage where we must transform,” said Device Technologies COO, Steve Symes.

“This next phase of our evolution equips us with a custom-built, five-Star GreenStar rating facility designed around our customers’ needs in delivering lifesaving technologies to our hospitals.”

The company’s 30-year growth trajectory has seen various warehousing solutions, and the Marsden Park development will allow for streamlined logistics both within metropolitan Sydney and around Australia.

Device Technologies CEO, Michael Trevaskis, said the company will remain committed to its customers along its

growth by providing the best solutions to fit their needs.

“This extends to our logistics, where we aim to make the order, supply, delivery, and reverse logistics processes as streamlined as possible, creating more efficiencies for Australian healthcare customers,” he said.

Lucidity website

Shift workers face higher illness risk

Rotating shift workers eat more kilojoules, snack more on junk food and don’t eat as many nutritious foods, increasing their risk of diet-related illness a new report has found.

The Monash University-led research published in Advances in Nutrition, found rotating shift workers, many of whom are employed in transport and logistics, had higher average 24-hour energy intake than day workers.

As part of the systematic review of dietary habit and energy intake studies it was discovered that for each recorded day of kilojoule intake, rotating shift workers ate on average 264 more kilojoules than regular day workers.

An increase of just 100 kilojoules each day can lead to a .5 kilogram weight gain over a year.

Shift workers also reported unhealthier dietary patterns than day workers, including irregular meals, more snacking or eating at night, less core food consumption and more eating of discretionary foods.

In Australia, 1.4 million employees (16 per cent) have shift work as their main occupation.

Rotating shifts, where schedules vary from week to week, are the most common form for women and men.

Previous studies have found that while shift work may be more convenient or pay more, it puts workers at increased risk of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

A contributing factor to these increased risks is the timing of eating occasions.

Consuming a greater proportion of daily energy intake at night has also been

associated with weight gain and impaired glucose metabolism.

Someone who concurs with the challenges of shift work is Tania Whalen, 51, who has done shift work off and on for 20 years, and consecutively for the last six years.

Although enjoying her work in telecommunications, Tania said when she was tired it was “too easy to grab junk food such as chocolate during a shift.

“The good part of rotational shift work is having up to four days off at a time and the work has fitted in nicely with raising a family,” she said.

“The bad part is the food and nutrition challenges, especially as I often work 12hour shifts. That’s a long time to prepare food for and keep it fresh at work.”

To better understand the situation,

from the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, compared the total daily kilojoule intake of workers on rotating shift schedules with those on day

For the first time, the study revealed that rotating shift workers may be eating more kilojoules with a large proportion at night, helping to explain why they face increased risk of chronic diseases.

Clark, who works with Monash University’s SWIFt Study (Shifting weight in night shift workers) said understanding the impact of extra kilojoule consumption could go a long way towards much

needed workplace support.

She said while the disruption to lifestyle that shift work causes could not be changed, improving diets and eating patterns could make a difference.

“The study also found the diets of rotational workers tended to contain less protein and carbohydrates, and more fat than day workers,” she said.

“The foods and drinks typically consumed by rotating workers were more fried and fatty foods, confectionary, sweetened drinks and alcohol, with fewer core foods such as dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables.

“There was also a pattern of more meals per day and frequent snacking at night, with the majority of kilojoules being eaten

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“Adding to the complexities of night time eating, shift workers don’t have the same access to healthy food as day workers and may rely more on vending machines, takeaway and convenience foods.”

Monash University, in collaboration with the University of South Australia, is now trialling the effectiveness of three weight loss strategies for night shift workers. Funded by the NHMRC, The SWIFt Study considers the complexities of circadian rhythms and meal timing on weight-loss success.

“These workers are an important part of our society and are often working around the clock to keep our world functioning,” said Clark.

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Action plans

The 2023 Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy Action Plan, according to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator highlights essential safety priorities for the next 12 months.

The Action Plan supports the delivery of the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy 2021-25, which outlines the regulator’s ambitions for achieving better heavy vehicle safety outcomes and reducing the number and seriousness of crashes involving heavy vehicles.

NHVR CEO, Sal Petroccitto, said the Action Plan will deliver initiatives addressing safety risks identified through feedback from our partners, and the analysis of operational data and research.

“All of the 2023 Action Plan’s deliverables are built on the theme of partnerships,” said Petroccitto.

“Through industry partnership and collaboration, the NHVR is committed to achieving better heavy vehicle safety outcomes and reducing the number and seriousness of crashes involving heavy vehicles.”

The Action Plan’s safety initiatives were refined in consultation with the NHVR’s partners at the July 2022 Industry Reference Forum.

Partner feedback was central to determining the five broad actions to improve heavy vehicle safety.

These five actions are:

1. Delivering safer and tailored fatigue risk management outcome;

2. Empowering industry to better manage safety in their business;

3. Delivering tailored regulatory interventions to drive positive safety change;

4. I nfluencing the regulatory framework to promote the adoption of safer, cleaner, and more efficient vehicles and technologies; and

5. Providing input into government policy decisions that affect the safety and productivity of the heavy vehicle industry.

Each of the above actions contains multiple safety deliverables that will enable safer heavy vehicles and road safety for all road users.

Petroccitto said the Action Plan would help guide the NHVR to continue making strides for a safer heavy vehicle industry in 2023.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator announces its latest 12-month strategy, while the Steering Committee welcomes truck drivers to the decision-making table.

“After a busy 2022, this year we are focused on continuing to address heavy vehicle safety risks,” he said.

“I want to thank our partners that provided valuable feedback to help shape the Action Plan and position us for a proactive and successful year to come.”

In 2021-22, the NHVR delivered several safety actions that have benefited industry, community and all road users, with highlights including:

• E xpanding the availability of Electronic Work Diaries by approving its use on multiple electronic devices.

• Delivered the 9-Step Safety Management System (SMS) Roadmap, making SMS guidance material more accessible for transport operators.

• Conducted the Don’t #uck with a Truck campaign to target young learner (L) and provisional (P) licence holders.

• Supported delivery of new Australian Design Rules for increased electronic stability controls and advanced emergency braking.

• Worked with road managers to expand the gazetted network for PerformanceBased Standards vehicles.

Steering Committee welcomes truck drivers to the decisionmaking table

Senator and Chair of the Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Steering Committee, Glenn Sterle, said heavy vehicle drivers are vital to keeping the country running.

The Committee held its first meeting in Canberra last month and was reported to be the first time that truck drivers have been at the table directly informing decisions that will impact their work through increasing access to new or improved heavy vehicle rest areas.

The four industry representatives and five truck drivers discussed their priorities for the roll-out of the Government’s $140 million commitment to the building or upgrading of rest areas for heavy vehicles. A list of representatives is provided below.

The Committee is working on the guidelines for the funding program. They aim to have the guidelines finalised in coming months so that state, territory and local governments can start applying for funding for heavy vehicle rest area projects by the middle of this year.

“Having truck drivers at the table involved in the delivery of our rest areas election commitment was a key part of the announcement made by Minister Catherine King and Senator Glenn Sterle during the 2022 election,” said Assistant Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Carol Brown.

“It was a real privilege to attend part of the first day of the Committee’s meeting. The shared knowledge and experience of members of the Committee will deliver heavy vehicle rest areas in the most efficient locations.”

Sterle said the Australian community has a greater appreciated for the role the heavy vehicle industry plays in keeping the economy and local communities going following pandemic and recent natural disasters.

“During the pandemic when our truckies worked around the clock to ensure people across the country continued to receive the things they needed to keep them safe and well,” he said.

“Following the floods in Fitzroy Crossing, truckies took on the challenge of driving an extra 4,500 kilometres to get supplies to the flood affected communities.

“The Committee is hoping to hear directly from truckies about where they think there are gaps in the rest area network.”

Australian Consumer Confidence

0.5% 3.7% 7.8%

Fuelling growth

Based in Cairns, Queensland, Nqpetro was born in a small shed in 2004, starting with two full-time staff and a casual office assistant. Several of its major fuel installation projects over the years throughout north Queensland saw business pick up, and by supplying a quality product, Nqpetro was able to grow the team considerably in a short period of time. Within 10 years of operation the business was able to increase its staff

which allowed the company to achieve further growth.

Nqpetro Workshop Manager, Steven Gibney, says the company went from being a service company to building petrol stations and regional depots across Australia. And, with these locations requiring a large usage of Liquip equipment, it made sense to request and partner with Liquip to become a distributor for far north Queensland.

Steven says. “Liquip has the largest product offering of equipment that we would use on the tanker trucks and in the depots and terminals, and having a direct relationship with the Liquip head office has been really beneficial to us.”

As a result, what started out as relying on a few truck parts and loading arms has developed into a broad application of Liquip equipment across Nqpetro’s fuel tanker business.

Along with routine checks and inspections, Nqpetro also offers specialised technical installations, repairs and support in the transport and handling of fuels, customised storage and refuelling systems – with remote access monitoring setups from small 1,000-litre tanks to multiple 110,000-litre tanks. By continuing its relationship with Liquip and by promoting the sales of products while offering service, support and feedback to its own customers, Nqpetro is now beginning to branch out even further.

“We’re now developing custom storage solutions for mine sites, remote areas and even truck stops where there are container tanks with loading arms, pumping systems and card readers, so it’s important to us to have a supplier we can rely on,” Steven says.

Since becoming a distributor of Liquip, Nqpetro’s Cairns workshop has grown to include a dedicated threelane drive through area for trucks up to full B-doubles, along with a full

By officially becoming a Liquip distributor in 2014, Nqpetro (Cairns) was able to transform its capabilities by expanding its expertise in underground fuel tank and pipework installations to the transport storage sector.

for a comprehensive range of Liquip products to be kept in stock. Due to its size, remoteness and backing by Liquip, Nqpetro now has the ability to fully support Liquip products throughout the north Queensland area.

Before joining the team at Nqpetro, Steven was working for Liquip in its Sydney head office between 2003 and 2006. By being directly involved with the company, its processes and services, Steven was able to experience the superiority of the Liquip brand himself.

“Liquip is such a huge part of the Australian fuelling market and I am glad to be have gone full circle and be dealing with them again down the line,” he says. “It’s definitely been a good coincidence and a carry on of where I was and where I am now.”

According to Steven, the reason Liquip has been so successful is because of its ability to evolve and meet market demands.

“Their equipment has been around that much longer and there’s been a lot more research and development involved in it,” he says. “The equipment is just better designed, with better material, and there is more thought going into the process of the design. And even though Liquip takes up a large proportion of the market, they are always continuing the development of the equipment as they go.”

In addition, despite catering to most of the fuelling builds in Australia, helping out customers like Nqpetro is still a top priority for Liquip. Steven says this commitment to aftersales service was noticed in Nqpetro’s earlier dealings and it has been present ever since.

“When Nqpetro first started out doing

days and they’re still very helpful to this day. It’s not a chore for them to help out. We’ve always been able to contact them and it’s always a quick answer with a very clear and concise response as well. They have always taken on any criticisms or

Leading innovation

Lucidity Australia prides itself on delivering innovative designs to real world transport industry challenges and is always looking to develop engineered solutions to the many different transport sectors its customers operate in.

Lucidity is now looking to expand into the fuel tanker sector with its unique innovations. For 10 years it has been manufacturing probe overfill harnesses for the Australian tanker industry in a specialised process where each harness is complex and unique to different tanker configurations, which require a different design every time.

According to Lucidity, the manufacturing

of the probe overfill harness is not only labour intensive, but it requires unique skills to create one-off engineering drawings each time a product is manufactured. Furthermore, once all the material has been prepared for the harness, changes to the tanker specification such as length, compartment size and number of compartments can then lead to expensive rework costs.

With extensive experience in this sector, Lucidity has taken these constraints on board with the traditional probe harness design to develop a modular system which allows for flexibility in the tanker design. Because of this, it has reduced the

the Overfill Probe

need for specialist labour and bespoke engineering time – resulting in less production lead times.

Lucidity Australia President, Mathew Jenkins, says the first step was to design a purpose-built junction box specifically for the tanker industry probe overfill application.

“Typically, junction boxes used in the tanker industry for the probe overfill application are off-the-shelf commodity items with internal mounting holes,” he says. “The tanker manufacturer would then drill and tap holes in the boxes, allowing cable entry and exit. All this was then reliant on being backfilled with silicon

Lucidity is at the forefront of the industry once again with

electrical system – the first of its kind commercially available in the market.

Fast fact

Lucidity’s general electrical and wiring expertise is of great benefit to the transport industry. The Charge Plus range is ideal for protecting fridge plant batteries, while the OMP system, which allows all lighting and electrical elements of a trailer to plug into a common series of connectors, is especially handy for dangerous goods applications. Meanwhile, the Lucidity Link is a popular, durable and reliable lighting option for tippers.

with no guarantee in meeting the required IP rating, which would potentially allow water ingress and therefore make it noncompliant.”

Lucidity has designed and manufactured a probe junction specifically for this application. Its key features include a small profile design, external fastening points, water and dust-resistance to IP67, and standard industrial fittings to ensure compliance to the DG code.

Each junction box has three input/outputs to accommodate feed into the junction box, output from the junction box to the next probe position, and a probe output.

“The second step was the challenge of figuring out how to handle the probe return wiring and remembering that compliance requires no splicing while remaining competitive,” Mathew says. “We achieved this by using a proven technology taken from our IDM series of products and using a heavy duty printed circuit board (PCB) inside every junction box, which are both identical except for the probe output position on the PCB. This makes stocking these items as raw material or complete junction box assemblies very easy again, resulting in shorter product lead-times.”

According to Mathew, Lucidity has created the only off-the-shelf components series required to build, repair and maintain the critical wiring system. Designed to prevent over filling, each junction box is ordered specific to the probe location with simple point to point cables between each location, with zero

chance for assembly error.

Mat says the system was designed specifically for the tanker industry and it doesn’t require the manufacturer to have skills within the finishing area to tailor electrical components to suit an application. It also has a quick turnaround time by using specifically designed standard items, and with a fully robust and compliant design to the DG code, it’s easy to service when out in the field.

“We are extremely proud of our development here supporting the tanker manufacturing industry,” he says. “This solution delivers on cost, performance and resets the benchmark on industry best practice. Tanker OEMs are no longer walking on a tight rope of compliance from solutions not fully meeting the DG code.”

Built different

Arthur Battle was responsible for bringing Nortrans to life following World War II, and he also played a major role in the relationship between Nortrans and The Drake Group which still exists today.

Nortrans began its journey in the transport industry in 1945 by carting milk from Malanda to Townsville, Queensland under the name Malanda Milk Transport Company. Since then, however, it has evolved to transport general freight, specialised freight, heavy freight, Dangerous Goods (DG) and refrigerated produce.

Arthur bought his first Drake trailer in the 1980s – a float and dolly – which marked the starting point of the business’ eventual path to success alongside Drake, under the guidance of his grandsons, Kent and Seeton Battle today.

By meeting with Drake’s Sales Manager, Byron Foss, seven years ago in Queensland, Kent renewed the relationship between both companies with several trailer purchases that would follow. These included a 45-metre extendable telescopic steerable and a shorter quad-axle unit, several O’Phee flat tops, a drop deck skel, and more recently,

a 4x8 Jinker coupled to a 2x8 dolly. While a number of factors have contributed to Nortrans’ loyalty to Drake, Kent says it always came down to the quality of the product.

“Byron Foss is the reason we went to Drake, and the product is the reason why we stayed,” he says. “We believe their product is the best. They’re made

in Brisbane, and when we ring and order something reasonably custom, I can talk to one of the owners or even one of the designers.”

Byron has played a major role in keeping Nortrans and Drake together for business over the last seven years. With regular visits to the Battle family whenever he was in Townsville, he was

Like The Drake Group, Nortrans is a third-generation, family-owned and operated business. And, like Drake, the value of quality trailers is highly regarded in its operations.

Byron Foss and Kent Battle.

able to show Kent the care Drake is known for firsthand.

“I think it’s about relationships, really,” Byron says. “We’ve developed a very strong one with Nortrans and because of that they’ve kept coming back to Drake for more trailers. But, no matter how good your relationship is, your product has to be just as good or else there won’t be a relationship. Nortrans needs trailers that they can rely on, and we can provide that for them. So, it’s about relationships and performance together at the Drake and the O’Phee product lines.”

And, by continuing to purchase a variety of Drake and O’Phee combinations, Kent has been able to experience their wellknown durability himself.

“They’ve always performed flawlessly in their operations,” Kent says. “We were doing extendable loads up to 30 metres long on normal non-steerable equipment for a while, but after buying our first steerable one from Drake, our minds were blown on how well it worked and how efficient it made the job.

“And I was then able to say ‘we want another one of these but here’s what we want to change, here’s what we want to

fantastic and suited us even better.”

In December last year, Nortrans picked up its Jinker setup from Drake which came with a carrying capacity of around 70 to 80 tonnes. Kent was able to have complete input for this one as well, and although not all of his requests were able to be met, he says he ended up with a product he couldn’t be happier with.

“What I really enjoy about Drake is I can ring Byron and say ‘We’ve got a pretty out-there sort of idea going on at the moment for a trailer build in the future.

Here’s my idea, what do you think?’ and within the same building he can talk to the engineer, the designer and the company

to my needs every time, and that’s really important to us.

“When we buy Australian-made products, it’s a family decision for us,” Kent says. “It’s great to have something that high of quality which is made here in Australia, and my brother, my father and I are all big supporters of it. Drake is way ahead, and I think you’d be mad not to support them.”

Full orbit

Spiral Logistics was established in 1984 as a general freight company, but it has since expanded to become a premiere steel logistics provider with a custom-built fleet of more than 200 steel specialised vehicles. These vehicles are operated by 200 highly skilled steel logistics drivers delivering over 40,000 tonnes of steel each month on behalf of its steel distributor customers.

“We’ve repositioned the business as a premiere steel logistics service provider and in turn we’ve invested in a lot of new equipment,” says Spiral Logistics Managing Director, Peter Jorgensen. “We replenished a lot of the fleet’s previous equipment with new trailers from Vawdrey to meet the market’s demand.”

While Spiral Logistics had been dealing with Vawdrey on-and-off during its

history in the transport industry, the relationship between both companies began to strengthen four years ago. After undergoing a leadership change in 2019 when Peter and his business partner purchased Spiral Logistics, the fleet needed some extra support to accommodate the company-wide growth which would follow. So, Peter made the decision to get a head start with Vawdrey.

“We buy a lot of their extendable trailers for steel, and they’re very much custom built which is a big benefit for us,” Peter says. “The height of the headboard is engineered for safety reasons, the length of the tray is different and specialised, and the height of the side pins is suited to our needs.”

Spiral Logistics recently accepted delivery of another set of extendable flat

deck semi-trailers, which has become a common habit over the years. However, Peter says it wasn’t just the quality of the trailers that convinced him to go ahead with Vawdrey one more time.

“They were chosen mainly because of my relationship with Paul Vawdrey,” he says. “We are very aligned in our values in regard to premium service, and he’s got a superior product to offer the transport industry in trailing equipment. They’re outstanding, and being custom built for our operations makes a significant difference. There’s also a lot of safety measures that they put in place in their trailers to help with things like even the weight scales and axle scales. They do things like that to help with safety.”

By being included in Vawdrey’s production process by supplying its steel

Based in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, Spiral Logistics delivers steel to Vawdrey’s manufacturing plant which is then used to produce the fleet’s extendable flat deck semi-trailers.

materials, the benefits are also seen in Spiral Logistics’ orders.

“They’re brilliant with our orders, there’s no problems at all,” Peter says. “The relationship is very strong, so they’ve been able to be flexible with us. And, because we deliver steel to them, it works both ways.”

All of Vawdrey’s materials and trailers are completely manufactured in Australia to provide an unbeatable product with unmatched service. Peter says that this, as well as Vawdrey’s ability to meet his unique requests by customising his combinations to the steel industry, has been a real benefit to the fleet.

“When we talk about customising the build, they have the pin slots in the right position to accommodate the actual steel products we deliver,” he says. “Whether it be 15 metres, 16 metres, 18 and so on, they

and put the pins in place to support the product length.”

Peter has also been involved in the manufacturing process of his trailers by discussing designs and diagrams in the presale process and having input right until they arrive onsite. With all of these factors each playing a part in the Vawdrey experience, customers like Peter are all left wanting to come back for more.

“We focus on the steel industry as a steel

we’ve built our business on that vertical market,” he says. “Vawdrey has helped us to a great extent in this space. The level of engagement is very strong, and it’s a quality product.”

Contact Vawdrey Australia

1-53 Quantum Close Dandenong South, VIC 3175

Ph: 03 9797 3700

Web: www.vawdrey.com.au

Spiral Logistics Managing Director, Peter Jorgensen

Delivering the Gincor live bottom

Canadian trailer brand, Gincor Werx, manufactures a global market leading range of live bottom trailers – from three to eight axles. For 40 years, the company has been making heavy haulage and specialised trailers that are built to last and capable of handling even the toughest applications. The design elements such as the heavy-duty main beams and cross-member construction, and the components used, are chosen specifically with longevity and ease-ofuse in mind.

Leading Western Australia based trailer manufacturer, Allroads Transport Engineers, has now brought this trusted brand home. Gincor Werx’s live bottom trailer range complements Allroads’ product offering which includes walking floor trailers, side tippers, steel and aluminium end tippers, tri-axle and tandem dollies and six-axle dogs. For 30 years the family-run business has been supplying trailers to suit different industries including mining, waste, roadworks, grain, farming and fertilising across Australia. Allroads has strategic partnerships with material and components suppliers like Capral, K Hitch,

Transport Engineers, and Cargo Floors. It also has a range of trusted specialist suppliers for tarps, scales and remotecontrolled componentry.

All trailer-manufacturing operations –from chassis building to paint work and fitting – are carried out at Allroads’ 1200 square-metre facility set on five acres in Albany. The site includes a bead blasting, a downdraft paint booth, plasma cutter, automatic welding stations, and overhead cranes. The company is currently expanding the facility to include two more paint booths and additional bays to accommodate increasing production.

Allroads exclusively owns the rights to purpose-built aluminium wall panels used in walking floors. The engineering team uses Solidworks’ application to customise trailers to suit specific road train specifications or other customer requirements. The Solidworks simulation program allows the team to replicate the life cycle of a trailer into the program which then gives an indication of whether there are any defects in the product or design. This allows the team to ensure that its trailers are made to last.

Speaking about the company’s 2022

partnership with Gincor Trailers, Allroads Transport Engineers Managing Director, Jack Spaanderman, says Gincor’s live bottom trailers offer a safer alternative to the local market. Equally importantly, the suspension is suited to meet Australian standards and road conditions.

“Live Bottom Trailers provide a safe alternative to tippers, virtually eliminating the chance of a tip-over,” he says.

“Utilising a horizontal interior conveyor belt system and allowing you to unload at a controlled pace means you can safely unload materials.

“The versatility of the trailer allows product to be unloaded on uneven ground, indoors, under low structures and overhead power lines and in any weather condition. The insulated sidewalls allow hot mix products to be transported great distances while maintaining their optimum temperature. This is imperative when you may have one asphalt plant covering hundreds of kilometres of works across the state.”

Although Gincor’s live bottom trailers are a perfect fit for the asphalt transport sector, the range is versatile for all heavy applications such as mining materials,

Allroads Transport Engineers brings Gincor Werx’s cutting-edge design and advanced tech solutions down under with its live bottom trailer range.

gravel, sand, agricultural products – as well as fresh produce and fertilisers.

From a technical and design perspective, the Gincor Live Bottom trailer range includes cutting-edge features. For example, the Gincor 61° V-shaped hopper reduces bridging and build up, and allows for easier clean up. The trailer body is made using 1/8” Hardox 450, and features aluminium side wall sheeting, premium fibre strand moisture resistant insulation, and chain inspection door on each side. The Hardox 450 high tensile wear plate offers superior wear resistance and a lower tare weight.

The Gincor conveyor system includes a 915mm wide belt supported by two 101.6mm pitch 31,750 kg x 2 (63,000 kg) tensile strength roller chains running on continuous guides. The belt itself is heat, oil and chemical resistant. The chains are connected using 25.4mm x 51mm x 3.2mm steel tubes every second link on which belting is fastened to. Two 178mm x 13mm UHMW support runners cover the full length of the conveyor, thereby

with variable speed: unload high pressure relieve valve pre-set for unloading, and low-pressure relief valve set for reversing the load. The air operated tailgate with a remote system helps control the flow of the product. The Gincor conveyor system

and warranty claims.

Contact

Allroads Transport Engineers

Ph: 08 9844 3883

Web: www.allroads.com.au

& WORKSHOP

HYDRAULIC COUPLERS FEATURES

The IRH series brings to the industry a proven design for use on construction equipment, forestry equipment, agricultural machinery, oil tools and other demanding hydraulic applications.

• Poppet valves open automatically when coupled.

• Optimised internal flow channel provides better flow performance.

• Critical parts are hardened for durability.

• Socket and plug are precision machined from solid bar stock.

• Compatible with TEMA TH series, STUCCHI series.

• Uncoupled leakage prevented due to incorporated poppet valve.

• NBR O Ring

• Dependable ball-locking mechanism holds the mating halves together.

• BSPP Female Threads

Part# GP-900-7500 Hydraulic Adaptors

Part# GP-900-10000 Hydraulic Adaptors

Part# GP-901-7500 Hydraulic Couplings

Part# GP-901-10000 Hydraulic Couplings

Poppet valves open automatically when coupled

NBR O Ring Dependable balllocking mechanism

BSPP Female Threads

Chris’s Body Builders: 40 years young

At the age of 16, Chris Debono Snr started work at a small business to complete his boilermaker apprenticeship. Meanwhile Chris’ brother, Anthony Debono, also began work at the age of 16 with a three-year boilermaker apprenticeship in Maribyrnong, Victoria at the Ordinance factory.

On 19 April 1983, Chris and Anthony’s father built a small factory in Sunshine. It was then decided that they would go out on their own and so the two brothers started off making bodies, trays and truck modifications.

Anthony began by helping out after work and on weekends to finish the first two years of his apprenticeship, and for his third year, he transferred to complete his final year at what was now Chris’s Body Builders (CBB).

At the time CBB was building combinations specifically for Pridham’s Transport as its major customer. CBB only had two boilermakers at this stage, and

with Chris being one of them, this kept the two brothers busy as they built the business from the ground up. However, with a goal in sight to build a high-quality product, all of Chris’ and Anthony’s profits were invested back into the business to grow.

1985 saw business pick up for CBB, which led to it employing its first apprentice, Kyle. Not long after, Chris’ friend had a son, Paul, who was looking for work. Paul was hired as an apprentice and still works for CBB today, 33 years later.

As the business continued to grow, four additional workers were put on to meet the demand and it was decided to focus soley on tipper bodies. One of the first of those workers, Fu, is also still apart of the CBB team today.

Fast forward 10 years into the business, CBB outgrew its factory and purchased a bigger property which boasted a 2,500-square-metre shed. This was a big step up in size, and the new facility would

allow CBB to paint, fit hydraulics and do all of the fit-out work in dedicated areas. Years later, CBB got the opportunity to purchase land on either side of the current location in Sunshine, which now houses the company’s body plant, chassis plant and painting shed.

In 2018 CBB announced a strategic partnership as part of its growth and expansion strategy, which saw it sell a stake in the company to a group of six Australian investors. At the time, Chris Snr said this would secure the future of one of Australia’s few remaining home grown and operated manufacturing businesses.

“After 35 years in the business, it is time to set our sights on the future amid a rapidly changing manufacturing industry,” he said. “It is for this reason that our new partnership is great news for our customers, partners and the wider transport industry.”

It was around this period that Chris Jnr took over as CEO and began to focus

Since starting out as a small family business in 1983, Chris’s Body Builders has become one of Australia’s premier tipping equipment manufacturers. Today, each unit is still handmade and meticulously tested to live up to the family name established 40 years ago.

on growing the CBB product offering, increasing market penetration and service offerings to transform the business into what it is today.

Chris Snr’s other son, Ben Debono, was also employed after completing his apprenticeship – starting out repairing trailers and building aluminium bodies. Ben now works as the Production Manager overseeing CBB’s entire manufacturing process.

Today, in 2023, CBB now caters to a wide variety of sectors within the transport industry all over Australia, from civil all the way through to agriculture. CBB has also bolstered its offerings to its customers by providing onsite repair facilities, online parts sales and dedicated aftersales support.

CBB has played an integral part in innovation within the transport industry by pushing the envelope to gain increased productivity benefits for its clients through cutting edge design.

“We were the first to market with a three-axle PBS-approved truck and

growing in the high productivity scheme ever since,” Chris Snr says. “Now, about 70-80 per cent of the work we do is PBS combinations.”

With the capability to build three-axle to six-axle tipping dog trailers, semi tip trailers, sliders, tip over axles, jack knife B-doubles and converter dollies, CBB has continued to expand its product range over the last 40 years to now become a one stop tipper shop.

As CBB and the Debono family celebrate

company reflects on its ability to solidify its manufacturing prowess and the reputation it has built for quality trailer combinations. With its focus now set on the future, CBB is preparing for another 40 years of proudly built bodies.

Contact

Chris’s Body Builders

2-24 Burwood Avenue North Sunshine, VIC 3020

Ph: 03 9311 6124

Web: www.chrisbodybuilders.com.au

HYVA unveils new 50mm drawbar couplings

Hydraulic equipment specialist, Hyva Pacific, recently launched the Hyva JK51-C9 50mm automatic trailer drawbar coupling in Australia and New Zealand. The innovative towing solution has been designed for the Australasian markets and upgraded performance in mind, and gone through extensive testing in local conditions.

Hyva Pacific’s National Manager for Tipping Solutions and Truck and Trailer Components, Darren Stocks, says 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. A smart and compact design, and an exceptional D-Value of 325kn gives the new Hyva couplings the highest rating available in Australia and New Zealand. 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. Some of the most prominent design elements include:

• t wo built-in safety security devices and a third external security device for ultimate protection from unplanned disconnection;

• a compact auto balanced centering funnel system;

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

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

• a f unnel locking system so opening of the coupling is always possible in all angles;

• a geared handle for ease of opening which is a first for any trailer coupling and will greatly assist drivers in the uncoupling/coupling process; and

• a f ully sealed modular cast top box for greater protection and life offering easy replacement or upgrade.

The new Hyva couplings were first unveiled to a global audience at the 2022 IAA Transportation in Hannover, where the product was received with great interest and support from the international truck and trailer industry.

Darren Stocks is available via email (d.stocks@hyva.com) or phone (07 3288 2688) to discuss for sales or re-seller opportunities.

Following a successful global debut, the new Hyva couplings have hit the Australian and New Zealand markets.

In The Best

All roads lead to JOST

Based in Narangba, Queensland, BFP Engineering has been operating for over 25 years as an OEM vehicle manufacturer, with its experience in the bitumen industry surpassing well over 40 years.

BFP Engineering began manufacturing anything to do with bitumen cartage or bitumen spraying in 1994, and it still carries out these operations today. The only difference is major advancements in technology have aligned reputable companies like JOST to the final product.

“We’ve been using JOST equipment since 2015,” says BFP Engineering General Manager, Peter Smith. “We supply and fit JOST’s Rockinger tow couplings to the back of all of our bitumen spray vehicles. Also, our dog trailers have got the JOST ball race turntables and bolt-on tow eyes fitted to them.”

Peter says the reliability of JOST’s equipment was a major factor which contributed to his original dealings and the availability of the product has certainly played in favour of BFP Engineering.

“They’re easier for servicing and they’re easier to get parts for as well,” he says. “If it does need repair or anything, they’re easier to service and the parts are usually pretty easy to get through JOST. Their components are of very high quality and

they come with excellent backup, too. If we do have a problem, we can talk to the people that make them and they will do something about it.”

By adapting to changes and techniques in the bitumen industry over the years,

BFP Engineering’s decision to manufacture its bitumen spray tanks with JOST’s Rockinger couplings, tow eyes and double row ball races fitted has proven to be a worthy decision in the long run.

Fast fact

JOST stocks a wide variety of towing couplings under the Rockinger range. With extreme versatility, high-quality and reliability demonstrated in every application, the JOST product is a real game changer every application.

BFP Engineering has been able to remain relevant and at the top of its game. This has been seen most recently with pelletised rubber in the form of old car tyres being approved for use in asphalt mix.

“We’re seeing a lot more wear and tear on equipment because of the additives they’re putting in the bitumen,” Peter says. “With the weight of rubber compared to bitumen, it does tend to settle in tanks, especially on long haul operations. So, we have had to slightly change the way we are doing things. And we’re still going through changes now, but there needs to be a lot more research and development done on it. We’ve made some changes, but how effective they are will be seen in the next couple of years.”

BFP has also been heavily involved with new developments in the Dangerous Goods (DG) industry for many years due to demand from its client base. And, by constantly reviewing DG and Australian Design Rules (ADR) regulations, it has kept

industry’s evolving standards.

JOST has also played a major part in BFP’s latest innovations, by supplying a reliable product with benefits for everyone involved in the transaction of a bitumen sprayer.

“It’s just a good product, it is reasonably priced, and their technical backup is unmatched,” Peter says. “The people we deal with are there for us, and if I get a question from one of our customers it’s dealt with straight away. There’s instant response on any problems, not that we’ve had any. We’ve had a couple of questions about things, and they’ve been answered straight away.

“They also look after us for pricing because we’re an OEM manufacturer, and we pass that on to our customers so it helps them out as well.”

Because of JOST’s commitment and care for aftersales service, Peter says BFP’s customers are delighted to have JOST products fitted to their combinations.

“The customers are very happy with them,” he says. “We’ve had several people that have wanted to use different types of towing equipment in different sizes, and JOST have always helped us out with suggestions and they steer us in the right path. So, they’re pretty good with our queries as well.

“At the end of the day, JOST is excellent with their product knowledge, and we can rely on them for any new or different types of equipment.”

Always Alcoa

Quality Control Freight Management (QCFM) specialises in interstate refrigerated transport and is owned and run by Eddie Quadara, 49, who has been in the game for 30 years, and his wife, Vivianne Quadara.

“The whole fleet runs on Dura Bright,” Eddie says. “Our first brand new truck had the Dura Bright wheels and we haven’t looked back since. They’re a good quality rim, they are easy to clean, they stay shiny and the support we get from Alcoa is just the whole package.”

Starting out in Melbourne, QCFM now also operates depots in Sydney and Brisbane too, predominantly carrying produce along the eastern seaboard. Most of the trucks run as B-doubles but there are also some semis in the mix, along with a few rigids too.

For Eddie, the foray into trucking wasn’t much of a surprise.

“My dad was originally a truck driver, doing interstate, so I grew up going in the truck with Dad on the school holidays,” he says. “I’m Melbourne based and my grandparents are in Sydney, so the whole family would get in the truck to go and visit them. All of Eddie’s trucks are from Volvo, his trailers are from MaxiCUBE and Thermo King supplies the refrigeration units. Eddie’s tyres are from Bridgestone, his fifth wheels and landing legs are from JOST, the axles are from BPW, and the wheels, of course, are always Alcoa.

“When you start building a relationship, it makes it pretty easy,” he says. “Alcoa has always been easy to deal with. If there’s ever a problem, they fix it straight away.”

Eddie likes to stay loyal to his suppliers, and has been using Alcoa wheels from the beginning.

“You only know how good a brand is

when something requires attention and you get the support,” he says. “That’s what’s important to us in our line of work.”

QCFM’s interstate trucks are generally replaced every eight years or so.

“That’s when we put them on local and we get the newer batch doing the longer kilometres. We purchased six new Volvo FH Globetrotter XXL 600hp prime movers about 18 months ago.”

Eddie takes great pride in his fleet.

“Our trucks get washed once a week,” he says.

“You can see some of them are coming back pretty black at the moment because of the floods they’ve been going through. We have guys who come out and wash the fleet once a week in all states and they come out like brand new. We always get comments on how clean our trucks look.

“Customers obviously like it when the units are clean and maintained. Behind the scenes we’re also running Guardian’s Seeing Machines, satellite tracking and temperature monitoring, too. We like to make sure that’s it not just a shiny truck but the back-end runs seamlessly as well.

“And our managers play a really important part in our business too. They’ve all been with us for a long time. I’m very fortunate because many of my staff have been with me for many years. We have a really good customer base and they’re an import- ant part of our business also. It’s like a big partnership – without the staff and customers, we wouldn’t have this business.”

In the space of 12 years, Quality Control Freight Management has grown its fleet of rigids and B-double combinations which all feature Alcoa’s Dura Bright wheels.

End-to-end compliance: E-Max Air-Weigh Scales

One of the many changes over the past decade in transport has been IAP-M, Smart OBM and RIM programs on offer from the different jurisdictions around Australia.

These programs are designed to create a safer and more productive transport environment. They typically include onboard scales/weighing systems and as well as telematics devices that allow

transport operators and road managers to understand like never before actual road use in near real-time. While this is not a new concept, these tools on offer can be used to really enhance productivity in measurable ways or they become an ornament in or on the vehicle that allows passage on the road with permit in hand to get the higher mass limits and be on their way.

For both onboard telematics providers and OBM (scale) providers, they have statutory requirements to meet certain technical standards laid down by regulators. For both telematics and scale providers this technical standard comes from Transport Certification Australia (TCA) which is a federal body.

So, for the transport operator who needs to be compliant, they will need to have compliant equipment. However, it comes with some requirements which are not always apparent to the transport industry. This is when it becomes essential that the OBM supplier is completely transparent with the end user/customer.

For a scale system to be compliant at an operational level, i.e., for use in an IAP-M or Smart OBM program, it must have two components to that compliance.

1. Category B approval with TCA.

This means that it meets TCA’s functional specs as a scale and meets other requirements such as security, product ID and performance criteria when used per manufacturers instructions.

If the OBM provider meets and has the category ‘B’ endorsement of TCA, the next question would be: can that scale/OBM system be used with any telematics device for IAP-M or Smart OBM programs? The answer is provisionally yes.

2. End to end permit and program compliance.

This means to meet statutory permit requirements the scale must be able to communicate with the approved telematics provider you have chosen.

To be very clear; although some of the jurisdictions have allowed some grandfathering periods (for instance DOT/ VicRoads ends on 30 June 2023), if the scale system does not communicate with the telematics provider automatically (which OBM systems communicate with which telematics providers does appear on the TCA website) after the sunset

Understanding change and either rejecting it or having it facilitate better outcomes in business often is the difference between success or failure.

date and the OBM system does not have an approved link and is not able to communicate between the two devices, the mass limits are no longer available.

If the OBM provider has promised to have this completed by the end date and it is not communicating by that date with your telematics provider, the user will have to reduce mass limits, until the OBM supplier rectifies the problem or other remedial action is taken.

Aside from the importance of end-to-end compliance, Air Weigh through continuous improvement over the past two decades has focused on a true turnkey solution where all that is required from the driver to activate the scale system and pair all trailers is to turn the ignition on. There is no external pairing of wireless devices, no extra cords or cables between trucks and trailers as we use a closed area network system that runs through the standard lighting plug from truck to trailer. Every E-Max Air Weigh truck and trailer scale carries its own serialised ID. Once installed, the fleet can swap any trailer to any truck that has the equipment fitted as long as the 7-pin trailer plug is connected, all you need to do is turn the key.  Contact

per kilogram of aluminium is 16.8kg, which Capral slashed in half in the LocAl Green product and reduced by 75 per cent in Super Green.

General Manager of Supply & Industrial

product and ensure that their entire truck build is more sustainable, not just the operation of the vehicle.”

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) is a global non-profit organisation

to sustainable primary billet sourcing.

“It’s now something that truck and trailer manufacturers are able to offer to their end clients, and potentially even further downstream to whoever the truck is

the production of primary aluminium –meaning that some aluminium may be more sustainable than others.

The main contribution to aluminium’s carbon emissions comes from the

circularity principles.”

According to Michael, 22 per cent of the primary aluminium billet Capral used in its eight local extrusion presses in 2022 had a carbon content lower than 8kg CO2e/

Contact

Capral Aluminium

Ph: 1800 258 646

Web: www.capral.com.au

What will Knorr-Bremse bring to the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show?

Knorr-Bremse is all set to showcase its pioneering road safety solutions at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show in May.

As a global market leader for both rail and commercial vehicle braking systems, Knorr-Bremse is promising to showcase sustainable product innovations and reliable system solutions that clearly focus on commercial vehicle safety solutions for today and tomorrow.

In line with the slogan ‘Driven to create the best solutions’, Knorr-Bremse’s truck show agenda includes intensive technical coverage and multimedia demonstrations of advanced technologies for assisted and automated driving, e-mobility, sustainability, traffic and road safety and connectivity.

What’s in store?

e-Mobility and eCUBATOR®

Aiming to play a proactive role in this transformation, Knorr-Bremse has set up an e-mobility innovation unit, the eCUBATOR®. The unit’s experts take a holistic, systems-based approach to developing innovative, intelligent solutions for electrically powered commercial vehicles.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Highly Automated Driving (HAD)

Knorr-Bremse’s driver assistance systems reliably alert commercial vehicle drivers to potential risks in good time. In Australia, these products are currently available as part of the Bendix Fusion Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS), featuring Multi lane braking (MLAEBS), Highway Departure Warning and Lane Departure Warning (LDW).

Knorr-Bremse is also steadily driving forward the development of automated driving systems, right through to HAD. The ultimate goal is fully autonomous, driverless vehicles.

At the Brisbane Truck Show, KnorrBremse will present a broad, modular

approach to operational and safety-critical systems. The evolution of Knorr-Bremse’s new Global Scalable Brake Control (GSBC) into a fail-safe, highly available braking system also plays a leading role.

Trailer Technology iTEBS X Trailer EBS

Knorr-Bremse will also showcase the latest trailer technology, demonstrating the latest advances in brake and chassis control systems, wheel ends and driver assistance systems for trailers. Among this year’s show highlights are the iTEBS X Trailer EBS, which combines ECU, sensor technology and pneumatic control elements in a single compact assembly. Top quality and reliability are the hallmarks of this latest generation of Trailer EBS.

For its New Zealand trailer customers, the company is also presenting the latest generation of the parking and manoeuvring valve (POM LCon+) with raise/lower functionality, plus the new modular suspension control (CSM) for conventional and electropneumatic air suspension systems.

Other products on display include trailer-related driver assistance systems like the iReverse system (for loading ramp approach assistance), the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) and the Trailer Roadtrain Module (TRM).

iMass® On Board Mass management system

Recipient of both AFIAA Application of Technology Award and HVIA Product Innovation Award; the iMass system is a

the first offering to certify the integrated mass feature within the TEBS G2.2 electronic braking module.

The Knorr-Bremse iMass® system provides industry leading accuracy of the combination mass data in real time, via a Driver Interface Unit (DIU) located within the vehicle. The DIU is also capable of communicating mass data to an In Vehicle ‘telematics’ Unit (IVU). The iMass system is designed to allow for seamless connection between truck and trailer by leveraging off the existing TEBS truck/ trailer network, managed through simply connecting the EBS socket between truck and trailer and automatically detecting the trailer VIN and mass data through this connection. The system is TCA (Transport Certification Australia) Category B Smart OBM approved.

Sustainability

Sustainability and EcoDesign is at the forefront of every new technology developed by Knorr-Bremse. With an eye to global technology trends, KnorrBremse has aligned its latest new product developments with sustainable goals. This process, now mandatory within the company, stipulates new product development requirements relating to the selection of materials, weight reduction, energy efficiency, and higher levels of recyclability. In commercial vehicles, this results in safe, reliable systems with minimised carbon, noise and brake-dust emissions.

are driving forward the development of sustainable products, not least in the fields of steering and braking systems and electric compressors. There is also the tried and tested practice of remanufacturing – the industrial reconditioning of used parts.

Another key product which embodies the EcoDesign mentality is its new SYNACT® range of disc brake calipers with Active Caliper Release (ACR). ACR uses a springloaded system to disengage the pads from the disc and re-center the caliper. As a result, when the braking manoeuvre ends, the brake disc is released faster. This reduces fuel consumption by up to one percent, as well as brake pad wear.

Knorr-Bremse has an extensive TruckServices service network across Australia and NZ, all backed by KnorrBremse technical support and genuine replacement parts.

Knorr-Bremse has heavily invested in a completely new stand for BTS 2023 for visitors to see its audio-visual displays with interactive touch screen and professional animation. The team is also looking forward to sharing ideas and discussing the plans for tomorrow’s mobility with the visitors.

The Knorr-Bremse exhibit at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show will be located in the Great Hall, Stand 76.

Contact Knorr-Bremse Australia

Web: www.knorr-bremse.com.au

Image of the Knorr-Bremse stand at IAA Transportation September 2022.

The SAF-Holland solution

At the age of 21, Milan Stanic founded MS Haulage and purchased his first truck to begin the company’s transport operations in 2015. While building the company from the ground up during the next few years, he drove tippers and dogs before live bottom trailers were later introduced to the market.

In 2018, Milan started to expand the company as business picked up and, as a result, began investing in other trucks and trailers. Following his two previous purchases with Muscat Trailers, he returned to arrange for a third Live Bottom Etnyre trailer. This time, though, it was fitted with SAF-Holland intra axles and suspension.

“I kept looking at SAF-Holland and I had a couple of people as well that dealt

with the SAF-Holland axle and all of their equipment,” Milan says. “I started looking into it more, I did some research and then I decided to bite the bullet and come across. I think I’ve made the right decision in doing that because the trailer just works fantastic, and I think I’ll be sticking with them from now on.”

MS Haulage’s live bottom is being used to cart asphalt for roadworks across Victoria, as well as raw material such as aggregates and sands. Milan says he has used a different brand of live bottom trailers before, but it didn’t stack up to Muscat Trailers.

“I came over to Muscat Trailers because I believe their trailer is a better-quality build and an overall better product than some of the other ones out there,” he

says. “Since then, Muscat have stayed on top of everything. We’ve also built a solid relationship, because they don’t look at it as a sale and leave you on your own to figure things out. They do stay loyal.”

According to Muscat Trailers, the Etnyre Live Bottom is the fastest unloading trailer of its kind in the industry. Distributed Nationally, it has the versatility to haul hot mix asphalt, sand, gravel, recycled materials, low slump concrete and aggregates of all kinds. The Live Bottom Etnyre Falcon features a 42-inch-wide conveyor belt to reduce material bridging, twin product doors which eliminate segregation and allows loads to discharge in a mass, a lighter empty weight to give larger payloads every load, and steeper side walls to prevent sticky material from

MS Haulage’s third live bottom trailer, fitted with SAF-Holland intra axles and suspensions, has proven to be a suitable application by excelling in its cartage throughout Victoria.

bridging. And by giving SAF-Holland a chance by applying its components to this unit, Milan says it has paid off in his operations.

“I think SAF-Holland have mastered everything, and in terms of getting that trailer with their brakes and mechanisms to work with my euro prime movers, I think it works a hundred times better,” he says. “It’s much more responsive with my trucks compared to the other setups I was using, and it just feels how one unit should feel. Whereas before it felt like the truck was doing one thing and the trailer was doing another thing, and as much as we tried, we could never fine tune that set up.

“With SAF-Holland, the braking has been better and I’m sure they will last longer too. Everything has worked how a unit should work all together.”

Due to the success the unit has delivered so far, Milan thanks everyone involved, including his broker, Maclean

business since day one.

“Thank you to Troy, the team at Muscat and everyone at SAF-Holland,” he says. “I’d like to thank Dayle as well, who runs the aftersales care at Muscat Trailers here in Victoria. He’s always had that anytime, anyplace attitude. He was always there for me throughout the whole process.”

Although MS Haulage’s Etnyre Live Bottom has only done 2,000 kilometres so far, Milan rests assured that it will deliver with SAF-Holland by its side.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a great experience, just going off what I’ve heard from everyone else,” he says. “I’m looking forward to it and I don’t think there’s going to be any dramas at all with how the units are behaving and responding on their own.”  Contact SAF-Holland

BlueScope Distribution supports Victorian manufacturers

The trailer manufacturing market in Victoria has been under pressure in recent years. Aside from labour shortage, a gap in aluminium processing capabilities has resulted in inefficiencies in production and assembly for many manufacturers. As one of Australia’s largest steel and aluminium distributors, BlueScope Distribution has taken a step to ease the pressure on Victorian trailer builders by setting up a CNC flatbed router at its Clayton South warehouse in Melbourne.

Commissioned in February this year, the addition of this new capability complements BlueScope Distribution’s existing aluminium routing capability that already exist at its Perth and Brisbane locations. The new aluminium router will assist manufacturers and fabricators that build transport products including trucks, trailers, tippers and tankers by providing them with semi-finished components and ready to assemble kits ready for assembly.

It follows BlueScope Distribution’s commitment to an investment of $1.01M to install a custom-made routing machine that enables it to process aluminium plate and sheet products into custom sizes and componentry for its customers.

As one of the largest of its kind in Victoria, this new machine has the ability to profile complex custom shapes with precision, ease and accuracy, from large format aluminium plate and sheet up to 12.5 metres long, 3.2 metres wide and 150mm thick. The company is excited to offer this new product and service capability to customers across its broader branch networks in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

The team believes that the extralarge bed will be of particular interest to customers within the transport manufacturing industry as BlueScope Distribution can now supply a single processed 12 metre sheet, creating efficiencies by reducing the need for welding multiple sheets in their own production lines.

“Strategically we are committed to supporting our customers with their own growth journey,” says BlueScope Distribution General Manager, Sam Gerovasilis. “Our new router will no doubt play a sizable role in assisting our customers to deliver on their own manufacturing deadlines in a more efficient way. The installation of this new processing capability enables us to better

The extra-large bed of the new router, according to BlueScope Distribution, enables processing of significantly larger aluminium plates commonly used by transport manufacturers.

support our customers over the next decade and beyond.”

The prime feature of the aluminium router is its ability to process aluminium products with high precision and accuracy. BlueScope Distribution’s experienced programmers work closely with customers to provide workable solutions that assist with design and nesting capabilities, ensuring minimal wastage. The new router is capable of profiling simple or complex shapes, milling, hole cuts, material coding for identification and more.

BlueScope Distribution can also supply material to its customers in kit form, which provides significant efficiencies when assembling their end user products. Kitting enables the grouping of various products and custom cut aluminium components in the configurations required by customers.

The BlueScope Distribution team is committed to providing customers with efficient, high quality aluminium processing options that improves their operational efficiencies.

“Our customers told us that labour shortages and a gap in aluminium processing of this kind has created inefficiencies in their own operation,” says BlueScope Distribution State Manager VIC/Tas, Troy Gent. “It made a lot of sense for us to invest in state-of-the-art aluminium processing capability to enable us to better support our customers. The

extra-large bed enables us to process significantly larger aluminium plate which is commonly used by transport and marine manufacturers. We look forward to working closely with them to help them realise new efficiencies this capability will provide.”

BlueScope Distribution Melbourne is one of 16 branches across the BlueScope Distribution network that provides highquality steel and aluminium products and processing for its local and broader customer base.

The company says: “BlueScope

Distribution is nationally aligned to support the transport and manufacturing industries and we are proud to announce our increased capabilities to better service customers across a wide range of manufacturing industry segments, such as marine, architectural facade and leisure.”

Contact

BlueScope Distribution

Ph: 13 72 82

Web: www.bluescopedistribution.com.au

BlueScope Distribution State Manager VIC/Tas, Troy Gent.

Future-proofing refrigerated trailer builds

Scully Refrigerated Special Vehicles (Scully RSV) is a full-service manufacturer of refrigerated trucks, and also boasts one of the largest refrigerated rental fleets in Australia with approximately 1,000 dedicated assets for short and long-term hire. The company also offers refrigerator servicing, maintenance and repairs.

A proud Australian manufacturer, Scully RSV has been building trailer bodies ranging in size from a standard 1,500-high, one-pallet unit to suit a Ute up to a 14-pallet jumbo for 17-tonne trucks.

Scully RSV CEO, Andrew McKenzie, says the company has been manufacturing refrigerated vehicles locally in Brisbane for over 30 years. Despite the company’s dominance in the rental fleet market, the business remains equally focused in successfully evolving its manufacturing processes to ensure it can continue to meet the needs of refrigerated transport in

Australia long into the future.

“Our business operates out of two different sites at present – Archerfield and Coopers Plains,” Andrew says. “Our Coopers Plains facility does all of our heavy manufacturing of steel works, while the Archerfield site is our finishing shop, where we put the boxes together and assemble them on the backs of the trucks. We have a wide-ranging workforce that supports our mission to manufacture and deliver the most thermally efficient and trusted fleet in the market today.

“We work heavily in conjunction with our customers and their requirements. We have our standard range of trucks with more generic specs that go into the rental fleet. These are designed to suit a vast majority of customers and will cover up to 95 per cent of customers’ requirements. We also offer highly specialised vehicles with unique features built to give our customers

a competitive advantage. Our specialised products can be designed to have custom specs including unique configurations and different structural components such as, different floors, different wall thicknesses, etc. We like to work hand in glove with our customers to provide a bespoke customised solution to suit their specific freight transport requirements.”

“Our business has been historically focused on manufacturing, and it continues to be a major focus for us today,” Andrew says. “We are proud to be supporting Australian manufacturing and when you do it right like we do, there is no reason you can’t successfully manufacture here in Australia. At Scully RSV we stay abreast of the latest manufacturing technologies and efficiencies that deliver better results for our customers, who are the most integral focus of our business. We stay close to our customers and

Scully RSV has been proudly supporting the Australian refrigerated truck market for over 30 years. In recent times the business has been investing to further improve its technologies to ensure its products continue to exceed the expectations of its customers.

provide them quality vehicles at good value.”

Scully RSV is looking at manufacturing aspects that are going to affect the future of transport in Australia. An example includes following the government’s lead in terms of advanced manufacturing so as to continue creating a robust line-up of products that are ready to meet the demands of an evolving transport and logistics sector.

The company is currently carrying out extensive research and development through engineering and design projects with some universities in Queensland.

“We are looking at opportunities to get some of the smart young people from universities to bring new ideas and theories to the table,” Andrew says. “The approach is to not only provide pathways for the next generation of engineers to join the business, but to build great products that will support the local industry and further push the envelope on developing cutting-

edge manufacturing here in Australia.

“We’re addressing questions like: what does the next rigid body look like from a thermal efficiency standpoint? How do we make the most efficient vehicle for our customers? How does this mission of efficiency change the specifications? Do our customers need better ingress and egress to make load movements faster? Are we able to engineer new features in our products without compromising the structural integrity or the thermal efficiency of the vehicle? There is a lot of work that we’re doing at the moment now, in conjunction with some of Australia’s largest universities, and we’re sure that we’re continuing on the pathway of success that was forged when the business was first established.”

Contact Scully RSV

Ph: 1800 728 559

Web: www.scullyrsv.com.au

Risky business

The road transportation of dangerous goods is challenging work. While Australia is working towards better standards to improve the efficiency and safety of the task, recent incidents highlight the importance of operating a smooth supply chain.

Substances or materials that pose a risk to health, safety, property or the environment can generally be defined as Dangerous Goods (DG). Such goods typically require special handling and transport measures to ensure they are safely transported.

The Australian Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code) is used to classify and transport DG and comprises nine categories based on explosiveness, flammability, toxicity, corrosiveness and radioactive properties.

Each class has specific rules and regulations for their transport, handling and storage. Some examples include: explosives, such as fireworks, ammunition and blasting agents; flammable liquids, such as gasoline, diesel and ethanol; toxic gases, such as chlorine, ammonia and carbon monoxide; corrosive substances, such as battery acid and hydrochloric acid; and radioactive materals, such as uranium and plutonium.

The transportation of DG in Australia is strictly regulated and certain types of dangerous goods require special permits and training. Other regulations include proper labelling, packaging and handling procedures.

At the time of writing, the National Transport Commission is facilitating a thorough review of the ADG Code. This work aims to develop a world standard ADG Code with a focus on the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail.

The Commission is working with stakeholders to undertake a full review of the ADG Code and is also seeking feedback on the first two discussion papers developed by experts in its working group. These papers are part of a series of topic-specific papers. Over the next 12 months there will be opportunities for interested parties to comment on other provisions of the code.

NBTA launches education program

The National Bulk Tanker Association (NBTA) recently launched the DG101

education program for those involved in the bulk road transport of Dangerous Goods (DG).

The online education and awareness program provides detailed information about the obligations of all personnel involved in the dangerous goods industry.

NBTA Chair, Justin Keast, said the safety program comprises 12 modules aimed at drivers, loaders, supervisors, maintenance staff and transport managers.

The DG industry, according to Keast, is governed by strict rules and regulations that must be followed and we have spent the last 12 months developing an online program that is easy to use and interactive.

The 12 modules cover legal requirements, codes, placarding, safety equipment, procedures on the road, maintenance and Transport Emergency Response Plans.

The Safety program funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), supported by the Australian Government and has been developed with experts from the NBTA and industry. NBTA Executive Director, Anthony Germanchev, said the program is available online and is free for NBTA members but costs $149 for nonmembers. With each module participants are given an instructional video followed by a short test and a Certificate of Completion.

NHVR CEO, Sal Petroccitto, said the Dangerous Goods Education Program will deliver tangible safety benefits for everyone involved in the road transport of dangerous goods.

“Congratulations to NBTA on releasing a practical resource that will raise awareness and provide helpful information on mitigating the risks of dangerous goods incidents across Australia.

“This initiative will help drivers, operators, contractors, consignors, loaders and their supervisors and

managers better understand their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring their own safety as well as the safety of the emergency response sector and wider community.”

Missing radioactive material incident

Earlier this year, emergency services secured a Caesium-137 source which had fallen out of a truck. The search, led by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), spanned 1,400 kilometres from the outback to metropolitan Perth and yielded success in just seven days.

The tiny capsule (6mm in diameter, 8mm tall) was located two-metres off the northbound roadside edge of Great Northern Highway. It was discovered by a vehicle search crew which was using specialised radiation equipment.

The capsule was securely transported in a lead container to Newman for secure storage last night and has been taken to a WA health facility in Perth.

Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, Darren Klemm AFSM, commended the extraordinary efforts of all agencies and personnel involved in the operation.

“We have essentially found the needle in the haystack,” said Klemm. When you consider the challenge of finding an object smaller than a 10-cent coin along a 1,400-kilometre stretch of Great Northern Highway, it is a tremendous result.”

Fire and Emergency Services called on a large number of agencies to assist during this search.

Western Australia Chief Health Officer and Chair of the Radiological Council, Dr Andrew Robertson, said the chances of anyone being contaminated by the source were extremely remote.

“As I have mentioned previously, to be at risk of radiation exposure you need to be close to the source for a period of time,” said Dr Robertson. “If you were one metre away from the source for one hour, that would be the equivalent of receiving the radiation dose of 10 X-rays. This is a great result for the community of Western Australia.”

In the lead-up to the find, the substance, which is used in mining operations, had gone missing between a mine site north of Newman and the

north-eastern parts of Perth between 1016 January.

The Government of Western Australia Department of Health said in a statement the capsule cannot be weaponised but it can cause serious health consequences. People were urged not to touch the radioactive capsule.

How did the radioactive capsule in Western Australia go missing?

Authorities speculate the capsule fell through a hole where a bolt had been dislodged after a container collapsed inside the heavy vehicle.

Radiation Services WA General Manager, Lauren Steen, said this scenario is highly unlikely due to the safety measures typically in place for transporting radioactive materials.

“Typically they’re transported in highly protected casing that are subject to a certification verification stage,” Steen told ABC. “The housing is subjected to rigorous testing for vibrations, heat, high impact. If the source is certified and the packaging and the transport requirements … basically make it a very unlikely occurrence.”

Mining company, Rio Tinto, reported the capsule was lost while being transported by a contractor. It is also working with expert radioactive materials handlers to handle and package safely transport it offsite.

The Authorities involved in the search for the radioactive capsule anticipate it could take weeks to cover the potential search area.

A weak link in the Chain of Responsibility?

Radiation Services WA claim there are thousands of these sources around WA which are used and transported without any issues.

In this instance, however, there was a failure of the control measures typically implemented.

“Radioactive sources are typically highly protected within a source housing,” said Radiation Services WA. “This protects us from the radiation emitted and protects the source from damage. Sources are used commonly for density or level detection in processing plants in the mining and oil and gas sectors. These sources (and housings) are designed to be installed and left in place for 15 years without any attention (apart from regular

auditing). The housings are certified to be safe when subject to corrosion and vibration and can withstand a fall from 9m, or subject to 800 deg C for 30 minutes, with minimal impact. Transporting radiation sources is also subject to strict controls relating to the training of personnel, packaging requirements and controls for safe handling and emergency response.”

What you need to know about the source, Caesium-137

Caesium-137 is reported to emit both beta and gamma radiation and has a half-life of 30 years.

activity.”

The source is also reported to be in a ceramic form and is double encapsulated in stainless steel.

“The source encapsulation would be to an ISO certified standard – and is known as ‘Special Form’ under transport regulations,” said Radiation Services WA. “This means that the main risk from these sources is from external radiation only. “It’s likely this source has decayed from its original 18.5 GBq, but if it was at its full activity, we can calculate some hypothetical dose rates from an ‘unshielded’ source using what is known as a gamma factor or specific gamma ray

To put the health risk of exposure into perspective, spending an hour from one metre of the radioactive capsule is close to:

• A normal amount of background radiation in Australia in a year – which is around 1.5 mSv.

• A round 17 normal chest x-rays (at around 0.1 mSv per exposure).

• The same risk of dying in a car or workplace accident in any given year. Each are around 1 in 10,000 risk – 2 mSv of radiation exposure also increases your risk of contracting a fatal cancer by around one in 10,000. The risk with radiation sources

rate would be 1,665 Sv/h – this will cause some serious damage to your fingers and surrounding tissues.

Remember the Beirut blast in 2020?

Governments, industry bodies and manufacturers around the world immediately reviewed their DG supply chains when news of the ammonium nitrate detonation in Beirut, Lebanon, spread.

This unfortunate incident levelled sections of the Lebanese capital city and amounted to 190 fatalities and more than 6,000 wounded. According

confirmed that these explosions were caused by an estimated 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured for six years in a port warehouse. That large quantity of the chemical arrived in Beirut in September 2013 via the Rhosus, a sea vessel that sailed from Batumi in Georgia to Mozambique and was impounded by Beirut’s Port State Control due to severe safety issues (a hole in the ship’s hull). The ship was subsequently abandoned by its owner, a Russian businessman, Igor Grechushkin.

According to various mainstream media sources Grechushkin opted to dump the cargo rather than sell it. The DG lot

the Chain of Responsibility (CoR). The aim of CoR, according to Australia’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), is to make sure that everyone in the supply chain shares responsibility to ensure breaches do not occur. Under these laws, at least in Australia, if you are named a third party in the CoR and you exercise (or have the power of exercising) control or influence over any transport task, you have a responsibility to ensure the law (in this instance: Heavy Vehicle National Law) is complied with. A customs chief in Beirut, Badri Daher, told international media that his agency pleaded with Lebanese courts and high officials to

Lebanese judiciary. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Supreme Defence Council has vowed that those found responsible will face punishment. Economy Minister Raoul Nehme told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the state does not intend to stay silent on who is responsible for what, emphasising that those found responsible will be rendered the “maximum punishment” possible. Information Minister, Manal Abdel Samad, said that all port officials who have handled the affairs of storing the ammonium nitrate such as guarding it and handling paperwork were subject to house arrest.

Take it to the limit

Just prior to the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic, January 2020, Sean Kenney joined Hyundai Translead as the OEM’s Chief Sales Officer. Over the past three years he has been busy organising and leading the company’s sales organisation across all product lines while consistently involving himself in all the other functions as needed. Being an engineer by background, Sean also participates specifically in product development where Hyundai Translead engineers are focused on their next innovation.

“I work with, our business strategy team to formulate longer term strategies for both commercial and product,” he said. “However, my role also has that flexibility where I can get involved in any area of the business needed including finance, operations, and supply chain.”

Inter-departmental cooperation is

encouraged at Hyundai Translead, for the benefit of the end user, and so Kenney also works closely with Brian Jung, the Director of Business Strategy, to ensure alignment in their activities.

“Over the past three years, we’ve put a number of systems in place that enhance the customer experience. Interestingly, a number of those system elements were extended to internally facing aspects of the business providing other reporting and system elements for us in separate areas of the business such as the manufacturing operation.”

The challenges of Covid-19 prompted Hyundai Translead to adapt its customer experience strategy.

“When I first started, the company already planned to implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to improve relationships with customers, increase

documentation, traceability, and capture the 360-degree view of the customer,” said Kenney. “That quickly morphed into a broader customer experience (CX) architecture. Candidly speaking, as we went into the Covid situation in the pandemic, I was actually anticipating that we would hit pause on all of it. I was actually rather surprised, and quite excited, that the message from our CEO was, ‘Can you go faster?’ I think this represented acknowledgement and agreement that our commercial systems needed great investment if we were going to continue to grow in how we serve our customer. Our leadership saw the opportunity to accelerate it. And that’s what came out of it. So, ultimately, instead of pivoting, we doubled down on the strategy and accelerated from there.”

Headquartered in California, with manufacturing plants in Mexico, Hyundai Translead is humble in its approach to providing the road transport fleets of North America with durable, efficient trailing equipment.

Going with the Grain

Tempus Group, a Sydney-based company established in 2016, specialises in assisting major projects through the carting and disposal of spoil materials from construction sites. Demolition waste, taken from tunnel sites like the M6 upgrade, which it is currently working on, involves deployment of a small fleet consisting of two tri-axle ten wheelers and a truck and dog., augmented by secondary subcontractor transport fleets. The customer portfolio spans the gamut of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 civil and utility contractors, which it honours for smaller jobs. CPB Contractors John Holland and Acciona are some of the bigger firms it services given the work they provide is, for all intents and purposes, continuous. Market volatility caused by a less than stable economy, obliges the business to ensure it has a mix of different contracts always on the go. To this end, Tempus

Group also moves waste from various recycling facilities around the Sydney metropolitan area into landfill for various clients like Cobra Skip Bins and Aussie Recycling.

In recent times Tempus Group has been involved in the many moving parts of the vast WestConnex project including the M5 WestConnex and M4-M5 Link Tunnel, and the aforementioned M6 Stage 1 Project. To keep up with the hefty work schedule, Tempus is building up its own fleet, partly, to bring more commercial vehicles under its control so it isn’t as reliant on subcontractors. In Sydney it runs a Mack Trident quad-dog it purchased in 2021 and two Mack Anthems acquired to meet growth last year.

Expansion also means moving into other areas both figurately and geographically. Tempus Group acquired a Queensland business seven months

ago which carts grain, wheat and cotton seed for different farming operations and GrainCorp between Brisbane and west of Toowoomba, and further south, predominantly to Narrabri and the Moree plains. This acquisition landed the business ten B-doubles. Two additional new Mack Anthems have joined these operations on long distance runs. The Anthems, specified to suit local and regional freight distribution applications, are carrying up to 40 tonnes. Powered by an MP8 535hp engine and paired with a 12-speed mDRIVE automated transmission, both Mack Anthems (specified as an optimised spec) are ideal for either single trailer or A-Double distribution applications.

The choice of Mack originates from a recommendation made by one of the company’s key business partners, who is based in Gunnedah and operates Volvo and Mack trucks.

Powered by

Civil infrastructure waste removal carrier, Tempus Group, has invested in two Mack Anthems as it bolsters a new business arm in the agricultural transport sector.

provide a lot of advice to them,” he says. “We’ve done a lot of work on tracking

Aiming for the stars

David Hensher has produced over 700 formal publications – including 18 books –on transportation and econometrics, and since founding the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies in 1990, he and his team have made major advancements in global interfaces between transportation logistics and supply chain management.

“What I really focus on increasingly is the interfaces between transportation, logistics and supply chain from a policy and strategy perspective, and trying to make sure that what we do in academia gets translated into sensible recommendations that the government and industry might want to take on,” he says. “One of the really important areas that my institute and I have developed is new software tools, so that on the demand side, people can study how people or organisations make choices

and what sort of data is needed.”

David also runs a consultancy firm based in New York, which he says has become the most popular software package of its kind in the world.

“It is based around computer software and involves demand forecasting and understanding how people make choices,” he says. “We’ve got over eight thousand sites around the world.”

Over the years, David has also worked closely with governments for several major transportation projects. More recently, he was involved with the high-speed rail projects in Sydney and Melbourne where he forecasted demand and looked at the impact it would have on the viability of the project. In addition, he has held several appointments with Transport for NSW since 1996.

“We have a strong partnership and we

Despite originally only being formally qualified in economics, Professor David Hensher himself heavily involved with transport by making several revolutionary developments in industries around the world.

DO YOU KNOW A DRIVER OF CHANGE?

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN. Now is your chance to nominate an industry leader who you believe is advocating for positive change and deserves to be recognised.

WOMENININDUSTRY.COM.AU

THURS 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.

Got an upcoming event? Then let us know about it – email

March

Victoria

AgSmart Expo

20-21 April

Bendigo, VIC

Visit: www.acmruralevents.com.au/agsmartexpo/home

May

Tasmania

Agfest in the Paddock

4-6 May

Quercus Park, TAS

Visit: www.agfest.com.au

New

South Wales

JUNE

Victoria

Women in Industry Awards

8 June 2023

Melbourne, VIC

Visit: www.womeninindustry.com.au

JULY

New South Wales

The MHD Mercury Awards

6 July

Sydney, NSW

Visit: www.mercuryawards.com.au

August

September

South Australia

Yorke Peninsula Field Days

26-29 September

Paskeville, SA

Visit: www.ypfielddays.com.au

Germany

NUFAM

21-24 September

Karlsruhe, Germany

Visit: www.nufam.de/de

October

Victoria

PROMOTIONAL FEATURES

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

Rigid bodies

Rentals/leasing

Axles & suspensions

Lifting equipment

Agriculture equipment

Hydraulics showcase

Booking deadline: 5 May 2023

CON ZAROCOSTAS

Business Development Manager

M: 0422 222 822

E: conzarocostas@primecreative.com.au

trailermag.com.au

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