Innehållsförteckning för Issue 286 från Owner Driver

OPPOSING SIDES are shaping up for a fight over the issue of operator licensing. In favour of operator licensing is the Australian Logistics Council and one of its prominent members, Toll. On the other hand, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has come out strongly against the concept. In fact, the ATA is warning the issue could become the “next RSRT”. Operator licensing wasn’t even on the radar just a couple of years ago, but now the national trucking regulator says it is planning to develop “standards for entry and continued operation” in the heavy vehicle industry. The licensing process means different things to different people, but does not involve a set quantity of licenses, as with taxi plates. Toll says it’s too easy for people who don’t know what they’re…

THE BEEF Roads Program in Queensland will see a $56 million investment courtesy of the federal government following months of consultation with relevant stakeholders. The commitment includes targeted upgrades on roads that are used by cattle transporters, with 15 priority projects already highlighted, including: • Rockhampton Road Network – road train access • Burke Developmental Road – Chillagoe to Almaden • Clermont – Alpha Road • Ootann Road – Almaden to Kennedy Hwy (Gunnawarra) • Gregory Developmental Road (south of Charter Towers) • Richmond-Croydon Road • Cloncurry – Dajarra Road • Diamantina Developmental Road (Boulia-Dajarra) • Richmond – Winton Road. “The Australian government has committed over $56 million toward targeted road upgrades and improvements, providing a welcome boost to the Queensland cattle industry,” infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester says.…

DESPITE THIS year’s Clarendon Classic Machinery, Truck and Hobby Rally promoting the theme of ‘all things European’, the event was notable for the inclusion of the Kenworth Klassic featuring 265 historical and working Kenworth trucks. Held at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds in New South Wales on September 17 to 18, the event presented around 500 trucks plus a large range of antique engines, tractors, motorcycles and cars. Also on show were working steam engines, earthmoving equipment pushing up dirt, and chain-sawing. Adding further to the show’s retro feel, double decker buses were used to shuttle patrons to Richmond Station. A steam train kept the mood going by blowing its whistle, with the steam traction engines at the show whistling back. For those in for the long haul, there was on-site camping…

TWELVE MONTHS is a long time in the trucking industry. And so it has been for the annual Lights on the Hill Trucking Memorial Convoy. Following a mammoth turnout of trucks in February 2015, the event seemed certain to continue moving ahead. Lights on the Hill had already outgrown the Gatton Showground, its long-time home up to and including 2014. A move to the wide open spaces of the Gatton racecourse last year appeared a step in the right direction. But problems arose, including access issues. A new venue in the shape of a new and larger showground was being mentioned as the answer for 2016’s event. However, it soon became apparent that the new venue would not be ready in time for its usual February date, and with no…

“It’s better to be late than dead on arrival” JESS EDWARDS’ adrenaline was pumping when she parked a 2012 Kenworth T659 near a farm gateway to collect her thoughts after narrowly avoiding an accident. She was about 30km north of Roebourne on the North West Coastal Highway in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. An impatient driver in a 4WD had attempted to overtake Jess on her left-hand side as she was turning left. Jess avoided the collision by inches. Luckily she was only towing one empty stock crate. She usually pulls three trailers with about 150 head of cattle. Before her heart rate returned to normal, Jess pressed record on her mobile phone to make a video of what she would have liked to tell the 4WD driver if…

“All I have to do is sit there and steer” IN BRIEF Name: Craig Britten Company: Cleanaway Truck: MAN TGS 35.440 8x4 Engine: 440hp MAN D20 Transmission: 12-speed auto Freight carried: Cardboard Regular run: Bega to Tumut THERE WERE over 100 trucks at the Bega Convoy for Kids earlier this year, but a couple of rigs stood out from the crowd. One of those was the MAN TGS 35.440 in Cleanaway livery, the pinstriping adding a nice touch. Its driver, Craig Britten, had the MAN looking spotless, including blackening the tyres. It indicated the pride he has in the truck. Craig has been driving for 32 years, first getting behind the wheel at 17. He’s been with Cleanaway for the past nine years. “I’ve done interstate for Twyfords here in…

AS THE crow flies, the Swedish city of Södertälje is barely 35 kilometres south-west of Stockholm. But unlike the country’s capital city, it’s not a magnet for tourists. What it does have, however, is industry, with truck maker Scania one of the most prominent names around town. In fact, Scania buildings and signage is everywhere. A typical Södertälje resident either works for Scania, or they have a friend, relative or next door neighbour who does. It’s a little like Canberra’s ratio of public servants. So it goes without saying that a trip to Södertälje was the obvious destination to find out what all the fuss was about in regards to Scania’s ‘Next Generation’ range. With statements from Scania CEO and president Henrik Henriksson that the new models were the company’s…

ALLIANCE TRUCKS Parts has added a range of high-performance LED lighting products and associated components which it says are made to suit small, medium and large vehicles and trailers. Used in harsh industries including transport, 4x4, marine trailer and Australian defence forces, Alliance says the lighting is manufactured to exceed ADR/ECE standards. It adds that all products are rated to the IP67 standard for dust and water ingress, making them suitable for use on all external automotive applications. According to Alliance, each product has been specially designed to suit harsh Australian road environments to create a reliable product at a competitive price, perfect to enable drivers to hit the road with confidence. The LED range includes marker lamps; small, medium and large vehicle/trailer lamps; licence plate lamp; red, amber and…

NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL has launched its new flagship heavy-duty truck range – the LT Series – in the US. Fitting in the US Class 8 bracket (gross vehicle weight rating over 15 tonnes), International says the new on-highway LT Series promises fuel efficiency, uptime, and technology improvements. “The new International LT Series reflects our vision for the future of the trucking industry with a host of advancements that support improved driver safety and productivity, as well as fuel efficiency and uptime,” Navistar Truck and Parts president Bill Kozek says. Available in a number of configurations, the LT Series is being launched in day cab, 56-inch low-roof sleeper, 560-inch hi-rise sleeper, 73-inch hi-rise sleeper, and 73-inch sky-rise sleeper variants. Powered by either the 2017 Cummins X15 engine or the 2017 Navistar N13…

THE AUSTRALIAN Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO) NSW says it is not pleased with NatRoad’s justification to claims following the dismissal of its application to have its members exempt from the changes to the NSW General Carriers Contract Determination (GCCD). ARTIO NSW says the Industrial Relations Commission’s (IRC’s) decision to dismiss NatRoad’s application is not a ‘win’ for those opposed to it, but an insurance to all parties involved in the matter that they now have a “level playing field”. “ARTIO NSW’s motivation was to ensure that, irrespective of the merits of the Commission’s decision, all affected principal contractors and owner-drivers were bound by it,” ARTIO NSW secretary Hugh McMaster tells Owner//Driver. “It was not to score a ‘win’ over NatRoad. “NatRoad sought to exempt its members from obligations under…

HEAVY VEHICLE Industry Australia (HVIA) has announced a series of new features and improvements for the 50th anniversary of next year’s Brisbane Truck Show. The iconic event – for which Owner//Driver and sister titles ATN and Deals On Wheels are Official Media Partners – will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 25 to 28, 2017. “The show has come a long way from its humble beginnings when 21 truck, trailer and component manufacturers and suppliers came together at Haulmark Trailers’ premises in Rocklea in 1968,” HVIA chief executive Brett Wright says. “The 2017 Brisbane Truck Show is the fourth that will be held at BCEC, and will feature up to 300 exhibitors displaying the latest trucks, trailers, components, equipment, accessories and technology. “As part of…

IN BRIEF Name: Ken Scott Company: Pross Haulage Truck: 2013 Mack Superliner Engine: 685 Mack Transmission: 12-speed auto Freight carried: General Regular run: Top and western half of Australia WITH 47 years of interstate truck driving under his belt, Ken Scott could be classed as one of the veterans of the highway. Ken drives for Pross Haulage of Murray Bridge, South Australia, and his runs take him all over Australia. “I get paid to see Australia and generally have two or three trailers swinging on the back,” Ken says, following a trip from Adelaide to Cairns, down to Brisbane and across to Perth. “I go anywhere and everywhere and I prefer that, except the eastern seaboard. “I mainly do Queensland, the Northern Territory and over to the west, mostly with…

MATT WINTERFIELD is a qualified diesel mechanic and third-generation truck driver. And since 2010 he has been an owner-driver trading as Winterfields Float Hire. His wife Narelle helps with the bookkeeping and their valued employee Peter O’Dea drives their second truck. Based at Mount Gambier, South Australia, the company’s two trucks both clock up about 120,000km annually carting logging, earthmoving and farm machinery on their Drake steering widener low loader with self-tracking rear axles. Most of their work is within a 300km radius of home, but they also travel as far as Adelaide, Melbourne and occasionally Queensland. Matt has climbed in and out of second-hand Kenworths more times than most people have had hot dinners. And he has chewed plenty of ears in praise of Cummins, Detroit and Caterpillar engines.…

““YOU NEVER GET AWAY FROM IT” IN BRIEF NAME: Dennis ‘Rusty’ Radburn COMPANY: Kerden Haulage TRUCK: 1974 International D1910 ENGINE: International V8 392 (6.4-litre) TRANSMISSION: Five-speed Fuller REGULAR RUNS: Shows and yard horse DENNIS RADBURN has been a truckie all his life. Before him, his late father Russell was a truckie from the age of 17. In turn, third-generation Radburn truckie Damien now runs Kerden Haulage from its base at Nowra on the NSW south coast. Spanning the three generations is this lovely-looking old D1910 International which, believe it or not, was a highway hero in its day. Dennis and Russell used to run similar old Inters, but this one was recently restored after being bought from a bloke at Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast. The emotional tie…

Keeping a new project away from prying eyes of competitors is always a cloak-and-dagger affair, especially when it’s a new range of trucks that’s been 10 years in the making. There’s only so much research and testing that can be achieved in simulations, behind closed gates, or in wind tunnels. It’s on-road performance that counts, so Scania delved into its bag of tricks to come up with a disguise for its Next Generation trial trucks. Scania had one such example on show at its Next Generation launch at Södertälje, Sweden. Trouble is it looked more like a victim of a hit-and-run accident than a masked avenger. This particular prime mover, one of 200 test trucks, was a combination of strategically placed patchwork panels to keep prying eyes at bay. Anders…

7.7-LITRE OM936 OUTPUTS • 260kW (354hp) at 2200rpm and 1400Nm (1033ft-lb) at 1200-1600rpm ENGINE BRAKE: 280kW at 3000rpm FEATURES: Euro 6 – Combined BlueTec (selective catalytic reduction), exhaust gas recirculation and diesel particulate filter. Common-rail fuel injection. Two turbochargers 10.7-LITRE OM470 OUTPUTS • 290kW (394hp) at 1600rpm and 1900Nm (1401ft-lb) at 1100-1400rpm • 315kW (428hp) at 1600rpm and 2100Nm (1549ft-lb) at 1100-1400rpm • 335kW (455hp) at 1600rpm and 2200Nm (1623ft-lb) at 1100-1400rpm ENGINE BRAKE: 340kW at 2300rpm FEATURES: Euro 6 – Combined BlueTec (selective catalytic reduction), exhaust gas recirculation and diesel particulate filter. X-pulse injection with variable injection pressure. Single turbocharger 12.8-LITRE OM471 OUTPUTS • 375kW (510hp) at 1600rpm and 2500Nm (1844ft-lb) at 1100-1400rpm • 390kW (530hp) at 1600rpm and 2600Nm (1918ft-lb) at 1100-1400rpm ENGINE BRAKE: 400kW at 2300rpm FEATURES:…

RENAULT AUSTRALIA is launching a ‘Green Van Plan’ aimed at further reducing the environmental impact of its highly efficient diesel engines. Renault’s ‘Go Green to Grow Green’ plan is being activated in association with the long-established and highly regarded climate action organisation Greenfleet, and will offset the expected carbon emissions of all Bamboo Green Trafics during the first seven years of their working lives. Greenfleet will plant enough trees in native forests to absorb the carbon emissions of the Bamboo Green Trafic vans sold, based on the already impressively low official fuel consumption figure of 6.2 litres per 100km, using an average of 30,000km travelled per van, per year. Renault says this is equal to the maximum distance a Trafic should travel between service intervals, with one annual service being…

ALMOST ONE in four work-related deaths involved the transport, postal and warehousing industry over the past 13 years, according to Safe Work Australia’s Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities, Australia 2015 report, released in October. The new report, which details the statistics of people who die as a result of injuries in the course of their work and does not include those injured during the commute to and from work, says the freight movement industry accounts for 24 per cent of all work-related deaths since 2003. The numbers make the industry the second most dangerous for workers, with the past 13 years seeing the fatality rate in every 100,000 workers sitting at 10.6. While the 2015 number sits at 6.6 and continues a trend in the right direction since 2007’s high of…

A GOVERNMENT-backed initiative of industry and commercial partners is bringing truck platooning to Western Australia in the form of a feasibility study. Announced at the 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in October, the trial will analyse the impacts and requirements of vehicle automation in the state with a goal of releasing the technology into the local transport and freight industry. Truck platooning, a form of truck convoy where all vehicles are in constant communication with each other to synchronise speed, braking and positioning, has been making strides in Europe and North America with on-road trials gaining governmental approval but has yet to impact Australian road users. Under the technology, a lead truck assumes control of the convoy or platoon through vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication and the…

IN BRIEF Make/model: 1979 MAN KAT 4x4 Engine: Air-Cooled Deutz V8 Power: 265hp Transmission: Six-speed synchromesh manual with lock up torque converter Drive: Constant 4x4 with centre and rear diff locks Tare Weight: Nine tonne Payload: Five tonne THE AUSTRALIAN outback has a way of absorbing man and machine into its vast interior. The skeletons of mechanical relics litter the landscape like the desiccated carcasses of dead livestock sinking slowly back into the parched earth. The cast-offs of man’s industrial flirtations in an ancient landscape. But there’s one outback relic that won’t be reclaimed by the shifting sands anytime soon. And that’s the MAN KAT tilt tray owned by Birdsville-based Peter Barnes. It’s a relic of the Cold War from a time when the threat of nuclear annihilation cast a…

“We looked at every single truck that was on the market” IN BRIEF Name: Matt Winterfield Company: Winterfields Float Hire Truck: Scania R730 Engine: 730hp V8 Scania Transmission: 12-speed Opticruise AMT Trailer: Drake steering widener low loader with self-tracking rear axles Freight carried: Logging, earthmoving and farm machinery Regular Run: Within 300km of Mount Gambier [air bag] suspension travel. It doesn’t skip the wheels like most air bags do. It does keep its feet really well in the bush.” Matt and Peter regularly cart logging machinery into logging areas like Digby, Hotspur, Kentbruck and Dartmoor. Manoeuvrability is important. “Being a Kenworth man, they’re pretty good on manoeuvrability as well. But they don’t have the visibility that the Scania’s got,” Matt says. “We’re finding that we can back around a left-hand…

A JOINT announcement made on October 11 by CNH Industrial and Navistar executives has confirmed the appointment of Iveco Australia’s parent company, CNH Industrial, as the sole distributor of International Trucks in the Australian market. The announcement ends months of speculation as to the framework under which International would return to Australia, after initial plans were outlined by Navistar at the 2015 Brisbane Truck Show. According to both organisations, operational aspects of the arrangement are still being finalised by both parties who are evaluating several models, such as the ProStar, in an effort to ensure that the International brand is strongly promoted and supported from the outset. The return of International to Australia and its tie-in with Iveco and its Dandenong facility in Melbourne marks a homecoming to the location…

 CHRIS LOOSE is a pretty funny bloke for a truck engineer. His definition of a truck driver is someone who transports stuff you can’t. And an engineer is an organism who solves a problem you didn’t know you had in a way you don’t understand. “The driver is becoming more … remote from his vehicle” And everybody can relate to what he calls the ‘bum-ometer’. “The bum-ometer is no longer calibrated to the road,” Australian Trucking Association (ATA) senior engineering advisor Loose laments. “The trucks now have air suspension seats, they have air-suspended cabs, they’ve got huge taper leaf springs and air bag suspension. The driver is no longer connected to the road, so he no longer feels it. “The driver is becoming more and more remote from his vehicle…

THERE WERE a few moments sitting in the cab of the new Benz at Adelaide’s Daimler Trucks dealership when I briefly doubted the need to spend a couple of days driving this particular truck on a 1600km run up the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs. It was, after all, the same 2658 demo model I’d driven up the Pacific Highway a few months earlier, even towing the same B-double trailer set with the same load. Sure, the truck had the black wrap removed to reveal its true silver skin, and the trailers were fitted with new curtains emblazoned with the Benz logo. But other than that, and the accumulation of another 12,000km on the clock, it was exactly the same beast. In fact, just like the earlier run up the…

VOLVO GROUP Australia (VGA) has donated a Mack Granite cab-chassis to TAFE Queensland SkillsTech, to be used as a training tool for the future generation of heavy-vehicle workshop technicians. General manager of TAFE Queensland SkillsTech Mary Campbell thanked VGA president Peter Voorhoeve for the generous donation and stressed how crucial donations such as the Mack Granite are to the future of the industry. “Volvo Group Australia’s generous donation of this truck enables SkillsTech to provide the best possible training for our apprentices,” Campbell says. “On behalf of TAFE Queensland SkillsTech, I would like to thank Volvo Group Australia for investing in the future of the heavy vehicle industry, and I’m confident our apprentices will make great employees thanks to your support.” During the handover, Voorhoeve had the opportunity to address…

WHAT PART of a rate rise – which must be an industry-wide program – does the trucking industry and its associations not accept? Companies do it all the time. They go out of their way to make it as hard as possible for the end user to identify, but it no less achieves the desired result as in the product increases in price – be it by stealth, a campaign of justification, or by creating an urgent demand. Using the ‘by stealth’ technique is done by decreasing the size of the item while maintaining the existing price. To do the same in transport would involve reducing the carrying/cartage capacity of the equipment used, so instead of increasing the length of a semi-trailer from 20 pallets per load to 22 or…