CAN 2020 END FAST ENOUGH?
C
ould anyone have imagined the twists and turns that this year of 2020 could have thrown at us? I some how doubt anyone could have seriously imagined the breadth and depth of the challenges we would face. From January and the worst and most widespread bushfires we have ever encountered in Australia to just a few weeks later floods that proved not just a saviour but also a damaging interloper in equal proportions. Before we even had a chance to reconcile the damaging summer the Covid pandemic raced into our lives in Autumn, changing almost everything and turning life upside down with forced lockdowns, border closures and bans on overseas travel. Those early days of the lockdown in April and May saw industry all but shut and commercial activity fall in a massive hole. The Government’s stimulus packages like Job Keeper and Job Seeker and aid to business through tax rebates started the economy tentatively moving again. Truck sales fell in a hole in those months but then as the reality of having to get on with things dawned, sales picked up again, sure not at record levels but certainly at a reasonable clip, particularly for an economy that wasn’t running at full speed. The impact of the pandemic overseas had significant effect on both the three local truck makers and also most of the importers with supply chain issues either holding up components or fully built trucks in the case of the later. Hino even had issues supplying light duty trucks to key client Woolworths, which was trying to meet the exploding demand for home delivery from its supermarkets. This was not because they didn’t have the 300 series trucks Woolies wanted, but because the imported CKD insulated body kits from Italy were held up because of Covid issues. There are myriad stories like that
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around the Covid situation. It shows the random affects of a very random pandemic. For all the businesses badly affected there appeared to be many winners as well. Long time rivals in the Heavy Duty sector of the truck market, Kenworth and Volvo were engaged in a tense struggle for sales through the worst of the first half of the year, with Volvo getting an edge on perennial market leader Kenworth and leading by more than 100 trucks at the end of July. It looked likely that the persistent Swede might build an unassailable lead and take the class for the first time. Covid’s hand would be felt here as well, for while Volvo had some factory stoppages early on, due to critical supply chain interruptions, the factory was able to start up again. Kenworth had a factory shutdown as well in April, but it was also able to restart and continue on under strict Covid protocols, even in the tough second phase lockdowns in Victoria. Many in the industry were predicting a Kenworth defeat but it seems Volvo has been short of stock in the last couple of months with further supply holdups, while Kenworth sales numbers have raced past and turned a 100 odd deficit into a lead of more than 100 trucks with two months to run. All of that unpredictable scenario directly as a result of the nasty pandemic. Then Volvo quietly slipped out of the Brisbane Truck Show, a story we broke on our website, confirming that the uncertainty ahead as result of the Covid crisis made it difficult to commit to the Truck Show. The decision drew rancour from various quarters, mainly disgruntled members of the truck media, but we doubt it will prove a handicap for Volvo long term and may trigger a wider debate that we have been questioning for some time regarding the real value of large scale truck shows. On that same subject, it seems Covid has also claimed the proposed TIC
aligned Melbourne Truck Show and given the lunacy of that concept, that can’t be a bad thing as far as we are concerned. So as we roll onto the end of a very intriguing and frustrating year what will 2021 hold for the truck industry in Australia? Well no one has a crystal ball so we can’t precisely say what lays ahead. However, given that it seems that the New Year may hold a useful vaccine for the virus, the levels of local transmission are down to almost insignificant levels, and Federal and state governments will, it seems, be pumping funds into major infrastructure projects at pretty high levels then there is a belief that 2021 could be better than 2020. Given that many more people will continue to work from home, then there will be, we are told, a massive and continued demand for home delivery services, whether for internet shopping, grocery supplies, furniture or whatever. That demand will need to be met by, you guessed it, trucks. So look, we don’t know if 21 will be better, it would be difficult to be worse, but lets stay optimistic, perhaps plan for the worse but hope for the best. Elsewhere in this issue we have a couple of massive road tests with significant new trucks both it turns out from the Daimler stable with drive in Mercedes’ updated new Actros with MirrorCam and its very important new Freightliner the Cascadia. We also have a great chat with former Daimler executive and now MD of Iveco Australia, Michael May, focussing on his move to the Italian truck maker and what the future holds for what is our third local truck maker. There is a road test of one of Hino’s new 300 series models and we look at UD’s new Croner models as well as a whole lot more in this issue of Transport & Trucking. So stay positive, enjoy the read and bring on 2021. JON THOMSON
