Innehållsförteckning för Issue 296 från Owner Driver

THE TRANSPORT Workers Union (TWU) is continuing its campaign against cut-price supermarket chain Aldi for what it says are safety concerns arising from drivers’ low-cost contracts. Its latest protest, which was held on August 24 outside the Mt Druitt Aldi store in western Sydney, attracted more than 500 truck drivers and TWU members. TWU representatives say the supermarket chain pressures drivers into unsafe practices to meet tight deadlines, potentially resulting in fatigue law breaches and speeding. The protest follows a recent Federal Court rejection of Aldi’s bid for an injunction to stop drivers protesting and stopping them from revealing information about rates and conditions in its supply chain. Aldi, however, told the Federal Court on August 29 that it wanted to pursue the case. “Aldi is trying to use bullying…

ADRIAN RYAN, known by friends and family as Ado, was tragically killed in a head-on truck crash on Picton Road in March this year, just shy of his 33rd birthday. Two of Adrian’s mates and co-workers from Fife & Co Heavy Haulage stepped up to build him a one-of-a-kind custom Kenworth memorial on Picton Road, a touching tribute for a truckie taken too soon. An admiring mate of Adrian’s, Will Bush, designed the monument with help from Luke Farrell, while other friends and family began getting the parts together they needed. It took a month to make the Kenworth monument, with help from Goulburn Engineering and Studio 4 Signs and Design, and it was setup on Sunday August 13. “He was an all-round good bloke,” Will said when asked how…

I HAVE BEEN travelling the Newell Highway now for well over 20 years. In that time, the rate of traffic has increased substantially and will continue to do so. When the Melbourne to Brisbane rail line is opened, there will likely be changes to some freight, but by then most truckies will be waiting for it to happen. I doubt it will become four lanes each way in my lifetime and traffic will only continue to increase. There is a ‘Corridor Strategy’ for the Newell Highway done by NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), which I contributed to. I noted some deficiencies, including no mention of the narrow railway bridge just north of Bellata, among others. While people on our side of the road commented it was the most significant…

‘Kingsford Smith’ was one of 16 Mack Super-Liner II limited edition trucks released to mark Australia’s bicentenary in 1988. Each was named after a famous Australian. They featured cruise control, colour televisions and refrigerators. These features were considered state-of-the-art luxuries back in 1988. Named after the famous Australian aviator, the Kingsford Smith was built for Jim Ristovichis of Kyabram. Jim tells Owner//Driver he owned it for eight weeks, but gave it back to Mack because they didn’t want him to paint it in his fleet colours. The second owner was Grant Haynes of Deniliquin. His driver Peter Clark says the Kingsford Smith only had 1200km on the clock when he first drove it from Deniliquin to Sydney. Photos in Peter’s family album capture a time when the Kingsford Smith was…

RILEY EARTHMOVING, based in Clifton Creek, Victoria, has been around since the late 1960s and, although the focus is on heavy machinery, its fleet of three Kenworth trucks is indispensable to the business. Decades separate the trio of Kenworths, from a 24-year-old T909 to a 2007 T350 and the latest addition, a new T909. According to Josh Riley, the T909 is a world away from the Leyland Hippo his company used to pull a tri-axle float to move its machinery. Nowadays, Riley Earthmoving boasts a diverse range of earthmoving equipment, not to mention 15 staff. Josh is the T909’s driver, the Kenworth having a 5.85m wheelbase, an 18-speed gearbox and a Cummins Euro 5 engine set at 600hp. Josh says he’s happy enough with the Cummins, but would have preferred…

“I can see myself in this one for a long time.” LIKE MANY Australian truck drivers, Geoffro McKane grew up around trucks, which eventually led him to a career in the road transport industry. “My father (Ross McKane) and the whole family were all truck drivers. I went with dad whenever I had holidays or could escape from school,” he smiles. “I also did two-up with him for a time.” Geoffro remembers travelling with his father in LTN Fords and SAR rigs, basic trucks compared to the 2015 Kenworth T950 Legend he drives today for O’Sullivan’s Transport. The T950 Legend is one of three trucks in Paul O’Sullivan’s fleet, based in Rochester, central Victoria. The other two are a couple of equally well-presented Kenworths: a T900 and T908. Under the…

2012 VOLVO FM13 Euro 5. Automated I-Shift. 460hp. Brand-new Chris’s body. 10 cubic metre Hardox tipper. Rollback tarp. Rockinger tow hitch. 890,000km. 03 8373 7112 $145,000 2012 VOLVO FM13 Extremely Clean, hard to find late model 4x2 prime mover. 460hp and I-Shift automated. 03 8373 7112 $99,000 2011 VOLVO FM13 Tipper truck and trailer combination. Disc brakes truck, drum brakes trailer. Sloan bodies. Very well maintained. Rock sheeted. 02 4721 5020 $209,000 2010 VOLVO FM13 2010 Volvo FM13 Tipper Euro 4. I-Shift 12-speed auto transmission. 935,000km. Ring feeder. Ready for work. Good condition. 0421 468 289 $125,000 2009 VOLVO FM13 Prme mover. I-Shift 12-speed automatic gearbox. 480hp. 650,000km. Volvo cross locks. 0437 276 950 $90,000…

“It’ll help make people see we actually care about what we do.” FROM THE OUTSIDE looking in, the Volvo Drivers’ Fuel Challenge has all the appearances of just another publicity exercise by a company highly skilled in selling marketing messages to the masses. But step inside and take a closer look. Talk with the executives and organisers who make it all happen. Ponder the extraordinary efforts and expense of bringing together such an eclectic bunch of individuals from all over Australia. Spend time mixing with the drivers as they first shrug it off as a bit of fun, a couple of days outside the ordinary, before suddenly becoming intensely serious, and very determined. Consider, if you can, the personal satisfaction and surprise of realising you’re someone at the centre of…

“We need to test the vehicles here in Australia.” INCOMING Scania Australia MD Mikael Jansson promises his company’s ‘New Truck Generation’ range will arrive on Australian soil within the term of his tenure, though much preparatory work still needs to be done. In his first meeting with the national trucking press, Jansson, who was head of parts and service at Scania, Sweden, from 2013 before taking up the Australian position, signalled that his role would build on the work of predecessor Roger McCarthy. But Jansson will focus on the strengths and strategies developed while in the Swedish company’s head office as senior vice president and member of the Top Management Team. “I’ve been in different management positions, so I can bring with me experience on how to run an organisation,”…

LIFE ON THE ROAD is becoming easier for long-haul truck drivers, according to Uniden, pointing to the release of its new DIN-Size 5-Watt UH9050 UHF CB mobile radio. Uniden says the new UH9050 UHF CB is built for tough Australian conditions and features a distinct contemporary style. The radio is powered with 12/24 voltage making it suitable for all vehicle types. The days of messages being lost in communication are over, according to Uniden, with the unit’s instant replay function that can record and replay up to one minute of recently received signals. Uniden says the UH9050 will allow drivers to communicate effortlessly while on the road, with innovative features such as Smart Mic, Master Scan and a built-in scanner, making the UH9050 more than just a radio. Smart Mic…

THE SIX-MONTH TRIAL of design approvals for certain Performance Based Standards (PBS) combinations has been successful, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) states. The trial involved trying out a “simplified” design approval process for six- and seven-axle truck-and-dog combinations by the PBS panel. Results of the trial showed reduced administrative burden on heavy-vehicle operators and manufacturers, NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto says. “During the trial we saw turnaround times for 33 design approvals reduce from an average of five weeks down to three business days, which is a significant benefit for operators and manufacturers,” he says. “These applications account for 30 per cent of all PBS design approval applications and 50 per cent of all new truck-and-dog applications. “Based on the success of the truck-and-dog combination trial, we will now look…

2011 KENWORTH T909 Road train rated. 22 Series 18-speed transmission, 4.56 diff ratio. 50in sleeper, icepack. Engel fridge, TV/DVD. 140T rated, 281,000km. Excellent condition. 0408 863 349 $310,000 2011 KENWORTH T909 2011 Kenworth T909, Cummins EGR Engine, 600hp at 2050 torque, 50-inch sleeper, Alcoa rims with super, Fups Mr Bullbar, Meritor 46/160 rear axle, Airglide 460, driving lights, ice pack, full in chassis rebuild September 2016. 02 6171 3514 $218,900 KENWORTH T909 2011. 90mm turntable. Ice pack. Front pull hitch. 140T rated. 240V inverter. Full service history. Driving lights. Truck is in excellent condition and is presently working. 0429 511 964 $280,000 2011 KENWORTH T909 Cummins ISX-EGR-600hp/2050 LB FT 6-cylinder diesel engine, Fuller 18-speed trans, Neway AD 246/10 rear suspension, 50in sleeper, Stoodley bullbar, 130,000kg GCM Rated. 08 7007 6838…

THE YEAR was 1990. Businesses across the board were taking a severe belting and among many, Kenworth was doing all it could to simply endure Treasurer Paul Keating’s interminable “recession we had to have”. Almost a decade into his long and laudable career as Kenworth’s first Australian managing director, Andrew Wright had been quick to react to the downturn. As he saw it, the economic signs were foreboding and with his bean counter brain kicking into survival mode, retrenchments at the Bayswater (Vic) head office and factory came hard and fast. Everything depended on the factory’s ongoing viability and Wright was uncompromising in his determination to protect the future and avoid Kenworth becoming just another importer. Yet seemingly overnight, Kenworth generally and Andrew Wright specifically became pariahs, with commentators and…

TIM AND MANDY Burtchell were young parents in their early 20s when they paid $15,000 for a six-metre 1981 Hino tray truck and founded Burtchell’s Transport in Echuca, Victoria, in 1994. They started small, focusing on parcel and pallet delivery. Pallets remain a core part of their business today, but they have gradually grown and now accept freight ranging from the size of a shoe box to a full B-double load. Tim is the son of a stock and station agent and says his love of trucks was nurtured by the livestock carriers who occasionally let him travel with them when he was young. After completing a mechanic apprenticeship, he drove a concrete agitator and then carted general freight for a local company. He realised there was a demand for…

FANS OF HEAVY METAL and shiny things had a chance to get up close and personal with some modified and classic iron recently, when Daimler Trucks Brisbane hosted a Big Boys Toys night in August. Custom trucks, cars and bikes glittered under lights as visitors took the opportunity to enjoy some custom workmanship on some of the sparkling machines at the truck dealership. There was something for everyone, regardless of how many wheels were involved. Brad Jones of BJR Racing was also in town with one of the team’s V8 Supercars on display. And, of course, if the car was in town, so was the truck that carries it. Paul “Stax” Eddy was also on hand babysitting the team’s Freightliner Coronado 114 racecar transporter.…

MORE POWER and torque, more gears, more comfort and more safety – that’s what Hino Australia is promising with the release of its first 300 Series 4x4 light-duty truck. Hino Australia revealed the full specifications of its 300 Series 4x4 ahead of the display of the new vehicle, at the recent AFAC conference for fire and emergency service professionals in Sydney. “Quite simply, we believe this is the best light-duty 4x4 truck on the Australian market,” says Daniel Petrovski, manager, product strategy for Hino Australia. Hino says the new light-duty 4x4 was devised in response to the demands of Australian customers. It adds that the 300 4x4 was comprehensively tested in an Australian field test program over a number of years. The Hino 300 Series 4x4 is available in single…

“I was able to play out my childhood Dakar fantasies.” AGAINST an early morning backdrop of glowing outback rock escarpments, I rolled out of my swag to contemplate the coming day … and to have a wee. The cries and squawks of birdlife wafted through the trees overhead as our party stirred and shuffled bleary eyed into the rapidly growing light. The early explorers faced innumerable hardships and challenges as they traversed this harsh wilderness. In those early days, Central Australia was no place for the fainthearted. I, however, wasn’t going to be roughing it too much really. Our party consisted of an anaesthetist, an ENT specialist, an ex-moto GP star and sports commentator, the owner of an ARB store, two ex RAF chopper pilots circumnavigating the globe by motorcycle,…

2013 SCANIA R560 Automated, Euro 5, EBS brakes. All the features your customers call for & you deserve. This is a truck not lacking in capabilities with 560hp and respectable 75-tonne rating. This is a late model truck that stands up well to any inspection. 03 8373 7112 $112,200 2013 SCANIA R560 2013 Scania R560 prime mover, 560hp, 750,000km. Will not last long, ready to go. Come in for test drive today. Call David on 02 4577 7133. 02 6171 3422 $99,000 SCANIA R560 6X4 Fully Maintained by Scania Aust. 16lt Euro 4, 560hp V8, manual transmission, with EG653P PTO fitted. 14-speed, fully integrated Scania hydraulic retarder braking system, sleeper cabin, 10-stud alloy rims, alloy bullbar, B-double 26m, 90,000 GCM. 03 9998 4717 $88,000 2012 SCANIA R620 Excellent condition, maintenance…

MITSUBISHI Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) has celebrated the start of production of the world’s first all-electric light-duty truck, the Fuso eCanter. Fuso is a brand of Daimler Trucks Asia. The event was held on July 27 at the production plant in Tramagal, Portugal, around 150km northeast of Lisbon. The Tramagal plant is where all eCanters for the European and US markets will be produced in line with the conventional Fuso Canter truck. The Portuguese government has been supporting the development of the eCanter since the early stages in 2010. Marc Llistosella, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation and head of Daimler Trucks Asia said at the occasion: “With today’s start of production of the eCanter, we become the first global manufacturer to produce an…

MC Herd in Geelong has been announced as the winner of the inaugural Shane Knight Memorial Award at the Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria (LRTAV) Annual Conference held at the RACV Torquay Resort on August 11 and 12. The award was created to honour the memory of Shane Knight who passed away in 2016 after a short battle with cancer. Knight’s wife, Jeanine Knight, who spoke about her late husband’s passion for safety during the conference, presented the award to John Karounos, operations manager for MC Herd. Karounos was instrumental in the company’s installation of a Pivoting Access Landing (PAL) frame that enables drivers to safely unload cattle at their processing site. MC Herd also received the 2016 WorkSafe Victoria Award for Best Solution to a Health and…

“It’s becoming something the whole town looks forward to.”  A RUMBLING convoy of more than 150 trucks arrived at Casino on Saturday morning, with just about every local in town lining the main drag as the big rigs rolled on in. Despite weather concerns after being rained out last year, this year the sky couldn’t have been clearer, with plenty of people left squinting as the sun ricocheted off all the chrome. Owner//Driver broadcast the convoy live on its Facebook site, and we were thoroughly impressed by the sheer variety of rigs on show. Organisers made sure there was something for everyone at the show, with live music by The Cath Simes Band, kids’ entertainment, face painters, food and market stalls, and amusement rides for the little…

WHEN YOU spend hours behind the wheel, it can be hard to maintain a positive outlook on life. For example, most of us listen to the radio while on the road. Well bugger me if that isn’t a cheery way to wile away the hours. You have a choice of boppy pop music that just makes me feel inadequate at my inability to grow a man bun. Then there’s classical music, which will put you to sleep. Or you can listen to the news, which only serves to confirm that the world is indeed going to hell in a f***ing hand basket. Don’t even get me started on talkback radio, where ‘John’ from Cohuna is whinging about that state of the tan bark along the local shopping strip. Bombings, stabbings,…

PETER CLARK of Deniliquin, New South Wales, spent many hours sleeping on uncomfortable truck seats during the first three decades of his long trucking career. He says a Commer was the most uncomfortable. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that he slept in a sleeper cab. It was like sleeping in a five-star hotel because the truck was an opulent 1988 Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner II. The ‘Kingsford Smith’ had a velour interior and was decked out with commemorative comforts including bedding and towels. “You could stand up inside it and all that sort of thing,” Peter says. “It was pretty good to camp in.” The Kingsford Smith was owned by Grant Haynes, who employed Peter to cart milk from Deniliquin to Sydney. With a 500hp Mack E9 V8, the Super-Liner…

“I am yet to find out what the difference is in running the 5000km to WesternAustralia to running 5000km up and down the east coast.” Dear Owner//Driver YOUNGER DRIVER INSURANCE I am writing in with something I have found being a younger driver under the age of 25. I have been on interstate now for almost two years running Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, but it was not until recently that the company I am working for wanted to send me to Perth. For me to have the ability to do this, the company had to apply for the next level of insurance for the eligibility to be able to go across the paddock. Sadly, the application was denied because of my age. But still today, I am…

“From a young age, it was clear the influence Alan and Gladys had on nurturing Andrew’s passion for the farm and his inherent thirst for knowledge.” WALTER FARMING (AH & GM WALTER PTY LTD) Andrew Walter represents a new generation of farmer, with old fashioned values instilled in him from his mum and dad. He is very well educated, holding a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from University of Melbourne and a PhD in Plant Molecular Breeding from the Australian National University. He has been on multiple Government Advisory Committees and consults and has consulted for various state and federal governments, research companies, agricultural corporations and the United Nations. It is with his strong academic background and upbringing we can see how Andrew forged success in his life and on the…

Kenworth says its display at the Brisbane Truck Show of the new T610 and the first of its Legend 900 limited edition trucks, simply highlights the brand’s broad appeal to a dedicated market. The T610 is unquestionably the biggest new-model development from Kenworth in 30 years, whereas the Legend 900 is the recreation of a model first introduced 26 years ago. “There is an irony in that,” says Paccar Australia sales and marketing director Brad May. “It’s something we discussed at length, whether or not it was a conflicting message, but we recognised there’s a portion of buyers who are very much attached to the past. “They’re possibly, and probably, the same people who will buy T610 for their business but may also buy a Legend 900 as a source…

RECENTLY, OWNER//DRIVER managing editor Greg Bush and I found ourselves contemplating a couple of boxes sitting on his desk. Inside them were a pair of new Narva Ultima 215 LED driving lights. It was clear that we were going to need to hook them up to something to try them out. We could’ve engineered a way of installing them on Bushy’s wife’s Hyundai Getz, but I reckoned that adding nearly six kilos of driving lights to the front bumper may have had a detrimental effect on driving dynamics. Would’ve looked cool though! I don’t have a spare prime mover lying around, however I do have access to an old Land Rover which turned out to be the best option for seeing just how much these babies light up the night.…

“We are also constantly looking to implement value-adds that help our customers run their businesses.” LEADING equipment finance lender GoGetta has teamed up with fuel giant Caltex to offer its customers a great new initiative that could save them thousands of dollars a year. The exciting new partnership between the two industry leaders gives GoGetta customers the opportunity to access a fantastic range of unique benefits through a Caltex StarCard. The new initiative will see customers given four great ways to boost their business, including savings on fuel, servicing and repairs, Caltex Roadside Assist and the ability to earn Qantas Points. For the owner of an average B-double truck that uses 1500 litres of fuel per week, a 5 cent discount per litre of fuel would save them $75 a…

Piers Hammond and Steve Hamilton are on the trip of a lifetime having travelled overland from the UK on their KTM adventure bikes. Darryl and Scooter bumped into this pair of mad bastards at Mount Dare after a failed attempt to cross the Simpson unassisted. After a chat, they decided to tag along for the ride. They made it second time around! Both guys are ex-RAF chopper pilots and have seen active service in the Bosnian conflict and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. It made for some fascinating campfire conversation as Piers regaled us with tales of flying a Chinook with a failing engine among other hair-raising adventures. Their ride around the world is to raise awareness and money for a couple of charities. The John Egging Trust (JET) was…