Innehållsförteckning för Issue 287 från Owner Driver

THE 2016 Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian award has been handed to Victorian truck driver Renzo Bruschi in recognition of his efforts after a multi-vehicle collision on May 24. The tragic incident that claimed the life of one motorist involved 10 vehicles, one of which was being driven by 52-year-old Bruschi. Recalling the events of the morning, the 30-year industry veteran says a petrol tanker carrying 60,000 litres of fuel rolled on the Calder Freeway, leaving a devastating scene. Recognising the need for action, Bruschi leapt from his vehicle and headed straight to the driver of the tanker, who was calling for help. “There was fuel and smoke everywhere; I just thought it was not a question of if this was going to blow, but more a question of when, so…

When Scania Australia kicked off its driver event back in 2007, it was known as the Young Australian Truck Driver of the Year (YATD) competition. That changed in 2014 when it was relabelled as the Scania Truck Driver Competition. Ron Szulc says the format change was necessary to reflect the demographic of Australia’s trucking community, namely the increasing average age of our drivers. “When you take it back, it was started in Sweden as an initiative to attract younger drivers and to raise the profile of driving as a profession,” Ron says. “And for the first two that were run here, 2007 and 2009, it was run as a young truck drivers’ competition. “I think it’s fair to say, given the size that Scania is in this market, it would…

Cameron Henry was having his second attempt at winning the Scania Driver Competition. It was a double of sorts, as he followed up his runner-up placing in 2014 with the same result in 2016. He says having that experience behind him in 2014 was handy, but only to a point. Two years ago he had spent little time behind the wheel of cab-over European trucks. Nowadays he drives a MAN TGX540 for Bordertown Haulage in South Australia. “The MAN, for all intents and purposes, is a very similar layout and drive than a Kenworth or a Western Star, so that helped,” he says. Cameron says he had trucking in his blood from the age of nine when drove around farm paddocks. Once at the legal age, he found a job…

JACK HODGETTS was 16 when he started a school-based apprenticeship in Myrtleford, north-east Victoria. Today, aged 24, Jack is a qualified diesel mechanic who spends most of his working week driving a 2006 Kenworth K104 on the Hume Highway. He loves the freedom of being on the road: “Once you leave here, you’re pretty much your own boss. “You know where you’ve got to be the next day, but from now until then, if you want to pull over and have a rest for a while or have something to eat, you can. You’re not really getting told what to do every step of the day.” Jack works for Kurt Rouse Transport of Myrtleford, which is located 40 minutes off the Hume Freeway. The company’s nine trucks cart general freight…

Chinese automotive giant SAIC Motor has unveiled the LDV T60 one-tonne ute scheduled to arrive in Australia in the second half of next year. Launched at the Guangzhou International Motor Show, the commercial vehicle will ship initially in a 4x4 dual-cab guise with a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Further models, in single-cab, extended-cab and double-cab variants, will follow, as will the option of two tray lengths, rear- or four-wheel drive, and manual and automatic gearboxes. It is also believed the models will come with six airbags, a number of electronic safety and driver fatigue systems, reversing camera, and a galvanised steel chassis. While powertrain details are yet to be confirmed, LDV says there will be three performance modes for drivers to select the correct vehicle response for the current job:…

“WE ALL KNOW THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS ALL THE UNPAID HOURS WE WORK” SERIOUSLY, WHEN are NatRoad members going to shut down this madness? After their nonsense trying to scuttle the NSW General Carriers Contract Determination (GCCD), they are now opposing a similar initiative proposed by the Victorian government that is planning to look into the viability and safety of trucking. You’d think they would get with the program and start supporting the changes that many in this industry have been begging for. This crap about the TWU wanting to get rid of single-truck owner-drivers is simply a diversion to undermine the very people they represent en masse. There will never be a time when single-truck owner-drivers are not required to take up the slack when things get…

NEW SOUTH WALES police issued eight defect notices to AK Group Trucking during a raid on Monday, October 10, following a fatal crash that killed two in Sydney’s west the previous week. Following investigation at the crash site, Traffic and Highway Command officers issued a search warrant for the company’s Kemps Creek depot, where they examined its 14 trucks. Two trucks were found to have major mechanical and brake issues, fuel leaks, and multiple minor defects. Some of the trucks were seized and taken to the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) Wetherill Park facility for further examination. The officers also examined driver logbooks to check the company’s fatigue management practices. “What we’ve seen … is very poor evidence of fatigue management,” superintendent Stuart Smith says. “Those documents that we’ve seized…

TRANSPORT MINISTERS have agreed to not increase heavy vehicle registration and fuel charges in 2017-18. The National Transport Commission (NTC) says the decision means operators “will continue to experience small reductions in heavy vehicle charges while governments retain their capacity to build and maintain roads”. The approved heavy vehicle charges will remain in place for 12 months starting July 2017, when the current period ends. The NTC says local jurisdictions will subsequently publish the information on their websites. The determination comes after a review of the current methodology used to determine heavy vehicle charges, followed by a series of consultations with governments and industry bodies. The move has been welcomed by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), which says the decision will help decrease fuel tax between now and July 2018.…

QUEENSLAND-BASED freight company Followmont Transport won two awards at the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) Industry Awards in Brisbane recently. Held at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, the 26th annual event hosted 350 guests, including more than 70 trucking companies and industry suppliers, along with MP for Logan Linus Power and senators Matt Canavan and Murray Watt. Followmont Transport’s driver Russell McCulloch won the Professional Driver of the Year award, while the company went on to claim the Industry Excellence Award. The event also acknowledged the efforts of 18-year-old Louise Nazzari, who is currently engaged in a pallet control position at Followmont Transport, with the ‘Young Achiever – High Commendation’ award. Other category winners included: • Daryl Dickenson Transport – Industry Safety Award • Taylor’s Removals and Storage – People Leadership Awards…

“It is the responsibility of captains of industry such as I to work through this muddle and provide the sort of cost-effective and streamlined service that our economy requires to grow and thrive.” GIVEN THE the nature of my business, I often fly from city to city to oversee certain business deals, or even take part in delicate negotiations from time to time. Such is the life of an industry consultant. However, it’s become a favourite habit of mine to gaze down upon the city from the plane’s business class and ponder progress over a frosty glass of bubbles. I must confess it’s become a little indulgent. Time marches on. Gone are the days when you could cop a feel of a hostie’s pert derrière as she totters past and…

THERE’S NO denying that the CB radio is the original social network. Before the internet provided a platform for people to share pictures of their breakfast, truck drivers were networking with AM and then UHF radios. For decades, CB radios made it easy to find out what was going on up the road, to keep awake or to catch up with a mate. But, the UHF radio is going the way of the Motorola bag phone, Kodak film, and MySpace. Except maybe in the back blocks these days, CB radios are pretty much useless. It’s a shame, really, but then again I suppose that’s progress. Turn on the radio anywhere within cooee of a city and you’ll hear a collective barnyard of animal sounds, loud statements on the size of…

Glenn ‘Yogi’ Kendall has been involved in road transport for almost 20 years. A third-generation truckie, he spent “every weekend of the waking day” with his father, who drove Scanias around Melbourne for many years. “When I got to the point where I could drive trucks, he said, ‘No, no … you’ve got to go and do something else. You can’t just go and do this; this will be here for you’. So I did that,” Glenn recalls. He went logging up in Victoria’s high plains, around Baw Baw, and across to Mt Erica for three years. “We’d work up there for 20 hours a day, sunup to sundown,” he recalls. Glenn achieved a certificate in vocational forest harvesting, attending TAFE during the winter months. “I did two TAFE stints…

TRUCK LOVERS from as far as Queensland and the Northern Territory attended the official opening of the Tarcutta Transport and Farming Museum on Saturday morning, October 29. The ceremony took place next to the attraction’s first building, a five-bay shed, which was funded by Bunny and Diana Brown of nearby Adelong, New South Wales. Bunny’s brief speech was received with enthusiastic applause. Earlier in the year, he enlisted the help of Doug and Pam McMillan of Albury, Denis Robertson of Sydney, and George Goold of Bribie Island to form the Tarcutta Transport and Farming Museum, which was incorporated in June. The honour of opening the first stage of the museum was accepted by Liz Martin, the driving force behind the successful National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.…

BACK IN the good old days, Murray Bridge, 80 kilometres east of Adelaide, was generally the first stopping point for all those underpowered trucks that slogged their way up and over the Adelaide Hills. On any evening, all the road houses over the bridge would be full of truckies who had stopped for tea. And so it was fitting that on November 23, 2014, the White Hill Truck Drivers Memorial was officially unveiled on Adelaide Road in Murray Bridge, on the very same road that everyone rushed up and down to get to Melbourne. This year’s induction ceremony and service was held on November 5 at 11am. Earlier in the morning, two convoys gathered – one in Adelaide and the other in Keith – and made their way to Murray…

IN FEBRUARY 2017, a dramatically different Kenworth conventional will start rolling down the Bayswater production line. It’s called the T610 and, in the 40 years and more since Paccar first started building Kenworths at Bayswater, there has been nothing like it. Sure, the first T600s in the mid-80s revolutionised the world of conventional truck design and changed the face, literally and physically, of Kenworth for decades to come. But in the 30 years since then, the actual structure of Kenworth conventionals with their 1.83m-wide cab has changed very little. Until now! In fact, when it comes to the time and money spent on local development of a single model for the Australian market, senior Kenworth insiders say there is nothing in Kenworth’s Australian history to even remotely match the investment…

HINO AUSTRALIA has expanded its Advantage business solution suite with the addition of the Traq telematics system. Providing real-time vehicle tracking and operational information to both drivers and fleet operators through an online portal, Hino Traq monitors a driver’s and vehicle’s on-road performance, fuel usage, and in-vehicle safety. Capable of detailing a view of a whole fleet’s performance, Hino Australia product strategy manager Daniel Petrovski says the solution will be a valuable tool for business operators. “It is crucial to provide support for businesses in the future, and our aim is to provide our customers with a range of business-building benefits that will save them money and worry,” he says. “Partnering with businesses to translate this valuable information into real-world analytics will assist in finding efficiencies within their operations.” Designed…

THE VICTORIAN government will review the laws regulating owner-drivers and forestry contractors, announcing an inquiry into the industry’s practices post the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT). Stating that “economic pressures” have “forced some drivers into unsafe practices”, the state-run review is seeking submissions by the end of January next year. The inquiry comes after “the Victorian Inquiry into Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work recently heard evidence on a range of issues regarding rates of pay, certainty of working hours, and occupational health and safety for tip truck owner-drivers”, a government statement says, and will “look at the inquiry’s recommendations, including a code of practice for the tip truck industry and the threshold requirements on hirers to provide applicable rates and costs to owner drivers”. It will also “examine contracting…

A JOINT traffic taskforce operation held in mid-November targeted heavy vehicles in New South Wales in the wake of a number of crashes at Mount Ousley on the Princes Highway. Operation Carter, which ran in response to three incidents between November 14 and 16, saw members of the NSW Police and the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) checking vehicles at Mount Ousley, Waterfall, Picton Road, and Winton. From the 86 trucks and trailers inspected, 23 defects were highlighted, including brakes, body and chassis, ancillary equipment, tow couplings, exhaust and noise, wheels and tyres, air leaks in braking systems, engine and differential oil leaks, and chassis fatigue cracks. Five drivers were handed penalty notices for not carrying and producing work diaries, three trucks were found to have displayed expired registration labels,…

AS MOST of the trucking industry knows, the Marulan weighbridges a couple of hours south of Sydney are major landmarks on the nation’s busiest highway, the Hume. But many operators and drivers don’t realise ‘risk-based’ screening lane technology exists on the approaches to each of the facilities. “We do a number of checks in a heartbeat, and then it’s a guidance sign which makes a decision about whether the vehicle goes in or out [to the main weighbridge area],” NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) statewide operations manager Brett Patterson says. Those instantaneous checks include camera scans of registration plates that can pick up previous misdemeanours and Safe-T-Cam trip speed data en route, ‘weigh-in-motion’ technology assessing mass, and other sensors examining height. “Where there’s a possible noncompliance, the truck will…

GLENN ‘YOGI’ Kendall has emerged as the winner in the truck category of the 2016 Scania Driver Competition in front of 11 other highly competitive contestants. The Scania Driver Competition was held at the Sandown Racecourse in Victoria, where the 12 finalists, chosen from hundreds who initially entered, were put through a series of challenging skills tests, as well as questionnaires and media interviews. The skills tests included reversing a Scania G480 with a Freighter curtainsider into ‘The Garage’, placing the front driver’s side wheel directly over ‘The Hole’, squeezing between two ‘Oil Barrels’, lining the Scania’s front up with ‘The Bullseye’, backing into the ‘Loading Dock’, ‘Knocking The Pipes’, driving forward and back over ‘The Plank’, and the ‘Straight Reverse’. In addition, there was the tricky ‘Slalom’ course, the…

Scott Savory had his first attempt at a Scania driver competition in 2007. Back then it was still known as the Young Australian Truck Driver of the Year competition. “I was young then,” Scott smiles. “I scraped in.” A third-generation truck driver, Scott runs his own company Savtrans out of Perth with his wife Vanessa. He has four trucks in his fleet – three Kenworths and a Freightliner. “I drive the older Kenworth, the 404. It’s nine years old,” he adds. As with most Australian trucking businesses, Scott is conscious about driver behaviour equating to fuel savings. He has a rule where he asks his drivers to voluntarily cruise at 97km/h. “So at 97 they still have their 100 or 101 for overtaking, but if they’re not seen to be…

“I have hydraulics on this truck but I try and keep that quiet as I don’t want to do any tipper work” RAPID HAULAGE’S trucks have always been set apart by the flames on their bonnets. Owner Keith Finch loves the look, and today the Adelaide-based company’s trucks remain very recognisable. Owner//Driver had a chat with Brian Thompson, who drives a Kenworth T908 that generally pulls a road train around Adelaide and further afield. We spoke with him before he made his time slot to unload two containers of grain at Outer Harbour. As with many places in Australia, the transport routes are being opened up to road trains, and Rapid Haulage has a number utilising them. “I’ve been with Rapid for five years and it is a great company…

“THE TRUCK HAS 1.25 MILLION KILOMETRES ON THE CLOCK SO IT HAS WELL AND TRULY BEEN RUN IN” IN BRIEF DRIVER’S NAME: Allen Martin COMPANY: Aqua Technologies TRUCK: FH Volvo ENGINE: 480hp TRANSMISSION: 12-speed auto FREIGHT CARRIED: Caravans and boats REGULAR RUN: Melbourne/Perth ALLEN MARTIN was having a forced rest break in Port Augusta when Owner//Driver caught up with him. Allen drives a 2010 FH Volvo for Aqua Technologies. As Allen explained, he doesn’t just do the standard east-west trip from Perth. Each trip usually takes 13-15 days. “We take swimming pools over to Melbourne, unload down in Seaford, and then I take some stock up to Sydney,” he says. “I will then return to Melbourne to load up with caravans or whatever we have for the return leg to…

“The Swedish giant has taken a long time to enhance Mack’s standing in the safety stakes. However, things are changing” DECADES AGO, not too long after Volvo bought the financially-stricken US truck maker White in the early ’80s, I asked a senior Volvo executive in Sweden if safety would be part of future product developments for White. After all, Volvo’s commitment to truck safety was already firmly entrenched, whereas, across the Atlantic, the attitude of America’s truck makers to safety was somewhat inferior to their continental counterparts. Vastly inferior! There were those who even thought that if Volvo pushed the safety barrow hard enough – particularly in development of stronger, safer cabs – it would actually encourage other US truck makers to follow suit. It was, however, naivety at its…

RENAULT HAS introduced a new up-spec work-and-play option pack for the strong-selling five-seat Kangoo Maxi Crew LCV. The new Kangoo Lifestyle Pack is only available on the long-wheelbase variant, which uses a 1.5-litre turbo-diesel engine, and drives the front wheels through a slick-shifting 6-speed manual gearbox. The new Lifestyle Pack adds visual, comfort, technology, and privacy features to the standard specification for $1290 over the cost of the standard vehicle. The Lifestyle Pack provides ‘R-LINK’ enhanced audio and navigation system with 7-inch touchscreen and digital radio, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and rear ventilation outlets for the second-row passengers. Outside, the Lifestyle Pack adds a smooth, redesigned, colour-coded front bumper, a painted rear bumper, gloss black door mirrors, and extra-tinted privacy glass. Rear side windows are a dealer fit option, providing a…