The team The team Australia trusts.

When you’re running a trucking business, or you’re out on the road, trust is everything. You need a team behind you that you can rely on - people you know are always on your side.

When you’re a trucking business, or you’re out on the road, is everything. You need a team behind you you rely - people you know are always your side.

At UD Trucks, we have one of the widest networks of sales and service experts dedicated to your success. From local dealership managers to finance specialists, from performance specialists to truck technicians, our people take the time to get to know your business, and they work with you like they’re part of the team.

At UD Trucks, have one of widest networks of sales and experts dedicated to your success. From dealership managers to finance from performance specialists to technicians, our people the get your business, and work with you like they’re of the team.

Going the Extra Mile

Going the Extra Mile

To find out more, contact your UD Trucks dealer on 1300 BUY A UD or visit udtrucks.com/australia

To find your UD Trucks dealer on 1300 BUY A UD or a

IVECO HAS LAUNCHED ITS LATEST HEAVY DUTY FLAGSHIP, THE S-WAY WITH A BRIEF DRIVE FOR AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT MEDIA AT THE ANGLESEA PROVING GROUND NEAR GEELONG. THE S-WAY IS THE TRUCK IVECO HOPES WILL RESCUE ITS FORTUNES IN THE AUSTRALIAN HEAVY DUTY TRUCK MARKET. WE WENT ALONG FOR A STEER AND TO SEE IF THE NEW TRUCK MIGHT BE IVECO’S HEAVY DUTY SAVIOUR OR A FALSE START TO THE BRAND’S HEAVY DUTY REVIVAL IN AUSTRALIA.

Abusiness pundit we heard speaking on radio the other day gave an interesting commentary on how businesses become defunct. They said that this usually happens ‘very slowly but then very quickly’.

That seems on the surface to be contradictory but when you think about it, that is exactly what often happens. There is a slow decline in business, the company and its offering lose favour and sales decline, and then all of a sudden the business is gone. It is what happened with Iveco’s predecessor International, once the market leader in Australia and a dominant force.

Slowly Inter slipped down the sales charts in Australia and its parent in the US struck trouble, so it was easier to sell its Aussie operation to aspirational Italian Iveco.

Iveco took over the Inter plant, its adaptations of the International trucks including the Acco and Powerstar, and things rumbled on, slowly losing momentum as the world changed, but not a lot did at the Dandenong factory. Slowly by slowly Iveco sales diminished and less buyers rushed to buy its heavy duty and medium duty models. Local Acco models were discontinued and a heavier import model was given the name plate. Then the Dandenong factory was closed as part of the downward spiral.

In 2010 Iveco had 7.4 per cent of the heavy market with 662 heavy sales. That slipped to 2.5 per cent and just 369 sales by the end of 2022. Back in 2010 Iveco’s total sales amounted to 1310 trucks and it had 4.5 per cent overall market share.

Last year it sold 1382 trucks for a market share of 3.1 per cent. But consider that in the 13 years between then and now the total Australian market has grown by 50 per cent from 29393 sales in 2010 to a record 44379 in 2022. They say a rising tide lifts all boats, but it seems Iveco missed the tide.

Five years ago Iveco told the Australian truck media that its X-Way was going to be the truck to turn around its heavy duty fortunes. Now it’s the S-Way that will be the new hero.

Along with the other truck media we were gathered at the AARC Anglesea test facility near Geelong, to take a look at and sample several different models and configurations. However the brief test drive was just that, a little bit brief to get a real reading on the truck, with little chance to get a full understanding of the performance of the S-Way.

The new S-Way is of course new territory for Iveco, as it is the start of its transition in Australia to what it describes as a “dedicated range of fully imported heavy-duty commercial vehicles”.

The company says it’s a move that it believes will benefit local buyers by providing them with Iveco’s latest models and innovations almost in lock-step timing with European releases.

From our brief steer in a variety of S-Way variants, we have to say, there is nothing wrong with the S-Way. It is an extremely capable truck and measures up in a whole range of ways. The problem at Iveco is not the product, it is the fact that Australian truck buyers have gotten out of the habit of buying the brand. There are probably a bunch of reasons, the fact that the opposition has improved faster, the Iveco dealer network is not as visible or motivated and marketing has not been as consistent or able to cut through as other brands have.

But can Iveco turn things around? We don’t know, but a lot of responsibility for sparking and making a turnaround successful, falls at the feet of Iveco Australia and NZ boss, Michael May.

The S-Way is a key part of May’s strategy to win back sales for the European brand which as we have pointed out, have suffered from dwindling sales in recent years, particularly in medium and heavy duty. They are hoping the new truck will not only be called S-Way but will also ‘sway’ opinion of buyers who have deserted the brand.

In Australia and NZ the Euro 6 compliant S-Way range will be available in rigid 6x2, 6x4 and 8x4 – with load share front suspension, or as a prime mover in 4x2 and 6x4 configurations. It will also have the choice of three cab options, Active Day (AD), Active Time (AT) and the largest, Active Space (AS). There is also the choice of three cab height options across the line-up.

Iveco revealed that the local S-Way will offer a choice of four wheelbases for prime mover variants, with 3650mm, 3200mm, 3300mm and 3500mm, while rigids will have a choice of 10 wheelbases, which are model dependent, and range between 3,500mm and 6050mm.

GVM and GCMs for the new range range from 18,200kg to 27,600kg (GVM), and from 50,000kg to 70,000kg (GCM) for prime movers and 27,600kg (GVM) and 70,000kg (GCM) for selected rigids (13l 6x4 and 8x4 models).

The company says that this spread of options and specification choices sees the S-Way positioned to cater for a broad range of applications including general freight and refrigeration work (including B-Double), tipper and dog duties and more specialised applications.

Power for the S-Way range comes from three versions of Iveco’s Cursor 9, Cursor 11 and Cursor 13 – two states of tune are available for the Cursor 9 and 13 variants, providing buyers with five outputs. All powerplants meet Euro6 (Step E) emission requirements which places more severe limits on engine cold start performance.

Euro 6 Step E is rumoured to potentially be the last round of emission protocols for

ICE engines with some predicting that Euro 7 may be canned so that manufacturers can concentrate R& D on zero emission power plants.

Iveco says that all of the latest Cursor engines are also compatible with second generation biofuels HVO/XTL. The engine range begins with the 8.7l Cursor 9 which produces 360hp from 1,530 to 2,200rpm and 1,650Nm from 1,200 to 1,530rpm. In the 11.1l Cursor 11, power jumps to 460hp from 1,500 to 1,900rpm and 2150Nm of torque from 925 to 1,500rpm.

The largest of the engine family continues to be the 12.9l Cursor 13 which starts with output of 530hp at between 1,600 to 1,900rpm and torque of 2,400Nm from 950 to 1,500rpm. A second Cursor 13 rating sees it produce 550hp from 1,605 to 1,900rpm with torque of 2,500Nm from 1,000 to 1605rpm.

One can only imagine the lack of a larger capacity engine will continue to put Iveco at a disadvantage against its Euro opponents.

Michael May however believes the S-Way is the hard reset Iveco needs in Australia after the shut down of Dandenong and the disruptions of Covid.

“We are very excited about the S-Way, it has been a very challenging time for us but the team has done a really good job, I think sundowning the factory has given us a really exciting opportunity to align with our global product offerings,” said Michael May.

“We’ve built a good strong core of engineers and we are going to continue to grow our customization and innovation centre to allow us to locally adapt Iveco global product,” he added.

He acknowledged the fact that Iveco has a job on its hands to win back market share and its customer base but says he believes the S-Way will motivate buyers.

Iveco says that although its latest heavy-duty truck offering is no longer assembled here, it claims Iveco ANZ has still played a “significant role in shaping the final specification of the vehicles that have begun arriving in the southern hemisphere along with prelaunch testing and validation programs”.

Iveco believes that the S-Way program showcases the high levels of cooperation within its design, engineering, manufacturing and validation centres.

The company says that the truck was designed in Germany and in Italy, but it says that there was also input from Australia and NZ, however with the relatively small volume Iveco has been selling in the heavy duty market here over the last few years, one wonders exactly how much influence such a small market might have on European design and engineering.

For all of that Iveco says the local S-Way feature unique content and specification choices, not offered in other markets. As an example, it says that on the AS B-Double model, variances include a revised battery box and air tank positioning, the addition of a heavy duty crossmember to provide extra rigidity on demanding Australian roads, along with an additional fuel tank. The company says that this model also features market specific air and electrical trailer connections, a trailer brake hand control and flat glass for its side mirrors.

It also says that a load sharing front suspension on 8x4 models delivers an extra 1000kg of capacity for the steer axles and again is unique to antipodean markets. Selected models also feature revised air cleaners and the company also says that all S-Ways benefit from optimised cooling packages designed to handle hot Australian summers.

Iveco says that S-Way underwent extensive validation programs in Europe as well as in Australia. In local testing, particularly three units which were tested in a variety of specifications operated at full operating loads which it says amassed thousands of kilometres on routes from Melbourne to Brisbane return with considerable time also spent travelling through outback New South Wales. The AS B Double model which we drove at Anglesea was one of the preproduction models used as a test truck for local validation and had logged more than 100,000 kms on its odometer.

Iveco also claimed that the S-Way drivetrains were tested using an additional four X-Way-bodied trucks which were driven over heavily undulating terrain in Tasmania and on the South Island of New Zealand.

Some of the S-Way’s key components including the ZF developed Traxon or HiTronix transmission as Iveco refers to it, along with earlier versions of the Cursor engine range, which were also fitted to selected Iveco X-Way models. With its aged local production facility in Dandenong now closed and the land sold, the new Iveco S-Ways are being assembled at the company’s manufacturing facility in Madrid in Spain, while its engines are being produced at the its Bourbon-Lancy plant in France. Iveco says that both sites are among the most modern facilities within the global commercial vehicle industry.

T&TA, lost its crystal ball a long time ago, so making a bold prediction is not something we are very well equipped to do, so whether Michael May and his team can turn things around is in the lap of future fate. We reckon May and his team are up for it and capable of succeeding but a lot of responsibility for a reborn Iveco in Australia will lie with the company’s International management, which has for many years been woefully inconsistent. We wish Iveco a lot of luck, they will need it.

IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT THE BRAND THAT CAUSES THE BOARD OF TRATON THE MOST HEADACHES AT THE MOMENT IS ITS GERMAN SUBSIDIARY MAN. IF YOU POUR OVER THE COMPANY RESULTS FROM TRATON EACH YEAR IT IS EASY TO SEE THAT MAN UNDERPERFORMS ITS SWEDISH SIBLING SCANIA, AND EVEN AGAINST THE LIKES OF TRATON’S NEW US CHILD, NAVISTAR. BUT HAVING DRIVEN THE LATEST FLAGSHIP MAN TGX WE RECKON THIS TRUCK COULD CURE SOME OF THOSE HEADACHES.

Word from Germany in recent times is that VW’s Traton operation has been putting a great deal of resources into turning its ‘problem child’ MAN around and to make it as trouble free as its other Euro brand Scania. It seems MAN’s main issues are about inefficiencies with its operations in Germany, that has seen Traton work hard to streamline things and to share technologies, components and drivelines between brands with a longer term goal of creating a strong EV brand, in line with parent VW’s overall EV drive.

In the meantime MAN still has many years of selling ICE or internal combustion engine trucks and the overhaul of MAN’s heavy duty range, which was launched in Australia in August last year is one of the key parts of the overall plan. While we covered that launch back then we had to wait a few months to get a chance for an extended drive on real roads and not on the excellent but restricted Mt Cotton Driver Training Centre on Brisbane’s outskirts. Penske, the Australian distributor for MAN is also looking to lift the sales volumes of its German brand which have been under performing in the last few years. The marque did enjoy a time in the sun during 2018 and 2019 when it took 2.9 per cent of the total market with 1218 sales and 2.8 per cent and 1027 sales respectively in those two years. Those results were boosted by the contract to supply the Australian Defence Forces with MAN trucks. However once that was fulfilled MAN’s market share fell back to just 359 units in 2020 and just one per cent share, dropping further to just 0.9 per cent in 2021 and 0.7 per cent last year for just 320 trucks.

Certainly the brand has an enormous amount of potential and it seems Penske will be pushing hard to raise MAN’s share and volume and the new trucks are the cornerstone of that push.

When we arrived at Penske Australia’s Brisbane headquarters in Brisbane we were set, and for a day at the wheel of the flagship TGX 26.640 coupled to a B Double set, and we were keen to get behind the wheel of this German big banger cabover, to see just how much MAN had done to put its flagship on an even footing with its rivals from Volvo and Mercedes and its siblings from Scania. MAN is of course a venerable brand in Europe and its native Germany and certainly it has been around in Australia a long time and was among the first Europeans to try the Australian truck market.

However while its Euro opponents have gone from strength to strength MAN has struggled to gain a real foothold in the market.

After a day behind the wheel of the new MAN TGX 26.640 we came away with the belief that the German brand and its Australian distributor really have no excuses now.

The TGX is a truly outstanding truck in every way you look at it, so now it is really Penske and MAN’s job to convince more buyers to consider the German truck. Certainly there seems to be a newly strengthened resolve at Penske Australia and a real push to lift the MAN sales boat on a rising tide of overall market sales. It certainly won’t be that easy, given the fact that we have a particularly competitive market and the propositions from Volvo, Benz and Scania are particularly compelling.

At Penske’s Wacol HQ we met up with our driving partner for the day, Derek Schoff, an affable Canadian sales guy who had been with the organisation some years, thanks to his long term involvement with its other key brand Western Star, but that’s another story. Schoff is above all a Penske guy and presented a strong case for the German brand throughout our time together in the cab.

While Penske has had control of the MAN brand for a decade this year, having purchased previous distributor, Trans Pacific in 2013, there is evidence that the organisation is putting more resources behind the brand than it has at any time in the past ten years.

MAN says that this new truck range is the first entirely new range to be developed by the German company in almost 20 years.

At the launch back in 2022, Penske’s general manager of on road, Craig Lee, made some bold statements about the distributor’s hopes for the new MAN range, saying that over the next two years or so it hopes to more than double MAN’s market share in Australia.

As we set out from Wacol on a sunny Brisbane summer day with the mercury pushing into the low 30s and the humidity clawing at 100 per cent, we were thankful for the new TGX’s comfortable and efficiently air conditioned cab.

Our route for testing on the day was to tackle the tough and challenging climb up and over Cunningham’s Gap with a run down to the Ampol road house on the outskirts of Warwick before turning to tackle the descent back down Cunningham’s and into Wacol in the early afternoon traffic.

This is a run we tackle often for tests out of Brisbane and it poses a strong challenge for any truck with a long and tough climb that has a couple of ‘kickers’.

Derek Schoff told us that the rig was grossing just shy of 60 tonnes as we set off, negotiating the roads around Penske to find our way onto the motorway west around Ipswich, and then on the single carriageway highways, out past Willowbank and Aratula to the ‘Gap.

Underneath us was the MAN 15.2 litre D38 power plant rated at 640 hp, as the truck’s nomenclature indicated, while the six cylinder turbo diesel was rated to deliver 3000Nm of maximum torque from 900 to 1380rpm.

Managing the task of putting all that to the ground was MAN’s version of ZF’s Tipmatic 12 -speed AMT which is always a lovely shifter that delivers quick and decisive cog changes both up and down the box.

At the rear the big MAN had a 3.36:1 final drive with suspension at the back controlled by electronically adjusted air bag suspension. At the front there are parabolic leaf springs. The combination provided a terrific ride quality and enabled the MAN to track precisely, which was very apparent on the at times narrow and bumpy edges of the Cunningham Highway on the way out to Aratula.

The ZF AMT is a very good transmission and is very intuitive and responsive offering fast and very seamless changes that have clearly been well matched and programmed to the torque characteristics of the MAN’s 15.2 litre engine. The previously mentioned torque characteristics of the 640 engine with maximum delivered from 900 rpm means that it can get down and work hard in the lower rev band and the Tipmatic has been programmed to make the most of those characteristics.

This became increasingly obvious as we reached and started to climb Cunninghams Gap.

On the climb over the Gap the big MAN responded strongly, with the AMT slotting down to 7th , enabling the 640 horses to power their way up over the summit with comfort and relative ease. The engine dropped to about 1400rpm at the toughest part of the climb.

The common rail turbo charged six cylinder MAN engine complies with Euro 6e which is an advanced emissions rating, thanks to two-stage turbocharging and a combination of both EGR and SCR systems and CRT, which is a ‘continuously regenerating trap’.

As well as delivering cleaner running and that higher level 6e compliance, it certainly hasn’t done anything to the fuel economy performance of the truck which proved strong and impressive during our relatively short test drive, but more of that later.

More than power and fuel economy the D38 640 was both smooth and quiet and its coupling with the final drive ratio and the 12 speed ZF AMT meant that its performance on hills was excellent while at cruise the engine ticked over at 1300rpm at the legal limit of 100km/h.

The drivetrain is certainly creditable and a pleasing thing to drive, but one wonders, with the consolidation of the Traton stable, when MAN trucks will start to feature the new Scania Super engine and a version of the OptiCruise transmission, given they are now being used in the Traton Navistar line up in the US. Traton has said that it wants to integrate drivelines across its portfolio of brands to reduce costs and simplify parts stocking across the planet, which is a concept that was pioneered by Daimler with its truck brands in Europe, the US and in Japan. Of course that is also a model that Traton seems to be keen to emulate, so the potential for an MAN powered by a Traton family Super twin-cam diesel and a Scania sourced OptiCruise would not be a surprise to us one day, given most resources are being concentrated on zero emission drivelines.

Time will tell we suppose.

While making short work of the climb up the Gap, once on top of the plateau the 640 MAN ambled along with ease before turning for the run back to Brisbane and the descent back down the hill.

This is where MAN’s impressive Turbo EVBec Exhaust Valve Brake, which delivers about 840hp of retardation force really showed its colours. The performance down the Gap, which is surely one of the most difficult descents in the country, was very confidence inspiring. Derek Schoff explained that the effectiveness of the EVBec comes from its positioning upstream from the turbo. It certainly works well and made the run down to the bottom safe and easy to manage.

A relatively short test drive like ours can’t of course give us an insight into the longer term usability and capability to cope with our tough Australian conditions, that have at times been a challenge for MANs in the past. We are told, however that part of the work on the new range has been a concerted effort to fix things that needed fixing on earlier MANs, so hopefully buyers of these new trucks will benefit longer term from improved performance and reliability.

The test truck we were steering was finished in an eye-catching gold colour scheme and certainly roused some attention on the road as did the attractive updated MAN cab design. Automotive design and particularly truck design is a very subjective thing and some might like the look more than others, but we like the appearance of these new models and we reckon they’ll capture quite a few sales.

Inside the MAN cab and behind the wheel of the TGX we were immediately taken with the simplicity of the instrument and infotainment screens as well as the switchgear and controls.

The cabin is very quiet, really nicely appointed and very comfortable, with the few hours we spent behind the wheel proving to us that you could do long periods of relatively fatigue free driving behind the wheel of the TGX. This is the result of the sum of the parts, thanks to the truck’s excellent handling and ride, great cabin, quietness and the excellent layout of the cockpit, as well as the performance of the driveline. It is all easy, unfussed and simple to pilot. Despite grossing around 60 tonnes the TGX proved extremely economical in our time with the truck, as we touched on earlier. Across the drive the truck indicated that we were averaging 2.1km/ litre which is an impressive number and we have no doubt that could be improved and bettered with more kilometres on board the truck.

The Drive the road of change new IVECO S-Way range takes the on road and liveability experience to the next level. Drivers enjoy experience with world class driver assist technology. The

IT HAS BEEN A ROUGH FEW YEARS ON AUSTRALIAN ROADS, BETWEEN THE PANDEMIC, FIRES, FLOODS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. ON THE EAST COAST, QUEENSLAND AND NEW SOUTH WALES WERE HIT PARTICULARLY HARD IN 2022 WITH SEVERE FLOODING AND IT IMPACTED MANY FAMILIES AND MANY FAMILY-RUN BUSINESSES. ONE SUCH BUSINESS WAS ROGERS TRANSPORT, CURRENTLY BASED IN THE BRISBANE SUBURB OF ROCKLEA. WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE FAMILY OWNED OPERATION AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN NAVIGATING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY.

In 2022 the family-run operation bore the brunt of damaging flooding throughout Brisbane, losing no less than 26 trucks in their fleet during the event that inundated much of Southeast Queensland and New South Wales.

“We had about three and a half meters of water through the truck depot, and we lost 26 trucks in total, about half of those were rigids and the other half were prime movers. It’s taken us a while to get back on our feet,” said Rogers Transport’s Rocklea based General Manager of Operations Brad Rogers.

Under normal circumstances the business offers a range of freight and logistics services including container movement, warehousing, local distribution and interstate freight transport. The business runs a large fleet of trucks including eight Isuzu FV Series 6x2 models.

Founded by Gary and Val Rogers over three decades ago, the successful freight and transport business moves hardware and paint supplies up and down the southeast coast.

Brad is the second generation of Rogers to take up a key role within the popular transport operation.

Brad grew up under the tutelage of his hard-working parents and is familiar with trucking and what it takes to keep the fleet on the road and drivers happy and satisfied.

“We’ve been purchasing trucks from Brisbane Isuzu for decades. They helped us recently after the floods. We probably lost 15 rigid trucks, so Brisbane Isuzu moved quickly to assist us, and we’ve recently taken delivery of six F Series Isuzu trucks, and we’ve got another six on order.

Swiftly securing new trucks to continue servicing their long-term clients has made a world of difference for a business that prides itself on reliability and attention to detail.

“The wait times for trucks is ordinarily 12 to 18 months but Brisbane Isuzu were able to secure some within about four months; it’s a huge help and its turning things around for our customers too!”

With four FVL 240-300 Freightpacks and four FVM 230-300 Freightpacks on the road around the clock, the company introduced a ‘one driver one truck’ policy which meant that each driver is solely responsible for the truck they operate.

It has been a huge success so far, seeing truck drivers take pride in the Isuzu F Series they pilot, with reduced mechanical and maintenance issues and next to no problems when it comes to upkeep, cleanliness and presentation.

“Rogers Transport drivers love their Isuzu trucks. They’re comfortable, they’re straight forward to use, they’re easy to work with, there’s plenty of parts available for them, and the reliability’s great,” Brad said.

“We’ve got a couple with over a million kilometres still running with original engines. Isuzu engines have excellent performance and longevity.

“The trucks with a million kilometres are the first ones we bought over 15 years ago and they are in fantastic working condition. We’re big on our preventative maintenance and servicing - to look after all our trucks - no matter their age.

“All our servicing is done in-house by the team here and we use genuine parts from Brisbane Isuzu. Parts are always readily available and if there’s a delay it’s because the parts are on a truck up from

Sydney or Melbourne and we’ll have them within a day or two.”

Adding further efficiencies, the latest F Series models to join the fleet came with some changes and upgrades that the team has had to adapt to.

“The new trucks all have automatic transmissions,” Brad noted.

“It was a change at first, but the guys are loving them. They’re loving the new AV unit and the creature comforts that Isuzu offers.”

“Swapping to the Allison Automatic was due to availability initially, but the feedback from the guys has been great. They love them, so we’ve continued to spec the new trucks with automatics.

“It’s simpler to have an Auto when driving through traffic these days, the

A Small Step On Our Path To Change

roads in Brisbane are only getting busier and busier.

“These trucks service anywhere from Tweed Heads to Noosa and up to Toowoomba. While this part of the fleet is mainly local, the guys do get out on a longer run, on occasion.”

There are big things in the works for Rogers Transport outside of the F Series fleet expansion.

The company is also moving into a huge, purpose-built facility in the Port of Brisbane, which consolidates their three locations into one depot with a wealth of storage and room for expansion.

“We’ve just signed a lease on a new facility out at the Port, so we’re going to amalgamate all our three sites. It’s an exciting time for us, with 55,000 square meters of yard!

“There will be roughly 18,000 square meters of storage and a huge container storage area.”

Last year might have had some rough patches for the Rogers Transport family, but things have turned around for the better with a well-specified Isuzu F Series fleet on hand and processes in place to move into a new location this year.

“Isuzu tick so many boxes for us that we aren’t looking at competitors, because we already operate with the best in the business. We want to continue our fleet expansions with Isuzu Trucks and Brisbane Isuzu because they have proven time and again to be relied upon.”