Owner Driver 343 August 2021

ownerdriver AUGUST 2021 #343

DEDICATED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PERSON BEHIND THE WHEEL

OWNERDRIVER.COM.AU

Big river truck show SA window through lockdown unites Mannum community See page 20

Nordic adventurer From Norway’s fjords to a life-long Australian transport career See page 54

TIME TRAVELS

Freightliner’s evolving truck technologies across the ages

20

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Contents #343

AUGUST 2021

54

20 20 MANNUM’S TRIUMPH

Better known for its boat-building industry, the South Australian town of Mannum played host to the recent SA Truck and Ute Show

30 CLASSIC DODGE DELIVERS

Retired truckie and Dodge devotee Peter Hand sources and restores what was once a newspaper delivery truck

40 PROUDLY PURPLE

Jason Duell’s Kenworth K200 not only moves furniture in style, its eyecatching appearance is attracting plenty of attention on the highway

70 gptruckproducts.com.au

54 NORDIC ADVENTURER

Norwegian-born Ollie Aspevik took a punt when he decided to jump ship and settle into a lengthy Australian road transport career

“Volvo’s takeover of White was far bigger news for Australian truck operators than Daimler’s acquisition of Freightliner.”

62 SHOW SURVIVOR

An extremely rare 54-year old F-609RT cab-over Mack gets a second makeover and new life by classic truck aficionado George Proctor

70 TIME TRAVELS

Steve Brooks delivers a detailed history lesson on Freightliner’s development in Australia before doing time behind the wheel of two trucks that truly span the technological ages

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BEHIND THE WHEEL Greg Bush

EDITORIAL Editor Greg Bush Ph 07 3101 6602 Fax 07 3101 6619 E-mail Greg.Bush@primecreative.com.au Senior Journalist Ben Dillon Ph 07 3101 6614 E-mail Ben.Dillon@primecreative.com.au Technical Editor Steve Brooks E-mail sbrooks.trucktalk@gmail.com Contributors Warren Aitken, Robert Bell, Frank Black, Warren Caves, Warren Clark, Adam Cockayne, Dale Cook, Rod Hannifey, Michael Kaine, Sarah Marinovic, Sal Petroccitto, Ken Wilkie Cartoonist John Allison

PRODUCTION Production Co-Ordinator Cat Fitzpatrick Art Director Bea Barthelson Print IVE Print

ADVERTISING Business Development Manager Hollie Tinker Ph 0466 466 945 E-mail Hollie.Tinker@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Con Zarocostas Ph 0457 594 238 E-mail Con.Zarocostas@primecreative.com.au

SUBSCRIPTIONS Ph 136 116 Fax 02 9267 4363 Web magshop.com.au Reply Paid 4967, Sydney, NSW, 2001

EXECUTIVE GROUP CEO John Murphy Publisher Christine Clancy COO Zelda Tupicoff Operations Manager Regina Fellner Trader Group Sales Director Brad Buchanan

Battling the borders

T

HE PUBLICITY surrounding the two COVIDinfected truck drivers in New South Wales appears to have placed ammunition in the hands of the anti-truck brigade. The two brothers, both furniture removalists, travelled from Sydney to western New South Wales before being advised they had tested positive to COVID. If that wasn’t enough, reports of truck drivers travelling north into Queensland with falsified permits, has raised the ire of that state government, with the obligatory backlash from those outside the road transport industry.

Trucks and truck drivers come under the umbrella of an “essential service”. Delivering freight to various parts of Australia is a necessity, so it’s puzzling why these permits are not up to date.

Unfortunately it appears there are a few that are using their vehicle as a means to transport their mates from one state to another, bypassing lockdown restrictions.

Sadly, it gives the majority of road transport industry operators a black mark. It also attracts extra scrutiny on the lifeblood of Australia.

Truck drivers are currently struggling with long delays at COVID testing sites, especially with calls for truckies

to be tested every three days. It’s added pressure on an occupation which is one of the most demanding in Australia.

Under this climate, truck drivers not only have to deal with being put under the microscope by police and road authorities, but now have to cop state border patrols.

Unlike most of the general public who are not permitted to travel interstate (and in Sydney’s case it’s intrastate), truck drivers are out on the highways delivering muchneeded freight to all points nationally. However, they also have a responsibility to be ‘COVID Safe’, even though their point of contact is mainly restricted to depots, truck stops and their own families.

For its part, NatRoad is on the right track asking for sensible border crossing rules to ease the pressure on freight movements. However, more needs to be done.

More convenient testing sites for drivers is imperative to enable swift freight deliveries. Truck drivers being forced to join lengthy queues alongside the general public lacks common sense.

Surely the respective state governments can arrive at a more realistic solution to keep the trucks rolling in a timely manner.

OwnerDriver is published by Prime Creative Media 11-15 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Telephone: (+61) 03 9690 8766 www.primecreative.com.au ISSN 1321-6279 Largest circulation truck publication in Australia Member: Circulations Audit Board

26,471

Circulation (CAB Audit March 2021)

OwnerDriver magazine is owned by Prime Creative Media. All material in OwnerDriver is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. Opinions expressed in OwnerDriver are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

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The Goods

NEWS FROM THE HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

TWU Queensland’s governance frozen State secretary Peter Biagini exits as audit brings temporary suspension following anonymous complaints

AN EXTERNAL audit has sparked an interim suspension of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) Queensland branch governance and departure of state secretary Peter Biagini.

It has also led to a temporary merger with NSW under a re-named NSW/Qld (Interim Governance) Branch, the union said.

The move comes after the union’s national council directed its external lawyer, Michael Doherty Legal, to probe anonymous complaints in late May. The TWU said that former judge Frank Marks and consultancy Deloitte were subsequently tapped to examine the complaints and governance standards of the branch and found that: • governance procedures at the Queensland Branch were in breach of the TWU rules and national standards,

including insufficient oversight and unclear levels of authority • serious governance breaches led to the significant mishandling of aspects of management at the branch • there was a failure to disclose commercial arrangements that involved conflicts of interest • the departure of the former Qld assistant secretary was misclassified as a redundancy and the payment incorrectly approved • there were no findings of fraudulent misuse of members’ money, however the redundancy payment to the former assistant secretary will be further examined by national council.

After the findings were handed down, governance structures in the Queensland branch were temporarily disbanded, with governance temporarily

transferred to the NSW branch under the stewardship of the National Council in line with rules and principles developed

by Deloitte.

Queensland branch assets - including the branch office, bank accounts and all other property – are quarantined and used only in the “best interests” of Queensland members.

In the interim period there will be no Queensland branch secretary, while all other Queensland TWU employees will remain in their positions.

The aim of national council is to ensure continued high level of representation for TWU Queensland members and to re-establish robust governance structures at the branch as soon as possible,” a TWU communique noted.

The union will seek to employ new

ABOVE: Departing TWU Qld secretary Peter Biagini

Queensland-based officials to increase organising resources in Queensland and “provide more pathways for Qld delegates and members to step up into roles in the Union Office”.

“The TWU remains as strong and united as ever.”

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THE GOODS NEWS FROM THE HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

Call for subbie payment terms reform NatRoad tells big business in NSW to stop using owner-operators as ‘cheap finance’ THE NATIONAL ROAD Transport Association (NatRoad) has used a recent NSW Small Business Commissioner (SBC) ruling to call for sweeping payment terms reform.

The SBC released the Small Business Shorter Payment Terms Policy, which requires companies entering into contracts with the NSW government to pay their subcontractors within 20 business days following the receipt of invoice.

This applies to contracts from July 1, 2021 with a value of $7.5 million or more.

Under the policy, a NSW government agency must require the large business to: • identify direct subcontractors, which are engaged to provide goods or services to the large business for the purposes of the relevant goods or services head contract between the large business and the NSW government, and inform them of this policy • include in its subcontracts with small business subcontractors, which are (wholly or in part) for the provision of goods or services for the purposes of the relevant NSW government head contract, a requirement that the large business make payments under the subcontracts within 20 business days following the receipt of a

correctly rendered invoice from the small business subcontractor • pay small business subcontractors for the provision of goods or services relevant to the NSW government agency head contract within 20 business days following receipt of a correctly rendered invoice • report under the head contract as per the contractual requirements relating to this policy.

In a pointed communique titled Improve Payment Terms and Stop Using Owner-Operators as ‘Cheap Finance’, NatRoad said that, although this is a welcome change, it only applies to a small number of owner-operators, with large numbers of operators struggling to pay their own bills.

“Delayed payments or non-payments are the major contributors to business closure,” the association added.

“Large companies are effectively using subcontractors as a way to finance their operations by not paying them on time.”

NatRoad continues to lobby the federal government to make 30-day payments a maximum time within which payment to a small business must be made.

“A national law to that effect would help end the

uncertainty and inconsistency of payment times for transport small businesses,” it said Many companies are using COVID-19 as an excuse to push payment times out further than 30 days, the association charged.

“In the face of this trend, it is hoped that the changes in NSW point to a trend that can help reduce the uncertainty and inconsistency of payment times for small transport owneroperators.

“But more needs to be done and similar changes should be introduced nationally and made law rather than form part of a government code.

“Better support and protection are needed for road transport operators to keep them on the road during these turbulent times.”

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THE GOODS NEWS FROM THE HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

SA firm cops illegal remapping fine NHVR and police hands out $35,000 in penalties speed limiting and emission control tampering equipment discovered TWO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN operators have been fined after the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) charged them with illegal engine remapping offences.

An investigation conducted by South Australia Police (SAPol) Heavy Vehicle Enforcement Unit (HVEU) found a South Australian produce company had ‘remapped’ the engines of four heavy vehicles to disable the vehicles’ emission limits, the NHVR reports.

The operator pleaded guilty to four charges of tampering with an emission control system fitted to a heavy vehicle and was fined $3,000.

There was also a requirement to spend more than $32,000 to fix the compliance issues.

A further SAPol HVEU investigation found software and

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electronic equipment associated with speed limiter tampering at a South Australian transport company’s office.

The operator pleaded guilty to possessing a device designed or adapted to enable speed limiter tampering was fined $1,200, and was required to forfeit the equipment.

NHVR executive director statutory compliance Ray Hassall said the NHVR was working collaboratively with the heavy vehicle industry to remove engine remapping and improve safety.

“We’re currently undertaking an education campaign to highlight the harmful effects engine remapping can have on heavy vehicle drivers and logistics workers, as well as communities

and the environment,” Hassall said.

“By ensuring all engines are compliant with current regulations, the transport industry can better protect the health and safety of truck drivers, the supply chain,

and the general community.

“The NHVR and SAPol regard speed limiter tampering as a serious public safety offence and we won’t hesitate to prosecute operators who ignore the law.”

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28/07/2021 2:06:56 PM

Industrial action threat to Toll

Transport Workers Union flags mood for crippling strike over ‘substandard’ enterprise agreement ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT negotiations between the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Toll have gained a more militant tone.

The union had ramped up the rhetoric, saying its members are prepared to strike after negotiations broke down, resulting in an application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to hold a vote to go on strike.

“The move will affect almost 7,000 Toll workers who are members of the TWU and would cripple food and fuel supplies across Australia,” it says.

“Toll’s push for a substandard enterprise agreement is aimed at slashing pay and conditions in Toll yards to win work from wealthy retailers and manufacturers by offering low rates.

“The agreement threatens the job security and earning potential of workers by scrapping overtime entitlements, bringing in new workers on far worse pay and conditions, and

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attempting to remove job security protections, which would allow good reliable Toll jobs to be contracted out to the lowest common denominator.”

The company’s position is that its workers get industry-leading pay and conditions.

With the mainstream press sensitive to supply-chain disruption and the pandemic panic buying that emerged last year during lockdowns, the union threat has made headlines.

Strike action will take place in the coming months following a successful ballot of workers, according to the union, which took the opportunity to also lash the advent of the gig-economy.

“This is an outrageous attack on the jobs of hard-working truck drivers,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.

“Over the last year, truckies worked harder than ever and delayed

negotiations to assist Toll while the effect on the economy played out.

“During that time, profits have skyrocketed at the wealthy clients whose goods drivers have been transporting.

“They are furious that demand has soared, but transport contracts are squeezed and exploitative gig economy models are expanding in transport such as AmazonFlex, forcing workers to suffer through degraded jobs.”

AUGUST 2021 15

28/07/2021 3:12:42 PM

THE GOODS NEWS FROM THE HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

Tolls ‘outweighing’ driver’s wage cost

NatRoad has called for a new focus on how the toll road system operates as high costs are placing a burden on owner-operators’ bottom line THE NEW SOUTH WALES Government must show national leadership and reform its road tolling system for heavy vehicles with the revelation that Sydney tolls are outstripping the cost of driver wages, according to the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad).

NatRoad was due to appear before the Transport and Customer Service Committee of the NSW Legislative Council’s Inquiry into Road Tolling Regimes on July 14, but the hearing was postponed due to Sydney’s lockdown.

NatRoad’s written submission calls for a variable toll rate that incentivises off-peak journeys or gives discounts for multiple journeys, and creation of an independent regulator to manage a fair and transparent toll pricing regimen.

“High tolls are a burden that’s simply unacceptable for owner-operators operating on an average profit margin of just three percent,” NatRoad CEO Warren Clark says.

“They force trucks onto un-tolled suburban roads, generate noise and congestion, cause safety problems and increase emissions.”

Allan Thornley, MD of Eastern Creek-based trucking company Shaws Darwin Transport, says that the $140 round trip cost of tolls for a typical delivery run from western Sydney to the Northern Beaches now outweighs the $134 cost of a driver for the four-hour trip.

Thornley estimated his company’s cost in tolls to operate a delivery truck around Sydney is about $38,000 a year.

The cost of tolls had climbed since the opening of the M7 in 2005 and even more markedly in the last three to five years.

“It’s come to the point where I even question the value of our drivers using tolled roads,” Thornley says.

“The cost of the tolls seems to far outweigh all the other costs to operate a truck over the road.

“Most routes give only limited

time and distance savings. They are generally easier for a truck to navigate with fewer corners and intersections, but the cost is significant and something we can’t control.

“We have looked at ways to offset tolls and it’s almost impossible to do so without introducing a lot of red tape.

“We are operating at scale on other routes so we can absorb some extra

{{{ SHIMMYING }}} OR PULLING

charges, but there are many smaller operators whose average net profit margin (after tax) has fallen to about 3% and aren’t so lucky.”

Clark says truck operators already pay a fuel-based road user charge and between three and 11 times more in registration charges than cars, depending on the weight of the heavy vehicle.

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28/07/2021 1:16:13 PM

Helping out in the outback Western Star Trucks extends relationship with Outback Futures to promote wellbeing of residents in remote communities WESTERN STAR TRUCKS has formally partnered with not-for-profit organisation Outback Futures with an agreement to make a donation to the mental health and wellbeing service provider for every Western Star purchased in Queensland.

Committed to long term, intergenerational change, Outback Futures aims to see rural and remote communities equipped with the confidence and tools to identify and address their own mental health and wellbeing challenges.

“Western Star Trucks and Penske Australia are proud to expand and formalise our existing relationship with Outback Futures,” says Craig Lee, general manager – on-highway, Penske Australia.

“With a heartland entrenched in regional Australia, our Western Star

brand has natural synergies with the communities that Outback Futures supports.

“Outback Futures does such fantastic work in rural communities nurturing and empowering the outback with its mental health and wellbeing services directly impacting so many communities.

“In addition to making a donation from every Western Star sold in Queensland, Penske Australia has a range of initiatives that we are working on with Outback Futures.”

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Outback Futures, is grounded in the bush environment,” Sweeney says.

“Partnerships such as this one with Western Star not only contribute funding that provides a direct benefit to outback communities, they also raise awareness around mental health and wellbeing, and facilitate Outback Futures as we progress our mission to renew hope, build resilience, and strengthen community.”

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AUGUST 2021 17

28/07/2021 1:22:16 PM

THE GOODS NEWS FROM THE HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

Lack of truckie testing sites unsuitable NatRoad warns governments that truck-friendly COVID testing sites must be provided or risk the possibility of empty shop shelves THE NATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION (NatRoad) has called on all state and territory governments to step up and provide “truck friendly” COVID-19 testing sites on key transportation routes or risk a failure in delivery of essential freight.

Victoria’s announcement that freight and transport operators travelling from, or through, a declared ‘red zone’, which currently includes New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, are required to have a COVID-19 test every 72 hours (three days) in order to be allowed to cross the NSW/Victorian border is causing problems for drivers due to limited access to suitable COVID-19 testing sites.

“NatRoad supports the introduction of testing regimes in light of the more virulent variants of COVID-19 now circulating in Australia, but it is extremely important that all state and territory governments step up and provide ‘truck friendly’ COVID-19 testing sites on key transport routes in metropolitan and regional locations,” says NatRoad CEO Warren Clark.

“The impact of these decisions has been

shown in media reports. We have seen the lengthy queues of people lining up at testing facilities, sometimes for five to six hours.

“NatRoad supports a higher frequency of testing for essential workers. But with these increased testing requirements governments must recognise the need to provide suitable facilities to enable people to meet the obligations imposed on them.

“If drivers can’t be tested and produce a negative result, goods can’t be delivered and that impacts all Australians. Empty shelves encourage panic buying, which makes the situation even worse.

“Unfortunately, the industry that all Australians have depended on to keep food and other necessities on shop shelves is treated as a second thought,” Clark adds.

NatRoad continues to call for 24-hour ‘truck friendly’ testing sites on key transport routes in metropolitan and regional locations, in all states and territories so that drivers can continue their work with the confidence that they are not transmitters and putting their families and the community at risk.

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28/07/2021 3:14:17 PM

Union points blame over driver deaths The TWU has taken aim at the federal government’s inaction for the deaths of 200 truck drivers during the past five years A TRUCK DRIVER was found dead on July 25 following a truck fire, which the Transport Workers Union (TWU) says brings the death toll for truckies to 200 in just over five years, while the overall number of people killed in truck crashes has reached nearly 1,000 in the same time period.

In April 2016, the LNP government abolished the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, despite its own report concluding that truck crashes would be reduced by 28 per cent.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine has called for urgent government regulation to address the growing crisis in trucking.

“Last year, we heard the Prime Minister call truck drivers ‘heroes’, but when it comes to the alarming death rates, poor vaccination access, workplace outbreaks and truckies forced to queue for hours in

the rain for COVID tests, he is completely silent.

“A truck driver killed every 10 days – that’s the legacy of the LNP government’s reckless move to rip down a road safety watchdog to line the pockets of their mates at the top of trucking supply chains. For more than five years since, the federal government’s inaction has enabled wealthy retailers, manufacturers and oil companies to put a deadly squeeze on transport contracts, forcing operators and drivers to cut corners in safety to stay in business.

“Trucking is Australia’s deadliest industry, and it is only getting worse.

Truck drivers over the last 18 months have operated under extreme pressure to meet the soaring demand of clients like Amazon, whose record profits jumped 224 per cent in the last quarter.

“With no tribunal in place to regulate

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine

the industry, those profits are failing to reach the workers whose jobs are under attack, like those at Toll forced to pursue strike action to protect their pay and conditions,” Kaine says.

Earlier this year, a major study by Monash University revealed chronic health problems in trucking, including over 80 per cent of drivers being overweight or obese, one in five suffering from depression, over 70 per cent living with chronic pain and almost a third with multiple chronic health conditions.

The federal government report called for the tribunal’s abolition because

of its “significant cost to the economy … with any potential safety benefits significantly outweighed by the associated costs”.

The TWU says the tribunal’s annual funding was $4 million, adding that research shows heavy vehicle crashes cost $4.64 billion a year.

The TWU adds that the abolition of the tribunal brought down investigations into safety in deadly sectors such as the transportation of oil, fuel and gas and tore up regulation guaranteeing ownerdrivers’ payments within 30 days of completing a job.

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AUGUST 2021 19

28/07/2021 2:42:24 PM

truck events

BIG RIVER TOWN TRIUMPH

Better known for its boat-building industry, the South Australian town of Mannum snuck under COVID’s guard, hosting the SA Truck and Ute Show between lockdowns. And the local community was there in droves to take in the colourful road transport event. Warren Aitken reports

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ownerdriver.com.au

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“It felt like the whole town was out in support.”

L

ET’S START this story with a bit of honesty. Up until April this year I really had no idea where Mannum was. In fact, I think when someone first mentioned the SA Truck and Ute Show to me I emailed my editor and was spelling it wrong for the majority of our opening emails.

Those who often run the Melbourne to Adelaide track will no doubt have seen the signposts as they near Murray Bridge. However, I’m not a regular on that road, so I needed Google Maps’ assistance when it came to planning out my June long weekend expedition.

Obviously, I never made it to last year’s show as, like nearly everything fun in 2020, the show became another COVID catastrophe victim. This meant that 2021 was my first venture to the historic South Australian riverside town.

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Above, left to right: Trucks rolled into town on the Saturday morning, including this immaculate Atkinson; You will be seeing more of this 1986 142H Scania in the future. Ian Bagot from Sellicks Beach is in the process of restoring the old girl to glory and has my number for when the job’s done Bottom: Not exactly sure how the fake grass relates to the everscrumptious potato on a stick snack sold by this Isuzu food truck Opposite bottom: There was a good turnout for the unveiling of the Irene Lovell Memorial Board the night before the show kicked off

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“Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens was on hand to show us all exactly how easy it is to move a truck out of the wash bay with a flat battery.”

Top: A special one truck convoy carried a banner for Irene Lovell through the main street, led by Irene’s husband Above left: Even if you aren’t into trucks or utes, the show was worth turning up for the pumpkin soup, as served by these lovely ladies Left: Kane McDonald brought his boys, Nate and Chase, along in the T909 he drives. He’s usually flat-out running between Melbourne and Brisbane so enjoyed being able to get out to the Mannum show Below: The driver of McMillan & Sons’ sharp Kenworth T909 was nowhere to be found, but I caught this enthusiastic helper doing all the hard work, although she was reluctant to take the accolades for the truck’s condition

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:38:37 PM

Mannum is steeped in history to the degree that it seemed to have more historic buildings and monuments than people when I first rolled in. However, come June 13, the town’s main street, side streets and even the great Murray River were abuzz with the arrival of all the entrants for the annual truck and ute show.

There was more shiny stuff than a magpie’s wet dreams and enough oversized aerials to tune into every country music station in the world.

The selling point that won me over, however, wasn’t the calibre of entrants – which was outstanding – it was the overall spirit of the event. It felt like the whole town was out in support and happy to have a chat – a big city style show with a friendly small town atmosphere.

Community spirit Let’s briefly go into the place’s background, as it really does need to be acknowledged. Mannum itself isn’t exactly a trucking hub of this huge country. In fact, in its heyday, the town was renowned for its boat building industry. However, back in 2011, the Mannum Progress Association was looking at ideas to hold a big event during the winter as a way to bring tourists and locals together, as well as raising a bit of money along the way.

Top: If you look closely you can see the legendary Jacob Kuchel of Kuchel Contracting as he drove the latest restoration project from the workshop to Mannum Above: There was a bit of a queue in order to get in and a few small hoops to jump through, but it didn’t bother the patrons at all Above right: Teresa, Jess and Kate from The Truck Factory in Adelaide had a bit of fun posing for the camera Below: Charity stand: The #Forkcancer team of Teresa Phillips, Jess Omond, Kevin Fuss, Danielle Fuss and Trish Fuss pose alongside a couple of the cancer researchers, Michael Samuel and Jo Woodcock

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28/07/2021 1:39:09 PM

It was Neil Warhurst who tabled the idea of a truck show to the association for consideration. The secretary at the time was the Mannum-famous Irene Lovell.

“She was a little dynamo,” Neil says during our chat, explaining that Irene may well have been “small in stature” but she was “huge in personality” and was the driving force behind so many of Mannum’s community activities. From the football club to the quilter’s club, Irene was in it all. After Neil’s suggestion, she did a little investigating and, in no time at all, the SA Truck and Ute Show became a reality.

Over the years, the show has raised plenty of money, with the local community getting right behind it and, at its heart, was Irene. Sadly, in 2020, she passed away. This year’s show therefore kicked off on June 12 with a special unveiling of the Irene Lovell Community Board. This event board stands proudly at the entrance to Mannum and informs all those entering of the community events coming up. It’s a very fitting tribute for a lady who was involved in so many local charities.

Top: The crowds eagerly awaits Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens’ second display of the day with double the trucks Above: It wasn’t all big trucks in the truck section. This lovingly restored 1957 Chev Viking drew plenty of admirers. Kym Habermann (second from the right) owns KADS Truck ‘N’ Diesel and has been working on this project for a while Above right: The Murray Bridge-based SA Truck Training team: Catherine (centre) and Nicola Shepperd, with Nicola’s partner Kym Left: Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens doing what we’ve all done … screaming at a Kenworth. This time though it’s because he chose to pull the bloody thing

24 AUGUST 2021

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28/07/2021 1:39:55 PM

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Truckin’ sunny As mentioned earlier there was no show in 2020 so 2021 was the first year with Neil filling the metaphorically huge shoes of the late Irene Lovell. I’m sure he was feeling the pressure as well, with very strict COVID regulations to implement, not to mention that, in the days leading up to the show, it appeared the sun had packed up and headed north for winter and the only time the rain stopped was to allow the drizzle to set in.

However, come show day it all turned around. The trucks started rolling in under perfect conditions. Plenty of local trucks were shined up and ready to go as well as quite a few from outside the area as well. The show’s reputation even enticed the 2020 Owner// Driver Rig of the Year, Inverno’s 900 Legend, to take part.

To work with the new COVID regulations it was decided to run the event in two areas. The trucks were consigned to the main street with the utes taking up the riverside area. This allowed organisers to have entry and exit points that could be controlled to ensure the COVID-calculated visitor numbers were adhered to.

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:40:36 PM

There were numerous market stalls spread up and down the main road, peppered between the trucks. One of my favourites was the lovely ladies selling fabulous homemade soup. The weather may have been all sunshine, but the soup was still needed to warm you up.

There was a small hiccup when I worked out that the bouncy castles and face painting was apparently ‘just for kids’.

I swallowed my pride though and took a little satisfaction in knowing those little people might get the bouncy castle, but I didn’t need a chaperone to pop into one of the main street pubs for a hearty lunch.

Muscle power For a little more entertainment, Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens was on hand to show us all exactly how easy it is to move a truck out of the wash bay with a flat battery. Jordan is one of Australia’s premier strongmen and a regular at the Mannum show. He’s recently had bicep surgery so decided to warm up with a gentle pull of a K200.

Above: Another successful truck pull for ‘Biggie’ Right: Pulling two prime movers took its toll on ‘Biggie’ where he had to be propped up by Justin Wenham and his daughter Heidi Below left: Aaron Mattner was happy to pose with this stunning Kenworth T909 he drives for Ray Scott Transport, but only after he’d removed all the dust from it Below right: Steve Dittloff rolled into town with his awesome 1996 International. It’s a bit of a project truck for Steve, with its name giving a hint of its role Opposite top: The Truck Factory, one of the show’s major sponsors, brought along some eye-catching gear, including this super Western Star Opposite middle: This sparkling 1997 T950 was another show standout Opposite bottom: Probably the biggest smile of the day – young Samuel Helps poses for his mum Jessica

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28/07/2021 1:41:06 PM

“It’s definitely a must add for the truck show circuit.”

Top: Another of my favourites and a future story to chase. This 1981 R600 still works hard every day on tipper work. Posing nicely with the Mack is owner Stuart Dittloff and partner Mel Pennington Above left: Mel Ware picked up best of the show in the zero to two yearold category. Joining Mel was Kate from Truck Factory, while Neil Warhust (far right) gets ready to announce another trophy winner Above right: A smiling Peppi Inverno collecting another prize for his 2020 Owner//Driver Truck of the Year Kenworth Legend Left: Justin Wenham, who brought his stunning Western Star along, was also among the prize winners Below: Check out the unique trophies. Seriously cool

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With that 10-tonne warm-up behind him he decided to up the ante and hook up two Mahnew Transport Western Stars and drag them down the road. After watching Jordan strain every muscle pulling near 30 tonnes I stopped complaining about lugging my camera around all day.

There really wasn’t much more you could ask of the Mannum show – it had all the necessities. Stunning big rigs, friendly crowds, pubs, a sausage sizzle, live band, great weather and, most importantly these days, a ‘COVID Safe’ atmosphere. The day was rounded out with the presentation of some of the coolest truck show trophies I’ve ever seen. Custom cuts of local timber treated and preserved. I’d love to take a truck one year just to try and win one of those awards.

At the end of the day I must admit I was sad to see it finish. It may not have been the biggest show but there was still over 60 stunning trucks filling the main road. With numbers growing each year and the small country town atmosphere growing as well, it’s definitely a must add for the truck show circuit. Thank you Mannum for a very family friendly day out that has ensured I now know exactly where Mannum, South Australia is. Cheers to Neil Warhurst and the entire crew.

ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:42:25 PM

NHVR Sal Petroccitto

A focus on fatigue The merits of AFM is that it is comprehensive, flexible and prioritises safety for operators

B

ETTER MANAGING and mitigating heavy vehicle driver fatigue and distraction needs to be a key safety priority for government and industry.

Safety is number one, no matter the role but particularly for drivers, and we all have a responsibility to ensure our industry goes to work safely and arrives home safely.

For many years, we have been faced with the challenge of how to address fatigue safety risks – which has traditionally been focused almost exclusively on managing or counting hours of work.

We now know that this is not an effective means to properly manage safety risks and we need to focus on individual driver needs, such as being fit for duty.

In January this year we outlined our vision for managing fatigue/ distraction to the National Transport Commission’s review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

The reforms a decade ago gave us some improvements, but we have an obligation to make policy decision makers aware that more can be done.

More importantly it can be done without compromising safety.

Our vision is informed by joint forums with industry held over the last two years, and we set out three key objectives to enhance the HVNL’s approach to fatigue.

This includes increased flexibility to enable drivers to rest when they are tired, supported by an agreed authority for drivers to stop. It’s important to stress that flexibility doesn’t mean more hours – it means helping drivers better manage work and rest within current outer limits.

It also includes ensuring the law recognises safety technologies, including Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technology (FDDT), which has been recognised as a gamechanger with the ability to alert drivers to potential incidents before they occur.

Importantly, the law needs to be clear, concise and provide the ability for drivers, operators and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) to have conversations about appropriate and proportionate levels of risk, safety, efficiency, and productivity.

This is a concept referred to as the fatigue risk management framework, which is about lifting safety

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standards. This is part of delivering modern regulation.

FLEXIBLE SYSTEM Fatigue risk management is necessary, regardless of the size of the heavy vehicle being driven. Currently, the Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) Scheme is the only example of a fatigue risk management system recognised by the HVNL. AFM is comprehensive and flexible. It prioritises safety by allowing operators to establish work and rest hours and safety measures tailored specifically to their and their drivers’ individual circumstances. Ultimately, drivers and operators know their business and how to maximise public safety better than anybody else. This is not a scheme that promotes or encourages additional driving hours.

NHVR research conducted in 2019 showed AFM accredited operators on average had a better safety culture maturity, better compliance with fatigue management requirements and lower crash rates.

SAL PETROCCITTO became CEO of the NHVR in May 2014, bringing extensive knowledge of heavy vehicle policy, strategy and regulation to the role. He has broad experience across state and local government, having held senior leadership roles in transport and logistics, land use, transport and strategic planning, and has worked closely with industry and stakeholders to deliver an efficient and effective transport system and improved supply chain outcomes. Over the past seven years, Sal has led a significant program of reform across Australia’s heavy vehicle industry, including transitioning functions from participating jurisdictions to deliver a single national heavy vehicle regulator, harmonising heavy vehicle regulations across more than 400 road managers, and modernising safety and productivity laws for heavy vehicle operators and the supply chain.

However, more than 94 per cent of the industry is still operating in the standard hours regime – meaning only six per cent have signed up to Basic Fatigue Management (BFM) or AFM scheme. The numbers are clearly telling us that more can be done to encourage operators to take advantage of initiatives to provide them more flexibility in meeting fatigue requirements and hence improve safety.

Through changes to the HVNL, the NHVR can be a game-changer in creating an environment where industry and government work better together in solid partnership.

While we seek changes to the law, the NHVR has been working with industry to assist operators to assess their business needs and make use of the existing fatigue laws – including assistance to convert BFM to AFM. Over the past 18 months the NHVR has delivered the Fatigue Choices customer program, so far meeting with 55 operators in 16 locations across Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania, and a further 79 operators online.

The program was supported by a new booklet, Advance Fatigue Management – Preparation to Apply, which is the third in the AFM series to assist operators. It breaks down the components of an AFM application and provides plain English descriptions of the elements the NHVR reviews when it receives an application.

In addition to fatigue management standards, we’re also focused on championing the importance that technology currently plays and the opportunities in the future of a successful and thriving heavy vehicle industry.

EWD UPTAKE I’m looking forward to the safety potential that can be achieved through the use of Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technology (FDDT) and monitoring the progress of the NHVR’s FDDT Pilot to better understand how we recognise this technology in the new law.

The number of drivers using an electronic work d iaries also continues to increase and we are working to expand the choices available to industry in how they utilise this technology and move away from confusing paperbased systems.

The NHVR exists to engage, educate, and enhance the experience of the industry and we’ll continue to do this, prioritising safety and in this case, fighting fatigue.

“More than 94 per cent of the industry is still operating in the standard hours regime.”

AUGUST 2021 29

28/07/2021 10:31:46 AM

trucking heritage

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:28:52 PM

CLASSIC DODGE DELIVERS

Way before the web became the source of news, gossip and opinion, the Dodge brand was a popular choice for daily newspaper deliveries. Retired truckie and Dodge devotee Peter Hand has sourced and restored one of the former paper delivery trucks. Warren Caves writes

ownerdriver.com.au

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28/07/2021 1:29:07 PM

“I worked that Dodge truck for around four years on interstate work.”

A

S THE SUN rises on another day, and we reach for our little LCD screens to update us on the events that have emerged since we last gazed upon the palm-sized pixel machines, we are instantly brought up to speed with local and world events.

Or perhaps we’re led off on a tangent to watch way too many video clips of cats being dodgy. Whatever your viewing penchant, the fact that this can all be done without even leaving the warm embrace of a doona has become something of the norm in our modern world.

News and media outlets now have at their disposal instantaneous digital platforms to bring readers up to speed on all manner of events, getting their reporters to a location as quickly as they can, or even more quickly re-distributing photos or video clips digitally submitted by the public. This form of instant information distribution certainly has its benefits, as we have seen with the COVID19 pandemic.

Things weren’t always this way, of course. Prior to the digital evolution, the daily newspaper was almost

Top: Retired truckie Peter Hand has turned his attention to truck restoration Right: A photograph of Peter Hand’s Detroit Diesel 6V53powered Dodge which he bought at age 23

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mandatory reading on the morning train commute or in the lunch room at ‘smoko’ time.

Pre-digital, once you had left home in the morning the only means of news communication would come via the radio or the newspaper. While the radio was a more instant platform, newspapers provided broader content with the addition of visual imagery to drive home a story.

While newspapers are still a popular information medium, they are undoubtedly, in terms of distribution, only a shadow of their former printed self.

Times change, page three girls are now frowned upon and the familiar Sunday morning whistle of the ‘paper boy’ dragging his squeaky-wheeled yellow cart has fallen silent, rendering redundant what was for a lot of young lads their introduction to working life.

As is now, back in the heyday of printed newspapers, readers would expect as timely a distribution of domestic and world events as was physically possible, resulting in many various daily editions – sometimes twice daily – of newspapers.

This lust for knowledge of topical events, which could not be garnered from gossip around the office water cooler, created an exhausting timetable of procedures to get the papers out by the morning.

Events needed to be covered, stories written, photos supplied, layout, editing and printing all had to be done super quickly. But of course, that’s not where it ended, as the nation wakes from its slumber it is expected that the newsstand vendor at the train station or the shelf of the newsagency be abundantly stocked with the daily edition of one’s chosen publication.

Newspaper deliveries Getting the newspapers to the stands before the nation woke took a dedicated transport network, with an understanding of the urgency of information. A

ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:29:29 PM

Thank You Truckies For Getting Us Through While Australia continues to experience Covid uncertainty, it is important to acknowledge our dependency on the men and women in Australia’s road freight industry.

You continue to go above and beyond to get much needed supplies across the country and into our homes.

So, to all the truckies, long haulers, last milers, loaders, couriers, packers, their families and everyone behind the scenes in the supply chain, NatRoad thanks you for helping Australian families in our everyday lives and in our moment of need.

If you ever need to chat to someone who understands the industry, give us a call.

That’s what we are here for – we’ve got your back.

Call us on 1800 272 144 or visit www.natroad.com.au AD-584741738.als - Base Edition 33

27/7/21 10:25 am

“The truck was originally one of Wes Searle’s paper trucks, which ran out of north Parramatta.”

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combination of man and machine capable of getting the job done in record time, the legend of the Dodge paper trucks was born.

Disclaimer: While we here at Owner//Driver do not advocate the breaking of the law out on the road, history is history and should be told as it was, warts and all. Trucking in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s was a vastly different time.

From the mid to late ’60s, Dodge paper trucks forged an enviable reputation over nearly 20 years for getting the job done – fast! V8 engines, cheap fuel and tight deadlines meant that second best would just not do.

There were similar Internationals around at the time, but the low-revving International V8 paled against the freerspinning Dodge engines, most popularly the 318 cubic inch (5,211 cubic cm) V8, which it is said could rev at 3,800prm all night long.

Stories abound about Dodge paper trucks roaring down the highway with glowing exhaust manifolds and foot-long flames emitting from straight-through exhaust pipes at speeds (depending on who you talk to) of anything up to 100mph (160km/h), although figures of 85 to 90mph might be more realistic.

If the stories are to be believed, in return for temporary lapses in concentration and momentary bouts of poor eyesight, the paper truck drivers would hurl a bundle of papers out for various enforcement agency personnel, as they rolled through town.

For retired truckie Peter Hand, the purchase of this 1971 Dodge AT4 475 around five years ago allowed him to re-kindle his love for the brand, even though Peter admits he never drove a paper truck.

“I bought my first Dodge when I was 23-years-old from Wally Elliot of Tumut. It was a single drive prime mover with a Detroit Diesel 6V53 engine in it,” Peter recalls.

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28/07/2021 1:29:56 PM

“I sub-contracted to Wally for a while before going on to work that truck for CJ Deans, carting market produce from Melbourne and Werribee back to stores in Tumut, Gundagai and Adelong, as well as pine board timber and spuds out of Gatton, Queensland.

“I then went to work for Bill Krause of Tumut, carting timber between Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.

“I worked that Dodge truck for around four years on interstate work, sleeping across the seat, before trading it in on a brand-new White 9000. That was one of my biggest mistakes; that truck was a pile of junk,” Peter exclaims.

“I didn’t like it, it rode rough and no amount of weight would settle it down. It was the roughest truck you could ever sit in, and anyone who tells you different never drove one.”

Left: Peter’s research into the Dodge’s history convinced him to opt for a variation of the green colour of Searle’s Overnight Express trucks Below: Back in his driving days it wasn’t unusual for Peter to sleep across the seat Opposite below: A 318 cubic inch V8 petrol engine powers the old Dodge

Truck restorations During these years on the highway, Peter developed a fondness for the Bateup paper trucks, which operated out of Cootamundra. The striking red livery and lively performance of the Bateup trucks made quite the impression. According to Peter: “They were the best-looking paper trucks on the highway.”

Retirement has meant that Peter has now been able to

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28/07/2021 1:30:23 PM

“I can’t believe they ever stopped making them.”

Right: Peter suspected the Dodge, with its aluminium tray, could have done paper runs during its history

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focus on truck restoration pursuits. He has an International ute and a Diamond-T completed to his credit, as well as this Dodge paper truck. And there are a couple more trucks sitting in his backyard mid-restoration.

“I wanted to do a truck up for the Haulin’ the Hume historic truck runs. I wanted something that goes and can sit on 100km/h, no problem.

For me the only choice was a Dodge,” he says.

Ironically, Peter saw this Dodge AT4 advertised in the newspaper some five years ago. It was in western Sydney and had been used (as many Dodges also were) as a horse float and had been quite neglected.

“I noticed the aluminium tray on the truck and thought that it may have been a paper truck at some point. After some investigation, it turns out that the truck was originally one of Wes Searle’s paper trucks [Searle’s Overnight Express], which ran out of north Parramatta,” Peter says.

“I was originally going to do it up like one of Bateup’s trucks but, after finding out the truck’s history, I couldn’t bring myself to paint it red.

Instead, I went for a slight variation of the original green colour of the Searle’s trucks,” he explains.

Peter loves the old Dodges. “I just love the way they drive; I love the way they go. I can’t believe they ever stopped making them.”

Over two years the truck was treated to a full cab-off restoration with Peter doing the lion’s share of the work himself in his backyard shed.

“Spending my working life as an owner-driver has taught me a lot about working on trucks. You have to be very self-reliant and fix things yourself or go nowhere.”

Peter also enlists the help of a network of friends to complete certain aspects of the job, all of which helps to keep the restoration costs down.

Parts for the old Dodges are still reasonably easy to track down, according to Peter, who draws upon a mix of new and old parts to complete the job. The commonality between the Internationals and the Dodges ensures a consistent supply of most parts.

His paper truck runs a 318 cubic inch V8 petrol engine, a four-speed manual transmission and a single speed diff. According to Peter, the truck runs nicely at 100km/h, or even a bit more if the papers are late.

Peter and the Dodge are regulars on the truck show scene, travelling to events throughout the state with his three-tonne caravan in tow, most recently travelling to Gundagai from his home base in Camden, NSW. Peter says on this trip the combination ran the whole way at 100km/h without even changing a gear, using 112-litres of fuel for the run.

They say that trucking gets in the blood and no number of transfusions can get it out. Seventy year-old Peter agrees. “If I had to do my life over again, I’d do it all the same. I love it.”

ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 1:31:02 PM

The legal view Sarah Marinovic

Distance disadvantage What to do if your court location is too far away?

However, in New South Wales, if you are pleading guilty but would like the opportunity to explain your side of the story and request leniency then there are several options.

MOVE THE CASE It’s usually possible to move a case to a closer location if the person is pleading guilty. The one caveat is that the case can’t be moved interstate.

This is because each state has its own court system and cannot take over cases from other states.

If your case is interstate, you might consider asking for it to be moved to a location that is easier for you to get to, for example closer to the border or near the main airport.

To request a transfer of location you should call or send an email to the court registry explaining why you are requesting the transfer.

WRITTEN PLEA You can send a letter to the court indicating your guilty plea and explaining what you would like the magistrate to know about your case. While this is an easy way to deal with a matter, it’s not always the best option. The magistrate may have questions about your case. If you’re not present you can’t clear up any problems.

So, while this can be a good option for very simple cases, if you’re facing large fines or demerit points it’s usually better to be present.

SARAH MARINOVIC is a principal solicitor at Ainsley Law – a firm dedicated to traffic and heavy vehicle law. She has focused on this expertise for over a decade, having started her career prosecuting for the RMS, and then using that experience as a defence lawyer helping professional drivers and truck owners. For more information email Sarah at sarah@ainsleylaw.com. au or phone 0416 224 601

USE TECHNOLOGY Since COVID began last year the courts have improved their facilities for remote appearances. Many local courts in NSW now have video links so that people can attend court from home.

If you would like to be considered for this option you should call or email the court registry well before your case (at least a week beforehand).

Unfortunately, the resources are still limited, so it’s important to confirm availability well in advance.

My main advice is to make sure you take action as soon as you receive your Court Attendance Notice so you don’t run out of time to make arrangements.

If you have a case at court and would like some guidance our team at Ainsley Law is always happy to chat with Owner//Driver readers.

“Make sure you take action as soon as you receive your Court Attendance Notice.”

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The problem has deepened since COVID. During outbreaks there’s often uncertainty about whether people can and should be travelling long distances for court, and whether they will be allowed into the complex once they arrive.

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Unfortunately, if you are pleading ‘not guilty’ then the case will usually have to remain at the original court house.

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28/07/2021 10:01:06 AM

EYES ON THE ROAD Rod Hannifey

Disgraceful cash grab Being forced to contest an inflated fine over a trivial offence is a waste of time for everyone involved

L

AST MONTH I went to court for a breach, charged with exceeding six hours’ driving. Now, we all know the way the logbook works. If I started at 8.07pm I must mark my book as starting at 8pm (rounding work up) then if I finished at 2.07am the next day I should then mark the next page as finishing at 2.15am (again rounding work up). So, I have only worked six hours but the book would show I had worked six and a quarter.

When I was pulled up I had marked the end of the first page at midnight at Euroa showing kilometres, then I marked the start of the next page the same and, of course, if you do not stop, you would not mark the book till you did.

The copper who pulled me up was brusque and did not let me look properly at the page. I explained to him that we had to round work up (he disputed this as I explained the situation above) and said I didn’t think I had broken the law. I offered to show him the Navman Sentinel but he was not interested. Again I said: “Did you look at my record? I am not in the habit of breaking the law,” which he again refused to discuss.

STUBBORN REFUSAL When the ticket came via email, I sought a review. I sent copies of both logbook pages showing I had marked both at midnight with Euroa, then

took a screen shot of the Navman page clearly showing I stopped at 11.57pm until 12.12am and asking for the ticket to be withdrawn. I wrote I would accept a clerical error fine for not marking the break in, but had clearly shown I did stop for 15 minutes, so did not drive for 6.25 hours. I again explained the way the rounding up rules steals our time.

I had been deciding when to mark it, thought I will be in Melbourne in two hours so all good, had a bit of trouble getting a park, so that took the extra few minutes and then went to bed and marked the book when I got up, forgetting to mark the break at Euroa.

They refused the review, saying they could not withdraw the ticket (this is not true, they can but simply would not), so I sought a second as in their reply they commented on the logbook but failed to comment or recognise the Navman. This is a third party, tamperproof device which clearly showed I had a 15 minute break.

Again, this second review was refused.

Now, if this was a serious offence, driving 20 hours in a day or such, I would expect a penalty and for it to be severe. But we are talking about the possibility, even without the Navman backup, that I drove six hours and two minutes. Now, any sane and reasonable person would say that is not dangerous (and I then had an eight hour break, so not a fatigue risk either) and I could not and would not pay the $453 fine, believing it to be completely

ROD HANNIFEY, a transport safety advocate, has been involved in raising the profile of the industry, conducting highway truck audits, the Blue Reflector Trial for informal parking bays on the Newell, the ‘Truckies on Road Code’, the national 1800 number for road repairs proposal, and the Better Roadside Rest Areas Group. Rod is the current president of the NRFA. Contact Rod on 0428 120 560, e-mail rod.hannifey@bigpond. com or visit www.truckright.com.au

over the top for the alleged offence.

Highway Advocates offered advice and representation – and they offer a discount to National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) members – and at court the judge asked did I have a licence in another state as my supplied print out showed only one warning nearly 10 years ago. He did not seem really interested, but was agreeable to a section 10, recognising both my pleading guilty and my record and road safety efforts which we documented and supplied to them early. This saw the fine dismissed; no fine or penalty but it may remain on my record.

NHVR INPUT This long winded explanation is to give some weight to why I wrote (and the NRFA endorsed and others have agreed to the intent) seeking removal of police powers to police the Heavy Vehicle National Law. Now, this is a bit like the elephant in the room. Many complain but no one has had the gumption to do or say anything. I don’t want to piss anyone off, let alone the police.

They have a hard enough job with robbers and murderers, but if we have the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) policing the NHVL, how can police then do so without any NHVR oversight or input?

Yes, there must be a deterrent if you break the law and others are at risk.

But if police simply take the easy mark and fine you for something completely ridiculous that is really not road safety related, and when you seek review they simply say, “Go to court”, then that’s not what the law is meant to do. It’s also not a good use of our time or the court’s.

We all know we are seen as an easy target when fined in one state and live in another. The police know you will, more likely than not, simply pay the fine because of what it will cost you to defend it.

The NHVR is saying its on-road inspections and any industry efforts will be based and focused firstly on education and then enforcement. No one can expect to get warnings over and over, but if it is the NHVL, then the absolute we should accept to see is a fair go. Then any fines issued by police would be reviewed by the NHVR, not some privately-owned bureaucrat who it seems gets a bonus for refusing to review and rescind bullshit fines.

I will be writing (and will put the letter in next month’s column) to every police commissioner. I will be asking them if they will seek to follow the NHVR path of education first, enforcement second and will then chase the NHVR to find a solution to unfair, unreasonable and fines that have nothing to do with road safety being issued by police. I would welcome your comments.

“We are seen as an easy target when fined in one state and live in another.”

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 11:45:30 AM

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27/7/21 10:26 am

truck of the month

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 11:33:07 AM

PROUDLY PURPLE If there’s one type of truck that pleases the general public, it’s one that moves their furniture from a previous residence to a new home. Jason Duell’s Kenworth K200 not only performs that task in style, but its eye-catching appearance does the family business proud. Warren Aitken writes

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“If you paint your trucks purple, whatever business you have you’ll lose.”

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28/07/2021 11:34:30 AM

I Top left to right: Jason’s very proud of the final result. Loving his job and his truck is making work a lot easier; Jason had the dash wrapped in the same company purple Opposite above left: Even back in the early days the Duell’s fleet was turning heads; small in size but big in stature Opposite below: Duell’s Furniture Removalists’ yard in Mt Gambier soon fills up when the purple fleet rolls in

s anyone aware of how much landlords are charging for rent these days? What about the numbers of people that are scrapping for the limited number of rentals out there? It’s terrifying! More importantly, is anyone wondering what the hell I’m waffling about when there’s a damn fine-looking Kenworth you all want to hear about? That’s a very valid question and I can segue myself back to that.

Being the solid journalist and truck fan that I am, I like to chase down the coolest stories. When I spotted a Facebook photo of a new furniture removal truck I was blown away and wanted to investigate for all the other truck fans out there. In order to do a thorough evaluation, I figured the best thing to do was immerse myself in the industry, shift house and hire Duell’s Furniture Removalists. That way, I could see this stunning Kenworth up close, I could see how practical it is as a furniture truck and I’d be able to watch Jason Duell hard at work.

It all sounded good in theory. Sadly, I’m in Brisbane and Duell’s Furniture Removalists is based down in Mt Gambier. I also didn’t get accepted by any of the places I applied to, so my editor suggested I just ring Jason to see when he’s bringing a load up into Queensland. Well it seems my editor is just a tad smarter than me, so that’s what I did.

I called up young Jason and found out the maiden voyage in the company’s flagship would bring him right into my backyard. Aren’t you guys lucky?

It is very hard to miss the new Duell’s flagship when it’s on the road.

That’s not a new issue for the Duell’s trucks, though; they have been turning heads for decades.

This may be the biggest truck it has but the small South Australian firm has prided itself on having a standout fleet and the K200 just takes it to the next level.

Duell’s Furniture Removalists celebrated its 48th year in trucking in July, having begun operations back in 1973. The business began with Jason’s father Allan carting mail from the post office to the railway station with an old Bedford. After starting with the Bedford, a Dodge V8 soon got added to the fleet and, from there, the growth began.

Incidentally, the Dodge is still in the company yard and on the books for a restoration.

So, from the mail run Allan branched out, doing a mix of general freight, furniture and carting loads for Target. As he broadened his freight consignments his coverage area grew as well. Soon, the Duell’s trucks were doing overnight runs between Mt Gambier and Adelaide, as well as runs from Mt Gambier to Melbourne and servicing many small towns inbetween the two cities.

Over the next couple of decades, Duell’s successful family-run company built up a reputation with friendly, reliable service and great coverage, carting anything and everything. It had already built quite the name in the furniture removal arena and was still doing a fair bit of general freight.

Furniture focus In the early 1990s, when the recession hit, Allan and his wife Sandra

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took a good hard look at their business model and decided to focus more on the furniture work. It was already an area of the industry they were more than experienced in, with the general freight slowly playing second fiddle to commercial and household shifts. In the ’90s, though, it would become their mainstay.

With a couple of Isuzus in the fleet they started specialising in household furniture and new stock deliveries, once again to anywhere and everywhere. With versatility being a strong attribute needed for furniture removalists, the work kept Allan on the road a fair bit. It also kept Sandra very busy running the office.

Since day one, Allan has been very particular about the presentation of his trucks. He had a fleet of mainly heavy rigids and they were always immaculate.

As Jason and I were talking about the presentation he recalled the origins of the colour choice. Apparently it was very much against his grandfather’s advice.

“When my dad first decided to paint the trucks he spoke to his dad and said he’s going to paint his truck and paint it purple,” Jason explains.

“Gramps said: ‘If you paint your trucks purple, whatever business you have you’ll lose.’” It seems Gramps got that one slightly wrong – it didn’t harm the business. In fact, the company now sits at 10 eyecatching purple trucks.

As the family company thrived, Allan and Sandra’s only child Jason was growing up among it all. School holidays were spent working with his father and helping out everywhere he could. It wasn’t just holiday time that saw him focus on the company business.

“I remember dad getting a letter from the school saying all I do is write about Duell’s trucks and BMXs,” Jason laughs.

However, when he was old enough to leave school, his parents tried hard to steer him away from the family business, insisting he get a trade instead.

Seeing as Jason was into the stock car scene (he’d been racing since he was 13), he opted for a panel beating apprenticeship, rationalising

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“If you don’t let me drive the truck I’ll start applying for driving jobs elsewhere.” the fact he could earn money and it would also come in handy when working on his race car.

During his apprenticeship he still helped out and made no secret of his desire to drive trucks and shift furniture. On more than one occasion Allan let him tag along on the harder, less glamorous, jobs hoping this would put him off. Nope; seems the idea of hard work, complicated problems and long hours actually fuelled the fire in Jason. When he finished his apprenticeship he again talked to his dad after one of the other drivers had left.

“I actually said ‘if you don’t let me drive the truck I’ll start applying for driving jobs elsewhere’,” Jason admits. Bluff or not he got his way and, starting with his MR licence, he finally got his turn sitting on the right-hand side of the family trucks.

Bigger is better There really is no other niche market in our industry like the furniture removal side of things. It’s a physically demanding job; you are playing a life-size game of Tetris with every load, often loading in hard-to-get places and being extremely cautious with people’s possessions. It really is tough work, but Jason thrived on it.

He delved into every aspect of the family business, even spending some time in the office, quoting jobs, organising loads and scheduling drivers. It was the hands-on stuff that really floated his boat though. Once he’d moved up to his HC licence it gave him access to the fleet’s bigger trucks.

The majority of the Duell’s fleet is Isuzu. With the small distance shifts it does, big horsepower and sleeper cabs really aren’t needed.

Add in the excellent run it has had with Isuzus and you can see why

it sticks with them. In fact, one of the company’s original Isuzus, with well over a million kilometres, is still going as Jason’s race transporter now.

When it came to needing a bit more horsepower and comfort for the longer runs, Allan then turned to Mercedes-Benz. It offered the best combination of both needs. The first Benz purchased was kitted out with Duell’s’ usual level of class and style and became Jason’s truck. With the bigger truck his new role saw him covering Melbourne and Adelaide regularly as well as runs into Queensland and any other call ups.

He loved his Benz but admits: “I’ve had this Kenworth in my mind for a while, a long while actually.” When it came time to once again add to the fleet, Jason started working on convincing his dad about the benefits of going to Kenworth.

Now, don’t underestimate Jason here. He wasn’t just a big kid screaming: “But dad, I want one!” Jason is hands-on in all aspects of the business and investigated it all, from fuel and horsepower numbers to the resale, running costs, servicing and productivity angle. He had done his homework.

However, he does admit he was pushing for a Kenworth with a stick but getting the truck over the line required sacrificing that option in favour of an automatic. Allan’s argument being: “Well, what if you’re away and we need to do a truck swap?” Jason laughs when he informs me: “I’m not swapping my truck with anyone.”

With his father convinced to leave behind the comforts of a Euro truck in favour of the Aussie-built icon that is a K200, I guess Jason

Top: Jason makes sure the inside is upholding the same high level of presentation as the outside Above: The customised interior just finishes off the truck nicely Right: It’s rare to get the fleet together so there’s plenty of photos taken when they are

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ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 11:36:28 AM

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“It’s very hard to get a tough truck and removals to come together.”

Top: The new K200 made its maiden trip from Mt Gambier to Queensland Above right: Grant Fowler Signs is deserving of praise for all the amazing lines and scrolls that decorate the truck Below: The stainless AdBlue tank is a nice touch Bottom: Years of experience means the Duell’s fleet is well designed to allow for different loading techniques, to best suit the location

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decided to go for broke and let his dad know exactly how he saw the truck being finished off.

“I didn’t think I’d convince dad to do everything I wanted, but in the end, yeah,” Jason smiles. “Dad’s always been into them looking good, I’m just a bit more into the bling.”

Matching stainless The truck was ordered through the Barry Maney Group, which represents the Kenworth brand in Mt Gambier. The big K200, with its stretched chassis, rolled into town already painted in the company’s vibrant purple. Being able to get these two things done in the factory was another selling point Jason had used to make his case.

Aldoms Transport Engineering, who has built several Pantech bodies for Duell’s, took the body off Jason’s old Benz and made a few alterations before fitting it to the new Kenworth. With most of its Pantechs having the side skirts, this enabled Jason to get the Kenworth’s fuel tanks moved back down the chassis, keeping them unseen and meaning less time polishing tanks for him.

When it came to making it stand out, vibrant purple wasn’t enough for Jason, he wanted more. He did, however, admit to a few minor hurdles.

“Everything that looks good on a K200 has already been done,” he confessed, so he had to think outside the box. Getting the light bar built into the staunch Barrup bullbar gave it a clean, yet practical,

look and something a little different. With the fuel tanks moved it freed up some space and allowed Jason to get matching stainless wrapped battery boxes and AdBlue tanks on either side, nicely filling that void.

Jason had seen wrapped grille bars on a T909 and opted for the same look with the K200, the purple really set off by the stainless grille. The full rounded wheel flares kept the whole streamline look intact and the drop visor finished it off nicely.

Jason’s own creative side came out with the large stainless KW logo on the rear of the Pantech.

“I was worried it might be a bit too much, but with the purple painted underneath it came out all right,” Jason says. I tend to agree, it doesn’t smack you in the face but when you take notice it really looks right.

It wasn’t just the exterior that got a bit of make-up; Jason also let his wrap guy loose on the dashboard as well. As you can see, there is a fair bit of purple shining back at you from the driver’s seat, though you could be forgiven for not noticing as, like me, you may have been entranced by the pearl craft steering wheel. Let’s be more specific here, it’s the pearl craft smart steering wheel. So you don’t have to sacrifice all those easy-to-reach buttons to have a stunning pearl craft wheel in your Kenworth these days.

There is plenty more I could tell you about this truck and the lovely family from Mt Gambier who runs it. Truth be told, you really just need time to sit down and enjoy it. Jason had a plan with this truck, a plan to incorporate two off his passions.

“I love the industry and removals. It’s very hard to get a tough truck and removals to come together,” he says That was his goal, and I think he has nailed it. Duell’s’ K200 is one of the best-looking furniture trucks you’ll ever find. It just helps that it is also going to carry the family-owned business well into its fifth decade of service. Well done to Duell’s Furniture Removalists.

ownerdriver.com.au

28/07/2021 11:37:23 AM

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The quality that Freighter makes and the durability of these trailers is very good.”

Symons Clark is one of the oldest transport and logistics businesses in South Australia, with its roots dating all the way back to 1875. Passing hands through several generations and families, the current business is operated by David and his son James Clark alongside Ricky and his son Jason Clark.

With a fleet of over 90 trucks and 176 trailers, the business provides transport, bulk haulage, container services, warehousing and distribution, and equipment hire across the South Australian market, along with transport services to major cities along the east coast.

“The majority of our trailers are from MaxiTRANS, made up of Freighter, Hamelex White and Lusty EMS units,” David explains.

“Our first trailer was a 40ft tri-axle Freighter trailer and we continued to buy the same model for some years to cart shipping containers. Once B-doubles came in the market, we started buying those sets and now we buy road trains and AB-triples. We also have road train dollies, 20ft Tipping Skels and tri-axle tippers. We have ordered three new Stag sets of B-doubles from MaxiTRANS that are coming later this year.

“Most of our trailers and equipment are standard models, however, we do have some custom-built Freighters in our fleet, with features such as longer tipper bodies on the A-trailers, tri-axle tipper racks and a custom-built Sliding Tipping Skel that we bought around seven years ago and are still using.

“The design of Freighter trailers is 100 per cent productive. Our trailers are in use every day, they do a lot of work but they don’t wear out. They are very robust and a very good product. I’ve never really had any issues with Freighter trailers, which is the reason I continue to buy these products. I always chase quality over price but I have to say that these trailers are a good price too.

“Since the initial days of our link with Freighter we have not had any problem with their sales or customer service. Their area sales

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Above: Symons Clark Logistics has been committed to Freighter trailers for over 25 years Left: Symons Clark logistics director David Clark Below: Symons Clark Logistics provides transport, bulk haulage, container services, warehousing and distribution, and equipment hire

manager Gary Lines, as well as Mike Baas and Petros Skondras in the workshop, are 100 per cent committed to the product and to Symons Clark. They’re very accommodating in helping me design something specific and to get things through.

“I go with quality, experience and service and how people look after my business so I’m not one to change. I’m a bit of a creature of habit and when I know I’m being looked after. I’m totally committed towards them as they are to me. That’s what draws me to Freighter: they look after me.”

“THAT’S WHAT DRAWS ME TO FREIGHTER: THEY LOOK AFTER ME”

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DIABETES NSW & ACT Dale Cook APD

Navigating Dr Google Can Dr Google take the place of your healthcare team? In a word, no

T

HE INTERNET offers a fantastic array of easily available information.

However, determining if it is evidence-based information can be tricky. Often, information can be very biased. It might just be the author’s opinion, with no scientific basis at all, and we all have very different opinions about things.

If you are concerned about developing diabetes you might be tempted to hop online and complete a symptom checker.

Unfortunately, a 2020 study from Edith Cowan University* found that online symptom checkers were only accurate about a third of the time. You need to head to your GP for a blood test to determine if you have diabetes.

If you have already been diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes you might decide to do some of your own research. The more you know, the better armed you’ll be to manage the condition. But be warned – there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Important tips Follow these nine tips to help you work out if a website provides evidence-based information: 1. Who is operating the website? Is it a government department, a non-profit organisation (such as Diabetes Australia), a professional organisation (such as Dietitians Australia or the Australian Diabetes Educators Association), a company (which might be selling a product), a university, an individual health professional or a person with no qualifications but lots of enthusiasm? Organisations such as government departments, non-profits and universities are accountable to their funding

bodies so you can expect them to provide accurate, evidence-based information.

2. Who is funding the website? Some websites are funded by organisations or companies that are trying to get you to buy something from them. The information they provide may or may not be accurate but it could be biased to get you to buy from them. Be aware many websites are tools for marketing products and services.

3. Who is the author? Do they have appropriate qualifications to provide the information? What is within one health professional’s scope of practise is generally quite outside another type of health professional’s scope. If someone uses the title ‘Dr’ it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a medical doctor. And medical doctors aren’t expert in everything to do with health. There are also many health professionals with strong opinions who don’t always follow the scientific evidence. These professionals may be well-known media personalities or authors. Use your nose to determine if they might be trying to sell their latest book or TV series by making rash claims.

There are also lots of online forums, social media influencers and Facebook friends that that will have their own opinions.

That doesn’t mean they are experts in your health conditions so, while they may provide support and encouragement, your own health professional team will be able to provide appropriate health treatment advice for you.

4. Are they based in Australia? Some countries have different levels of accountability or the information they refer to may be correct for their country but not for Australia. For example, the food data for Australia is different to the US and labelling

DALE COOKE is an accredited practising dietician at Diabetes Australia. For more healthy lifestyle tips and other helpful information on diabetes head to the Diabetes NSW & ACT website www.diabetesnsw. com.au or call the helpline on 1300 136 588 to speak with a health professional.

requirements are different in each of these countries. What the US considers to be glutenfree oats is not gluten-free in Australia.

5. Can you contact the organisation operating the website? If you can’t, consider that a red flag. People are motivated by different reasons so shonky websites full of false health information might just be someone’s idea of fun.

6. Is the information up to date? Health information, diagnosis and treatment changes as research occurs, so what was accurate 10, five or two years ago may be quite out of date today.

7. Are there testimonials? Testimonials are social proof – they give us confidence that something that works for others will work for us. But businesses that use testimonials don’t post the bad ones, they are only ever going to post the good ones in the hope you will buy from them. Health professionals legally can’t allow testimonials on their websites or social media as part of their code of ethics. If they do use testimonials it’s an indicator that their ethics are questionable.

8. Are they using marketing tricks such as unrealistic claims? If a website is making a claim that something can be cured, reversed, treated without using medications or traditional treatments then it’s generally a red flag that the website, and the information it contains, is shonky.

9. Are references included? Sometimes websites will include references to scientific studies to support their information. Bear in mind some scientific studies are better than others, and some research is funded by the organisations that might benefit from favourable research.

Reliable info

NOTE *Hill, MG, Sim, M & Mills, B (2020) The quality of diagnosis and triage advice provided by free online symptom checkers and apps in Australia.

MJA, 212(11): 514–519.

So what are reliable sources of information about diabetes and health in Australia? Here’s a few to start with: • Diabetes Australia – www.diabetesaustralia.com.au • Diabetes NSW – www.diabetesnsw.com.au • Diabetes Qld – www.diabetesqld.org.au • Diabetes Vic – www.diabetesvic.org.au • Diabetes Tas – www.diabetestas.org.au • NDSS – www.ndss.com.au • Health Direct – www.healthdirect.gov.au • GI Foundation – www.gisymbol.com • Exercise Right – https://exerciseright.com.au • NPS – www.nps.org.au If in doubt, always check the information you have found online with your own health professional team or call the free NDSS Helpline on 1800 637 700 to speak directly with a health professional.

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28/07/2021 10:38:08 AM

NatRoad Warren Clark

Revenue raising The NSW government plan to dispense with mobile speed camera warning signs needs a re-think

T

HE NEW SOUTH WALES government says its decision to remove mobile speed camera warning signs is a safety measure, claiming it will save between 34 and 43 lives a year.

My question is: how many more lives would be saved if it and governments everywhere in Australia made it an issue about educating drivers?

NatRoad has made its members’ views known to the Berejiklian government in a submission to the NSW Parliamentary Standing Committee on Road Safety (Staysafe).

We told Staysafe that warning signs indicating the presence of a mobile speed camera are an effective way of making all road users check their speed, slow down and do the right thing. You can’t have variable speed limits all over the place and not clearly spell out where and what they are. It really is that simple.

Heavy vehicle operators know, live and breathe safety. Our opinions should carry some weight.

In 2009, academics from Melbourne and Stockholm compared the approaches in Victoria and Sweden to speeding and cameras.

They found Victorian policy is based on the concept that speeding is a deliberate offence in which a rational individual wants to drive as fast as possible and is prepared to calculate the costs and benefits of their behaviour. In other words, the bigger the baseball bat, the more likely a driver is to toe the line.

The researchers concluded that the Swedish approach is based on a belief that safety is an important priority for all road users, and one reason why road users drive too fast is a lack of information.

This sparked a novel idea. Speed cameras were detecting vehicles breaking the speed-limit in Stockholm, but if you came in under, you were automatically entered into a lottery in which prizes were funded by fines. You got a reward for compliance not just a punishment for non-compliance.

In 2018, Australia was in 14th place on an OECD table of road fatalities per 100,000 people. Sweden sat at sixth.

WARREN CLARK, NatRoad’s chief executive officer, has more than 20 years’ experience leading and developing business for emerging companies.

Warren has held the position of CEO at various companies and is a certified chartered accountant.

SECOND-BEST SOLUTION

Governments need to understand that people view speeding fines as revenue raising because the link between penalties and safety outcomes is unclear or poorly spelt out.

Revenue NSW does not even split its fines data between light and heavy vehicles.

It’s impossible to see the effects of enforcement on heavy vehicle sector road safety if the basic data is not collected or made available.

And it’s hard, if not impossible to claim you’re educating people about speeding if the enforcement notice arrives weeks after an offence was committed.

Mobile speed camera warning signs should be re-introduced.

“The link between penalties and safety outcomes is unclear.”

Inconsistency in speed limits and signage is one of the biggest frustrations for truck drivers.

While applying a lower speed limit for trucks on risky stretches of road – such as the notorious Mount Ousley descent near Wollongong – is wellmeaning, it’s a second-best solution.

Heavy and light vehicles need to be separated wherever possible – which is why NSW government improvements to the Mount Ousley interchange are so welcome.

But programs to reinforce appropriate driving behaviour around heavy vehicles would be even more so.

Variable limits produce frustration for motor vehicle drivers who sometimes resort to overtaking dangerously. If signage isn’t clear or prominent, accidental non-compliance will result.

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owner profile

Norwegian-born Ollie Aspevik took a punt when he decided to jump ship and settle in Australia. It turned out to be a fruitful endeavour as he commenced a long running career in interstate road transport.

Warren Caves writes

M

ANY WHO choose the life of a truck driver do so out of exposure to the industry from a young age. A father or uncle may have had trucks and school holidays may have provided childhood adventures and the freedom of the open road to inspire.

This story is a common one and repeats itself, time and time again. So how does a young Norwegian boy eventually find his way to Australia to forge a lifelong career in the transport industry?

For those who may not know, Norway is way up north … way, way up north.

Bordered by Sweden on one side and the North and Norwegian Seas on the other, Norway is known for its blonde-haired blue-eyed locals, salmon fishermen, the northern lights, deep coastal fjords and Vikings.

It’s Norway’s coastal fjords that gave a young Ollie Aspevik his introduction to the world of transport, far be it from the highways and by-ways of Australia in the seat of a truck.

From the small settlement bearing Ollie’s family name for 500 years, Aspevik on Norway’s west coast provided the ideal

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Far left, and left: Ollie’s first Scania, a V8 142 model; Ollie’s father made deliveries for local residents along Norway’s fjords Below: Ollie’s current rig, a Cat-powered International Eagle 9900, has served him well since 2017

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base for Ollie’s father to operate his small boat throughout the fjords, transporting all manner of goods including groceries, mail and even livestock for the local residents not serviced by roads.

From a young age, Ollie and his brothers would regularly skip school to help their father out with tasks related to his business.

“We probably only went to school two days per week; there was always plenty of other things to do to keep us busy,” Ollie explains.

While crucial transport experience was no doubt being learned, it would be more than a decade before Ollie would find himself behind the wheel of a truck in Australia.

With the maritime life transfused into his blood, a young Ollie joined the merchant navy in 1959 to see the world. He was just 15-years-old.

For a little over a decade, Ollie worked on many varying ships, from Norway, Sweden, Belgium and the USA. “At one point, in 1962, we were on a steam ship off Siberia in 27 degree temperatures trying to

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“I had a good run out of it for a while before trading it in on a Scania Streamline.” keep steam up,” he laughs. Ollie remembers the date well as it was during the Cuban missile crisis, with tensions between the USA and the then USSR putting the world on the brink of nuclear war.

During his time in the merchant navy, Ollie visited many parts of the world, including several trips to Australia. Upon deciding to leave the shipping game and Norway, Ollie briefly considered moving to the USA. However, with soldiers returning from the Vietnam War given employment priority upon repatriation, and based on conversations at Aussie pubs he had over a beer or two during his shore breaks from shipping, Ollie reasoned that Australia would offer more bountiful employment prospects.

With his decision made, Ollie says that it took a mere two weeks for his travel plans to be sorted out and he was on a plane to Sydney.

“I arrived on the October long weekend in 1970 and, by the following Tuesday, I had a job. It wasn’t a good one, but it was a job,” Ollie says.

After a time in Sydney working in the building trade, Ollie then moved to the NSW Central Coast after meeting his future wife, who had a block of land at Tuggerah. Here he continued working as a builder with the work providing well for Ollie and his wife. Using Ollie’s words, it went “gangbusters” for quite a while.

By the time 1973 had come around, according to Ollie, the government of the day was overregulating and taxing the building game to a point where he felt it was not as viable as it once was.

Around this time, a chance meeting with a bloke called Trevor, who spotted Ollie’s small petrol engine-powered Ford truck that he had purchased for his building work, would set the wheels in motion for the remainder of Ollie’s career – truck driving.

Trevor was carting pre-cast concrete products

from Monier in North Wyong. Trevor, who had a couple of semi-trucks and trailers, would often have a few tonnes left over that he could not fit on his trailers. Ollie’s little truck would be perfect to pick up the overflow, he thought.

“If you are after a little bit of work for the truck I can give you some,” Trevor had said to Ollie.

And there began what would turn into a 50-year transport career.

Eventually, Ollie sold the little Ford and drove trucks for Trevor, including a couple of V8 Dodges and later, eight-wheeler Leaders with V8 Caterpillar engines.

Later, Ollie took a job with a builder who had purchased one of the very first Volvo F12 trucks in the country. According to Ollie, it was a promotional truck for a truck show in 1980 and had lots of chrome and fancy bits with a flash paint job.

“It had a 10-tonne crane behind the cab and the builder was going to cart his own bricks to site with it and he offered me a job driving it. He paid too

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much money for that truck and it sat around not working a lot of the time,” he recalls.

“I offered to find some work for the truck, which I did. I ended up working on interstate with it and I kept it going for a while, but it wasn’t enough and he ended up going bust.

“I got back from Melbourne in it one day and there were two guys sitting in a car; they came over and asked me to get all my gear out; they were taking the truck,” Ollie says.

Back breaking Local driving work around the Central Coast kept Ollie busy for a while before an opportunity came up to drive for a business in Sydney carting pipes from Moss Vale to Melbourne. This job saw Ollie make a move in the mid-1980s to his current location of Marulan in NSW, notable for its heavy vehicle compliance checking stations and perpetual calls over the UHF of: “What are the bridges doin’?”

The pipe work saw Ollie start out in a Ford Louisville, then into one of the first Volvo Globetrotters in the country, but Ollie’s time in the Globetrotter was set to be marred by misfortune. Ollie was badly injured in a crash near Shepparton, causing him to break part of his back. The

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truck was repaired and later sent to Melbourne to work on container movements. Ollie, however, was laid up for six weeks and says it was more like six months before he was back to some kind of normal.

Following the accident, Ollie took on some work driving a tipper and working on the Marulan bypass project. The work was easy and not too physical, which with his injuries, suited him well at the time.

Once well again, Ollie entered the owner-driver club, buying his first truck (not counting the old Ford), an F10 Volvo.

“I started working for Brambles who eventually took over Vaughan Transport. I subbied for a while pulling their trailers before they got really big. I then left and purchased my own trailer,” Ollie explains.

The Volvo was later traded for a Scania 142.

“That wasn’t a bad truck,” Ollie says.

“I had a good run out of it for a while before trading it in on a Scania Streamline.”

In the year 2000, Ollie was offered work relocating portable huts from the Olympics facility in Sydney across to Adelaide.

“Len Woods had the contract and there was that much work I bought another truck and employed a driver.

Above: Although he says he’s retired, Ollie still does a couple of runs a month to Melbourne or Adelaide Opposite top: Ollie had some good – and not-so-good – times with his Scanias

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“There was a constant supply of huts waiting for transport.

We could do as many as we wanted; you just rolled in, loaded them up and you were on your way.

“For the return trip back to Sydney, we back-loaded timber out of Mt Gambier,” Ollie explains.

Once the hut work was completed, Ollie was now left with the task of finding work for not just one truck, but two. He managed to secure some work carting steel plate out of Port Kembla to Adelaide for a while.

A little later, a truck with work came up for sale, carting pavers from Melbourne to Sydney. The owner was located in the NSW town of Oberon and the truck that came with the contract was a Western Star. Ollie checked it out and decided it looked like a good opportunity.

However, while the work was good the truck was not.

“The guy I bought it from thought he was a bit of a mechanic and did a lot of bodgie repairs on it himself. He was no bloody mechanic; I had a lot of problems with that truck which I had to eventually get rid of. I replaced it with another Volvo.

“That contract turned into a real good one,” Ollie says.

“I had my three trucks as well as subbies from time to time, running pavers up from Melbourne. There was a huge demand for the pavers to be used on the footpaths in Sydney and Kings Cross.”

Time to downsize

“I had a lot of problems with that truck, which I had to eventually get rid of.”

Above: Ollie Aspevik’s first ‘big’ truck, a 1980 F10 Volvo Right: Ollie operates his one-truck business out of Marulan, better known for its road authorities and weighbridges

Around 2006, after having issues retaining good drivers, Ollie made the decision to sell all but one of his trucks and go back to a single truck operation. He has worked that way ever since.

Ollie has had his share of ups and downs over the years with his trucks. A replacement engine for one of his Volvos being built from second grade used parts, repeated engine problems from a CH Mack that wouldn’t stop dropping water into the sump and his last Scania, which he says served him really well until it “threw a leg out of bed” (read: con-rod out through the side of the block) on its way to Adelaide.

While Ollie says it was a good truck, $42,000 for a new, bare block from Scania along with a substantial wait time forced the truck to be sold off for parts at $25,000.

Ollie has had his current truck, an International Eagle 9900, since around 2017.

“I’ve had a terrific run with it. I bought it from a bloke in Swan Hill but it was originally owned by a husband and wife team from Toowoomba who ran Brisbane to Perth with it on single trailer work. It’s got a C15 Caterpillar engine at 550hp [410kW] and has been fitted out with 240-volt electrics and a good AC unit for the long cross-country trips,” Ollie says.

At 77 years of age, Ollie has decided to retire and is taking it easy with just a couple of runs a month to Melbourne or Adelaide with mainly oversized lightweight loads.

“I like to keep under the escort width limit so I don’t get held back by time restrictions too much,” he explains.

The faithful Eagle and trailer are now up for sale and Ollie is just biding his time until a buyer is found. The job is getting a bit technical for Ollie, who admits the technology challenges him at times. I guess all the bytes and bits necessary for operating a trucking business in the modern transport world are a far cry from manning the deck of a small boat on the fjords of Norway in the 1950s.

The time it seems would be right for Ollie to hang up his blue singlet.

Your Transport Manufacturing Specialist 5 Year Structural Chassis Warranty

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sponsored content

COOL RUNNINGS

Phil Reynolds works in the product department at PACCAR Parts. Here, he delves into the cooling systems on trucks, including the basic operation, the technology, materials and maintenance of the cooling system

M

Y FIRST CAR was an Australian-made 1978 Leyland Mini.

What a stressful time that was in summer. The temperature gauge was probably the most viewed spot on the whole dashboard. If you aren’t familiar with old school Minis, the radiator sits on the side of the engine as a space saving measure – not an issue in chilly England where the Mini was first designed and built, but not great for Australia and our globally recognised extreme conditions.

So, when I started out at Kenworth 15-odd years ago, one comment sits with me to this day, from our chief engineer at the time: “Kenworth Australia engineers our trucks around the cooling package.”

I straightaway thought: what a great stress reliever for Kenworth drivers.

To better appreciate and understand the cooling systems on trucks, I visited Air Radiators near Geelong where, after over 40 years manufacturing Kenworth’s first fit radiators, the staff there have acquired far superior knowledge of the cooling requirements of trucks than what I am familiar with.

Let’s start with the basic principles of cooling on trucks. You would naturally think of the radiator, however charge air coolers, fuels coolers, oil coolers and condensers are also there to handle heat rejection and maintain the systems they are integrated with.

Ultimately, what the cooling system is doing is capturing heat generated from the vehicle, taking that heat out and allowing it to operate at the desired parameters of what it is intended for.

Let’s focus on the radiator and what forms the basis for those parameters required for cooling. Engine manufacturers like Cummins and PACCAR look at the components that make up an engine like cast iron and aluminium, work out the different rates of expansion on those components and then set the specifications around optimal working temperature.

Engine manufacturers take care of bringing the engine up to temperature through thermostats (that act like a valve regulating coolant flow around an engine). They also specify the volume of movement of coolant around the system with a water pump, but it is the job of the radiator to maintain the top end boundaries of the specified working temperatures.

To give some perspective around the work required to satisfy those specifications set down by engine manufacturers, consideration is given to many things.

Just to look at a truck radiator you can see it is typically the last point in a chain of other products that all block, exchange or limit air flow. Things like bullbars, driving lights and bug screens are all commonplace on many trucks and they all impact airflow to the radiator. Consideration is given to this and testing is done and simulated to make allowances for these additions.

Then, there is the truck grill, air conditioning condenser, fuel and oil coolers and the charge air cooler all exchanging their heat with the air before it arrives at the radiator. Naturally, the engine fan is critical when additional air flow is required, yet the greater the efficiency of the cooling package, the less time the fan needs to run and this saves on power and fuel.

The materials used are critical to efficiency and longevity. Copper

“CRITICAL THINGS TO BE AWARE OF INCLUDE USING THE CORRECT COOLANT AND NOT MIXING IT WITH OTHER BRANDS.” has stood the test of time for strength and thermal properties, and has the added benefit of ease of repair over aluminium. There still remains time and investment in engineering the copperbrass radiator. Many Australian applications mean the choice for customer remains with the quality, reliability and serviceability of the copper-brass radiator.

Aluminium also has great thermal properties, is lightweight and, from a cost perspective, has the advantage over copper. Beyond the main materials, choice of things like gaskets is also crucial, along with replacing the top and bottom tank nuts and bolts that can stretch over time. Using genuine components when doing any work to your cooling system ensures your truck is performing as it did when it left the factory.

Being a stationary part, the cooling package receives little service. High expectations on life means quality components and construction is a must. Critical things to be aware of include using the correct coolant and not mixing it with other brands. Many components can be affected if the wrong coolant is used and adverse reactions can happen if different coolants are mixed.

Hoses and clamps should be checked regularly and bug screens cleaned. Earth straps from the radiator are also important to check and ensure they are intact and connected to the chassis. Earth straps handle any stray current that can create a damaging chemical effect/electrolysis on components of a cooling system.

Another part prone to wear, and often forgotten about, are the various rubber flaps that seal against hoods and engine tunnels to ensure cold air is directed appropriately and to stop hot expelled air from being recirculated through the cooling package.

Visual checks of your radiator will also help identify any potential issues. Things like coolant residue appearing, or your fan ‘on time’ increasing, might be symptoms of a cooling system in need of an overhaul. When you think about the testing, engineering and consideration given to all components in a cooling system, it really does bring peace of mind to keep those components original when repairs are needed.

Special thanks to Air Radiators sales manager Phil Nicol, key account manager Roger Johnston and applications and projects manager Brooke Killen, who imparted their knowledge to assist with this article.

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Top: The cooling ‘package’ can incorporate things like air conditioning condensers, oil coolers, fuel coolers, charge air coolers and, of course, the radiator.

Source Air Radiators. Image P Reynolds Above: A humble earth strap is a critical part in removing stray current that can travel through coolant and cause electrolysis, which may damage critical components. Source Air Radiators.

Image P Reynolds Left: Copper’s thermal efficiency is well regarded. The heat in the coolant coming from the engine is absorbed in the copper.

Specific ridges pressed into the copper assist in air turbulence and contact to exchange heat with the flowing air. Source Air Radiators.

Image P Reynolds

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TWU Michael Kaine

Standards hit new low In the midst of the continuing pandemic, why are drivers reluctantly pushing to go on strike?

T

HE ECONOMICS of our industry and how it plays out for the operators and drivers in it would be a thing of utter comedy if it wasn’t true. Some of the richest companies in the world became even richer during the pandemic. The amounts are truly eye-watering: Amazon’s profits ballooned 224 per cent to $11 billion in just the first quarter this year; Apple said its profits have more than doubled to $32 billion; while Aldi – secretive as ever as a private company – had annual revenue in 2019 of $147 billion.

Now, you would think these astounding profits could be shared. After all, how many super yachts, mansions or sports cars can a CEO own? How much can shareholders receive in dividends?

You would think that that the people and industries that make these wealthy companies function would get a little bit of payback.

Perhaps even the transport operators and the drivers toiling day and night throughout the pandemic to get their products to the customer? Think again.

It’s as if the increased profits at the top have spurned rich companies to make even more, because Australian trucking companies are right now in the race of their lives to win contracts at the lowest possible cost.

This can be seen starkly in negotiations

between trucking companies and drivers over pay and conditions.

GRAVE REALITY I think most people would classify drivers among the heroes of the pandemic. They have traversed the cities and states in lockdown, putting themselves at risk, to deliver food, fuels, medicines and other goods. They have encountered closed truck stops, bans on eating meals at a table, polystyrene plates and plastic forks, closed shower facilities, constant virus testing, ever changing border permits and queues for border entry. They know their jobs are putting themselves and vulnerable members of their families at risk. This became a grave reality for some drivers at concrete trucking yards in Sydney last month when they contracted COVID. What is being asked of these drivers now is that they accept an outright attack on their jobs. The plan is for a ‘B rate’ to be introduced for employee drivers, which would strip rights, rates and conditions back to the bone. Hardfought standards on super would be back to minimums with attempts to trash even minimum award standards when it comes to paying overtime. The axe is swinging over the heads of owner-drivers too, with hard-fought rates and conditions in jeopardy.

Drivers have made it clear that they won’t

MICHAEL KAINE is the national secretary of the Transport Workers Union of Australia.

Contact Michael at: NSW Transport Workers Union, Transport House, 188-390 Sussex Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. twu@twu.com.au

“How many super yachts, mansions or sports cars can a CEO own?”

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stand for this. The notion that a new low in standards for trucking jobs must be achieved in order to feed the beasts that are the wealthy retailers, manufacturers and oil companies is just not on.

At Toll, drivers are in the midst of pushing for strike action. At other trucking companies drivers are also facing conditions under threat.

No driver takes this action lightly. They know that taking action would result in a threat to vital supplies across the country.

But they also know that the risk of not taking action is even greater.

Most in our industry – operators and drivers alike – admit that standards are low as it is. Bankruptcies are among the highest for our industry due to low cost contracts and late payments. Just take a look at the latest Toll annual financial report: the company made a big surge in revenue to $6.3 billion from $4.7 billion but its direct transport costs swallowed up much of the funds. The money it spends in wages and other expenses for employees actually went down. It is clear operators are getting squeezed by clients at the top.

DRIVER FATALITIES Safety in our industry is also not getting any better, with far too many deaths, injuries and poor health outcomes. There are too many horrific cases of drivers pushed to speed, drive long hours, skip rest breaks, falsify log books, overload vehicles and take stimulants to stay awake. There are too many cases of operators forced to run trucks with bald tyres, broken axles and faulty brakes.

The statistics are heart-breaking.

Over a five-year period to 2019, one in three workers killed on the job was a transport worker, with 183 transport workers in total killed, according to Safe Work Australia.

In the five years to 2020, 885 people died in truck crashes, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics.

A three-year Monash study has shown chronic diabetes, heart trouble, muscularskeletal problems and mental health illness among drivers.

Things are simply not getting any better.

To compound all of this we have the likes of Amazon not only squeezing our industry through low rates but setting up just about the dodgiest of outfits to compete with it.

Enter Amazon Flex, an Uber-style delivery system where workers turn up in their family cars, get loaded up with boxes to the point they can’t see out the windows and race around our cities delivering packages with no guaranteed minimum rates. They don’t give workers a warning before they sack them, and they don’t even call it sacking. The new term is ‘off-boarding’ which, if you look up in the dictionary, actually means ‘hardware or software that does not form an integral part of a computer’. Are we in Australia really happy for workers to be treated in this way?

Drivers are making no apology for taking direct action against a system that attacks their jobs and puts their lives and the lives of others at risk. They are taking this action to raise standards in our industry and to right the wrongs about the imbalance of pay and profit between the top of the bottom of the supply chain.

I urge you to support drivers when they take action over the coming months as many in the public already are doing. Tell the uninformed trolls what is really going on in our industry. Drivers are united in their fight to make our industry better, make sure you are on board for the battle.

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28/07/2021 11:43:40 AM

HIGHWAY ADVOCATES

Adam Cockayne Robert Bell

Unjust police principles NSW Police are denying truck drivers and operators a fair go, from the roadside to the court

R

OD HANNIFEY, the president of the National Road Freighters Association (NRFA), has recently proposed that the police should not be used to enforce the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL). Highway Advocates, which is the affiliated legal practice of the NRFA, thinks this is unlikely to occur but we believe Rod is onto something.

So far, every one of our clients’ police matters has had significant problems, including: • no evidence at all to prove the alleged offence occurred • the person has been charged with the wrong offence • the person has been charged with an offence that doesn’t exist • the alleged time, date or location of the offence are wrong • the statement of facts refers to irrelevant material or makes prejudicial comments • unsubstantiated allegations are made against the person.

This can’t all be a coincidence and it is fair to say that this commonly occurs. Highway Advocates do not let these things slip by; and we feel it is time to remind police of all jurisdictions of the Peelian principles.

These principles summarise the

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ideas that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force. The approach expressed in these principles is commonly known in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as policing by consent.

This model says that police officers are to be regarded as citizens in uniform. They exercise their powers with the implicit consent of other citizens on the basis that they act transparently with integrity and accountability. This applies in all situations including the conduct of police prosecutors in court.

If you are charged with a New South Wales penalty notice offence – which applies to most heavy vehicle offences under the HVNL and the road rules – the legislation says the prosecutor is “not required” to show you the brief of evidence. However, not being required to show you the evidence doesn’t mean the prosecutor can refuse to give you a brief if you ask for it: the police prepare briefs in all cases, so it is a simple

ADAM COCKAYNE is the legal practitioner director of Highway Advocates and is a lawyer with 25 years’ experience in criminal and administrative law.

ROBERT BELL, a former truck driver, and current law undergraduate and practising paralegal, is the CEO and a director of Highway Advocates.

Contact Highway Advocates on robert.bell@ highwayadvocates.com.au or phone 0491 263 602.

“Police officers are to be regarded as citizens in uniform.”

matter of giving you a copy.

So, when you attend the court, the police and the Magistrate have access to the brief, but you don’t. It is manifestly unfair that the only person who doesn’t see the evidence is the person charged with the offence.

Upon request, the defendant and their legal representative should be given the brief because all manner of things could be wrong with the evidence.

We have two recent cases where the failure to serve a brief caused unnecessary prejudice to our clients.

CLEAN RECORD In Narrandera Local Court we were defending a client on a plea of guilty to a critical fatigue breach. This is a very serious offence carrying a maximum fine of $17,000 and four demerit points.

We did not have a copy of the brief before the hearing.

When we turned up to court we had no information apart from our client’s instructions – in effect we had to “guess” the prosecution case.

The prosecutor had a brief of evidence in front of her which she handed up to the court but not to us. We arrived with written submissions, our client’s logbook and his traffic history, and we gave copies to the prosecutor and to the court.

The Magistrate complained to the police prosecutor that her brief was incomplete and did not include our client’s traffic history: this was a serious omission.

The history, which we provided, showed our client had a completely clean record for the past 30 years.

This was a significant factor in the Magistrate’s decision to dismiss the charge.

In Dubbo Local Court, we appeared for Rod Hannifey in a minor fatigue case where the police had not served a brief. The Court Attendance Notice was defective – it described the offence incorrectly and had the wrong offence date. We spoke to the police prosecutor, who clearly had not read the brief, and we explained the errors that needed to be fixed.

The police prosecutor did not show us the brief and had no interest in talking to us. She peremptorily dismissed our attempts to explain the problem and told us to come back on another day. This borders on a breach of prosecutorial ethics and we refused to allow our client to be disrespected in this manner.

We mentioned the matter to the court, explained the problem to the Magistrate and he promptly amended the charge. This should have been done by the prosecutor. The Magistrate then dismissed the charge.

The attitude displayed at the roadside is really another article, but the Peelian principles prevail in every situation.

If you are prosecuted in court, the longstanding principle of full disclosure says that you must be given a copy of the evidence. It would be unjust to deny you access. Yet this happens in hundreds of cases prosecuted every day by the New South Wales Police. This is plainly wrong and must stop.

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28/07/2021 10:26:44 AM

trucking heritage An extremely rare 54-year old F-609RT cab-over Mack gets a second makeover and new life by classic tractor aficionado George Proctor.

Warren Aitken writes

L

ET’S START with a bit of an admission here. I’ve been really excited about doing this story. I first spotted this awesome-looking F600 at the Gatton Mack Muster back in the day. For those unaware, there used to be a time when we were able to have things called ‘Truck Shows’ – glorious events where people would bring their pride and joy to display. Fans from far and wide would come to appreciate some exquisite machinery. Sharing laughs, taking photos, spilling half the sauce from their dagwood dogs down the front of their Kenworth shirts. It was a simpler time. A happy pre-COVID time.

One of these long forgotten ‘truck show’ events was a Mack Muster up in Queensland. For a ‘bulldog’ fan like me it was heaven. From all around Australia Macks mustered, filling the Gatton showgrounds with bulldogs galore. Among the big-bonneted Bs and sharp Super-Liners was a hard-to-find and immaculately presented cab-over Mack – the old F-600. I grew up with my uncle driving a cab-over Mack back in New Zealand and they are a bit of a rare sight over here in Australia.

So yes, I got a bit stalker-ish, eventually tracking down its owner, George Proctor, and lining him up for a photo shoot and story. I was super keen, then the world went COVID crazy and everything got stalled.

It took a long wait, some prayers to the weather gods and some perfect timing between border closures but I finally made it to Eungai Creek in New South Wales to catch up with the man behind the wheel of the ‘Survivor’.

George is the man who painted the name ‘Survivor’ onto the front of this very special F-609RT and with justifiable reason.

The truck is now over 50-years-old and without the effort of several folk it would most likely have ended up a rustedout shell in the back corner of a scrap yard well before now.

Instead, it has survived.

What makes it extra special is that there were very few 609Rs in Australia, only 20 in fact. They were right-hand drive F models, built in the US and imported directly over here. This one was the second in the country, though technically it was the first to hit the road over here.

When it landed in Australia, the single-drive tractor unit, sporting a lovely red paint job, was factory fitted with the infamous END711 engine. When you consider the Mack had a 6.36 ratio diff and a double-over-drive quad box, pairing it with the 711’s 211hp (157kW) would be like tying Usain Bolt’s shoelaces together before a race. Though on a single-drive cabover maybe that’s a safe idea; reel those long legs in.

If I had more time, or slightly better investigative journalism skills, I might be able to fill in the truck’s history a bit more.

There’s speculation it may have started its life working for

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Brambles but nothing to prove that. Rumours also have it working around Tamworth, as well as stories about it operating as a roadtrain unit on some pretty rough roads. The best I could do was track down the man who managed to pick up the old Mack in 1988, for just $5,000, at a repo auction up in Brisbane.

That man, who was the first responsible for keeping ‘Survivor’ surviving, is a Raglan farmer named Andrew Creed. The name is well known around the central Queensland area as his family has been farming there since the first day someone looked at a cow and thought ‘yup, I’m going to squeeze those and drink whatever comes out’. The family farm is in its sixth generation.

The Creed family is also well known for their charity work in the local area, having been a huge part of the successful Old Station Fly-In and Heritage Show (another COVID victim, but the show’s back in 2022, so don’t miss it).

Sorry, I’m waffling again. Let’s go back to 1988 when Andrew was just a teenager. Back then, the farming family had a few old Macks working for them. The good old Flintstones were a farm favourite for the Creeds. There was need for an extra truck though and Andrew was bustled off to Brisbane to a repossession auction to look at an F-model up for grabs.

It wasn’t pleasant. I’m no mechanic but even I know the flywheel is meant to be attached, not loose. I’m aware brakes are encouraged to be working, chassis rails aren’t meant to include

Above: George’s biggest challenge was pulling apart and rebuilding the legendary Mack quad box Above left: Once it got back down south George pulled it all apart and repainting began Above right: George stands proudly with his beloved tractor carter Below: One of George’s prize possessions is this factory Mack key

cracks and the radiator is designed to hold fluid and cool the engine, not the opposite. Despite all this and several other issues, young Andrew could see the potential.

“It was very sad,” he admits but adds: “I could see past that; I could see it was a good truck.”

He also freely admits it was cheap; five grand was all it cost him. Well that and the expense of floating it up to Raglan because there was no way it was driveable.

Bogie drive Years of bush mechanics on the family farm qualified Andrew for the task of bringing life back into the old Mack and his teenage enthusiasm took over, taking up the challenge straight away.

“The flywheel housing had been loose on the block, so I had to do a lot of welding, the back of the block had cracked,” says Andrew as he recalls the first job needed to resurrect the Mack.

“So I welded the back of the block and filed it back to shape, by hand.”

With the brakes and radiator fixed, the single-drive tractor unit was put to work on the farm, towing a bogie axle stock trailer. Andrew always had plans to modify and completely makeover the old Mack and it wasn’t long before the old girl was parked up, stripped back and new life added to it. Actually, to be accurate, new chassis rails, new heavier front axle, new bogie drive rear end and new extra-long body was added in order to give it new life. All this was done by a very young Andrew and his mates. The bogie drive came out of an old Flintstone.

“I had to get a new tail shaft and centre bearing out of

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“I could see past that; I could see it was a good truck.”

Truckline, which cost me nearly $2,000, which I thought was a hell of a lot of money,” Andrew recalls.

When you factor in that’s nearly 50 per cent of what he paid for the truck, he’s right. But the Mack needed the bogie drive, much like it needed the heavier front end.

“The lightweight front axle just wasn’t enough,” he tells me. The cracked chassis rails indicate previous owners may not have worried so much about front axle weights.

The next goal was a few cosmetic repairs.

“The cab had a little bit of rust in it. A mate and I collected local sand and sandblasted the cab,” he says. Yes, you read that right. After drying the sand on some tin and using a sieve to get rid of the larger grains, young Andrew and his mate borrowed a compressor and sand blasting unit in order to do the job themselves. That’s inside and out mind you.

“The interior was painted that Hammertone Green; it looked bloody awful,” Andrew says.

“It was all falling off it.”

With the exception of the hood lining the whole interior was metal so it just got blasted and repainted. The sand blasting removed the dark green exterior colour that it was when Andrew got it, as

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well as several other coats – all the way back to the base red that the truck had come out in. He then had a friend remove the rust and, using two-pack paint, he resprayed it Polar White.

All up, the transformation of the F-609 took Andrew around four to five years. Once completed, the Mack spent another 20-plus years earning it’s keep on the family farm before being sold to another gentleman just a few hundred kilometres down the road. Which is where George would eventually find it just a few years ago, when he was on the hunt for something to cart his restored tractors around.

Whites and diamonds A little history on George first; George is one of those guys that everyone would love to have as a grandad because there isn’t a damn thing that George couldn’t fix. Honestly, I’m thinking they may have based the MacGyver TV show on him.

He grew up on a banana farm but left home early to go working in sawmills. He got into trucks well before he was licensed to do so, driving Diamond Ts and old White tippers on the Clybucca flood mitigation. When he was close to 18 he did get his licence and next thing you know he’s living in Wagga

Wagga managing a fleet of trucks, as well as the drivers and still getting behind the wheel himself.

He’s spent time as an owner-driver as well, covering a lot of the east coast in his own 1418 Merc.

George even got into the modification game early when he purchased his second 1418 and proceeded to mount a Cummins sleeper box to it. Apparently the old ‘board between the seats’ trick just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

Throughout his years George took a very handson approach to everything. In between sourcing loads and customers when he was a paid driver, he read countless mechanical books and manuals, which enabled him to repair, maintain and rebuild numerous machines. When the time on the road started to take its toll he shifted into the earthmoving arena, dealing with land clearing and logging, which spawned his real passion: tractors.

It was this passion that would lead George to the Mack. The work George was doing repairing, restoring and servicing his own equipment soon built him a reputation. His skills saw him taking on restoration and repair work for other tractor fans. Ironically I’m sure he also would have rebuilt many a tractor fan.

Sorry, I digress. It got to the point where George

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“The interior was painted that Hammertone Green; it looked bloody awful.”

Above: The old engine hard more than paid its dues by the time it got to George Below: The F-609RT cab-over Mack was still a tidy looking truck when George first purchased it

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had a full workshop at home where he could rebuild and restore most parts of a tractor just a few steps from his back door. While his services were sought Australia-wide, he was still managing to resto his own for an impressive personal collection. The issue now was how to get his tractors out to all the shows. Enter the F-model.

“To put two tractors on a truck I needed a bogie drive,” George admits, adding in cheekily “putting 10 tonne on a single axle is not real good, they don’t tend to like that”.

So, he went on the hunt for a flattop. He wanted an F-model Mack as he’d spent some time in one many years ago and loved it. Finding one wasn’t easy. Eventually he found this one on Facebook of all places. He drove the 1,000km up to Miriam Vale in Queensland to check it out and after being assured there’s no issue with it, he snapped it up and headed back down south.

The maiden journey lasted less than 100km. She was boiling her head off. George and his mate Mal, who’d travelled with him, let it cool down. They topped up the water, fired it up again and found it was still pushing water out the radiator. Not a great start. The boys got help from a local sawmill in the form of 25-litre containers of water. Every 30-odd kilometres they were stopping to top the water up.

Eventually, George found if he kept it below 1,500rpm he could get closer to 100km before stopping. A 24-hour return trip left George ready to cut his losses when he got home, and he considered selling the Mack. Thankfully, his travel colleague Mal convinced him not to. Instead, they decided to replace the old 711 engine.

George got onto the team at Gleeman Truck Parts in Sydney, who had a Maxidyne engine out of an old army water truck and were more than happy to sell it to George. The truck had been taken to Mal’s place but George’s place was perfect for building and restoring tractors and Mal had a much bigger crane for a much bigger project.

When the boys took the END711 out they also took the time to redo all the airlines, painted the chassis, upgraded the brake boosters, checked valves and fuel lines, changed the cross-over fuel system and made sure it all got a revamp. It had been a good 20 years since Andrew’s spruce up. While the deck was off, it got a new lease on life as well. The old timber floor was removed, and a new chequer plate deck was fitted.

There were a few modifications needed to fit the 285hp (213kW) Maxidyne engine into the 711’s comfy position, including having to reposition the turbo, replace the oil bath air filter with a whole different setup and replace the flywheel system in order for it all to work perfectly. None of this phased George and Mal though. George’s ability to read and understand manufacturers’ manuals means it just seems to make sense easily for him. He does admit to a few nerves though when he chose to pull apart the quad box.

“I’d never done a quad box before; it was a big job,” he says.

It was a successful job though. Within a year of its purchase George had the old girl celebrating her fifth decade with a new lease on life.

The big Mack got its second resurrection when it landed with George and he’s loving the rewards that come with it. It’s a joy to drive and holds many fond memories. George is the first to admit he’s not finished though. Mechanically the truck is better than new but there are now plans to start rejuvenating the exterior, including a new paint job as well as a bit of a spruce-up of the 54-year-old interior.

For now, though, George is just looking forward to the day when he can put a couple of his beautifully restored tractors on the deck, hook up to his caravan and head of to a vintage machinery show. Aren’t we all!

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27/7/21 10:28 am

As well as being involved in road transport media for the past 20 years, GREG BUSH has strong links to the music industry.

A former Golden Guitar judge for the Country Music Awards of Australia, Greg also had a three-year stint as an ARIA Awards judge in the late 1990s and wrote for and edited several music magazines.

ROAD SOUNDS Greg Bush

Cruisin' the highway Great music to warm up the coldest of nights NATIVE SONS Los Lobos

HARD UP The Bamboos

CITY’S CALLING ME Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission

New West Records www.loslobos.org

Pacific Theatre/BMG www.thebamboos.com

Rocket Distribution www.mickthomas.com

US Tex-Mex rock band Los Lobos hit the highlights when they covered the track ‘La Bamba’ for the movie soundtrack of the same name back in 1987. The Los Angeles-based quintet has taken a similar approach with their 17th album Native Sons, the breezy title song being the only original. As the title suggests, ‘Bluebird/ For What It’s Worth’ is a combination of two Stephen Stills-penned tracks from the 1960s. Los Lobos dig out an early ’70s Jackson Browne composition ‘Jamaica Say You Will’, mainly keeping faithful to the original, and travel back to the 1940s for Percy Mayfield’s brassy, bluesy ‘Never No More’. The up-tempo ‘Love Special Delivery’ is another brass-fuelled track, and they surprisingly tackle the Beach Boys’ ‘Sail On Sailor’. Los Lobos finish the album with the relaxing instrumental ‘Where Lovers Go’, spiced with skilful lead guitar licks.

Victorian soulfunk band The Bamboos chalk up album number 10 with Hard Up. As expected, it’s laden with strong rhythmic vibes. The title track ‘Hard Up’ and ‘Nothing I Want To Know About’ deserve special mention as two that would get the most lead-footed person moving. Lead singer Kyle Auldist is at her very best on ‘’Ride On Time’, a former disco anthem but now almost unrecognisable on Hard Up. A couple of guests from across the Pacific lend a hand; Los Angeles-based Joey Dosik adds vocals to the soulful mid-paced track ‘It’s All Gonna Be OK’, and Louisiana-born artist Durand Jones brings his R&B sound to ‘If Not Now (Then When)’. Audlist takes centre stage on the lost-love track ‘I Just Heard You Leaving’, which adds to the album’s variety, and she stretches her powerful vocal chords on ‘Tomorrow’.

Mick Thomas, who made his name through the 1980s and ’90s as frontman for top Aussie group Weddings Parties Anything, has been stifled in his attempts to promote new album City’s Calling Me as part of his latest project, Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission. More to the point, the band’s touring schedule has been forced to reschedule due to COVID. City’s Calling Me unsurprisingly ventures into Thomas’s favourite genre – folk-rock, although the lively ‘Corner Of Bent Street And High’ is more rock than folk. As the title of that song suggests, City’s Calling Me has a distinctive Melbourne flavour, with departing vocalist Brooke Russell taking the lead on the traditional sounding ‘Captain Collingwood’. The band sounds a warning on Sally Kimber’s ‘The Met Police’, and it’s quiet times on ‘Under The Clocks’, a song about various Melbourne sights.

ALONE WITH BLUES Diesel

IT WON’T ALWAYS BE LIKE THIS Inhaler

HIDEAWAY Wavves

Bloodlines bloodlinesmusic.com.au

Interscope/Universal www.inhaler.band

Fat Possum/Inertia wavves.net

As with almost every musician around the globe, Diesel (aka Mark Lizotte) was forced into a COVID-enforced lockdown in 2020. On the bright side, the talented Australian spent his time collecting a variety of blues tracks from across the decades, recording them in his Sydney studio where he played every instrument.

The result is Diesel’s 15th album, aptly titled Alone With Blues. There are more than a few classics here, including Willie Dixon’s ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’, an ideal vehicle for Diesel’s full-throated vocals and fiery guitar licks. He embraces Dixon’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ with gusto, and lifts the bar - and the tempo – for John Lee Hooker’s ‘Boogie Chillen’. Diesel resurrects ‘Six Steel Strings’, a song he co-wrote with Ross Wilson back in 1991 and breathes new life into Mississippi John Hurt’s ‘I’m Satisfied’. Diesel also covers the old gospel tune ‘Lost And Lookin’ and ‘All Your Love’

by US bluesman Otis Rush, among others.

Prior to the release of debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This, Irish rock band Inhaler whetted the appetites with a number of radio singles and a self-titled EP. The music public’s high expectations have been warranted. This 11-track album shows maturity behind the band’s youthfulness while Eli Hewson’s vocal style bears resemblance to that of his famous dad (U2’s Bono). The soaring title track and rapid-tempo ‘My Honest Face’ have been receiving airplay over the past couple of years, while the simplistic lyrics behind ‘Cheer Up Baby’ belie that track’s power and appeal. Inhaler maintains the energy for ‘When It Breaks’, and takes a shot at US madness and personal issues on ‘A Night On The Floor’, a downtempo rock track. ‘Slide Out The Window’ momentarily showcases the band’s lighter side in parts, ‘Totally’ tells of a relationship becoming increasingly distant, and the final track ‘In My Sleep’ is a fine rocker.

San Diego, California band Wavves, led by singersongwriter Nathan Williams, has been pumping out energetic punk pop since 2008. Wavves has enjoyed success in the US, and their 2015 album V made it into Australia’s top 100. Hideaway is the band’s seventh full-length release, continuing Wavves’ penchant for short, sharp, mostly highoctane tracks, although ‘Sinking Feeling’ is mid-paced piece with tasty guitar licks.

‘Help Is On The Way’, about escaping hatred, has a distinct US pop-rock sound (as per Blink 182). Wavves are at their most punk on ‘Thru Hell’, but show a sweeter side on ‘Honeycomb’, although the lyrics suggest otherwise. There’s whimsy on ‘Planting A Garden’ before the track leads into unrequited love territory and its high-octane guitars on ‘Marine Life’.

Wavves takes the less-is-more approach on Hideaway, keeping within the proven combination of guitars, bass and drums.

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Country Corner TREASURE OF LOVE The Flatlanders

Thirty Tigers/Cooking Vinyl www.theflatlanders.com Recognised as somewhat of an edgy country supergroup, The Flatlanders consists of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock.

However, they first teamed up in the early 1970s.

Solo success followed for each member, but they’ve reunited for Treasure Of Love, the trio’s first album in over 10 years. Gilmore’s vocals are unmistakable on ‘Long Time Gone’, a song made famous by The Everly Brothers. They turn their attention to Bob Dylan’s ‘She Belongs To Me’, giving it the country treatment, and turn Leon Russell’s ‘She Smiles Like A River’ into a twang fest. The rock it up on ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World’, a country blues track that has its roots back in the 1930s. A true country album.

WHEN I GO Riley Catherall

Independent www.rileycatherall.com Hailing from rural NSW, Riley Catherall transitioned to country after dabbling in jazz and blues. One listen to When I Go, Catherall’s debut album, indicates he’s found his place in the Americana genre. A well-produced album, When I Go is full of thoughtful lyrics. An example is ‘Mother Please’, a song where Catherall relates about his first latenight gigs. He sings of a bad breakup on ‘Vacant Lot’, and tells of his early Melbourne experiences on ‘Leave Me Out To Dry’, a quiet number. Catherall’s vocals bear resemblance to City & Colour’s Dallas Green on ‘I Don’t Remember’, and he pares the arrangements back further on poetic track ‘The Ferryman’. It’s no surprise that Catherall’s music has attracted international interest.

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WILKIE’S WATCH Ken Wilkie

Self-interest reigns Scaremongers have a habit of coercing governments into relocating trucks onto problematic routes

T

HE SUBJECT matter this month is a six kilometre section of rural road known as the Bromelton House Road. Yes, it is only six kilometres long, but it is so much a barometer of the ills that plague this road transport industry – and it is also a measure of the degree of corruption within our political system.

Bromelton House Road can be used to bypass the centre of Beaudesert in south east Queensland. Politicians like to award themselves the title of ‘honourable’. This story undermines credence to that term in big measure.

Recently, a major development has been established just to the west of Beaudesert to service the Brisbane end of the interstate rail line. That as one would expect, this has resulted in an increased presence of road transport in the area. As is usual, all the irrational scaremongering that is levelled against trucks was raised.

Pressure has been brought to bear on local politicians to have a million dollar detour route to bypass the town centre.

However, that detour still involves three sets of traffic lights and two and a half school zones and is four kilometres longer than the less-than-perfect surfaced Bromelton House Road. Open highway speed is not achievable on Bromelton House Road, owing to both the imperfect surface and several curves involved – nothing that would pose any stability problems to heavy vehicles, though.

There is big money living along Bromelton House Road. It has long been my contention that big money is not achieved through being generous or selfless or particularity considerate of the needs of others.

In previous years, there was a major stock abattoir situated just a couple of kilometres south of the ‘new’ trans shipping site. I have it on good authority that influence was put on the management of that operation to discourage road transport servicing the meat plant to not use Bromelton House Road. The accusation has been voiced in relation to management of the rail transfer operation. I’ve stated early in this missive that Bromelton House Road is a rural road.

Its occupiers are in the agricultural bent and, as such, rely on road transport to receive and dispense product. There might be one residence that could be claimed to be close to the thoroughfare but not the sort of proximity one would associate with suburban residence. No schools, no traffic lights and no high density

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traffic. How hypocritical! And, not being hysterical about road safety, but these selfish landholders are only too willing to force heavy transport to intermingle with school kids and the dubious capabilities of school pickup and drop-off drivers, as well as sets of traffic lights where high density traffic is more prone to the element of error than on a more simple drive in the country.

And the integrity of local politicians has given credence to the selfish demands?

LANE BANS Sadly, the Bromelton House Road saga is not unique.

Where does one rate the irrational and selfish rule that denies heavy vehicles access to the outer lanes of the south east Queensland M1? I could allow myself some sympathy for the decree had it been stipulated that only those vehicles proceeding faster than 100km/h use the outside lane. Such sympathy would have been further endorsed had some encouragement been given to a benchmark speed in other lanes.

Our road safety masters are too dumb to appreciate the road safety implications of friction in the traffic flow. They are dumb enough to suggest ‘every K over is a killer’ when in fact all driving is speeding and any interaction between vehicles or vehicles and stationary objects at any speed will have varying degrees of

KEN WILKIE has been an owner-driver since 1974, after first getting behind the wheel at 11. He’s on his eighth truck, and is a long-time Owner// Driver contributor. He covers Rockhampton to Adelaide and any point in between.

His current ambition is to see the world, and to see more respect for the nation’s truckies. Contact Ken at ken@rwstransport.com.au

BELOW: Trucks are banned on the M1’s right lanes between Brisbane and the Gold Coast

“Selfish landholders are only too willing to force heavy transport to intermingle with school kids.”

negativity. Of course the higher the speed, potentially, but not necessarily so, the more negative the likely outcome.

On benchmarking speed limits: after decades of heavy vehicle operation I have come to the conclusion that road safety would be enhanced if a benchmark speed was promoted on all roads designated as highways.

Here’s a recent example – going north on the Bruce Highway from Apple Tree Creek towards Gin Gin. Apple Tree Creek has a posted limit of 70km. I was tailing a heavy rigid, which in turn was tailing a smallish sedan. On exit from the 70 limit both of us commercial operators had a wish to attain the posted highway limit of 100. It wasn’t until several kilometres outside the village that the sedan achieved anything like that limit. In the meantime the heavy rigid was tailgating in frustration and in an attempt to take advantage of an overtaking opportunity.

Supporting a benchmark speed proposal would, I feel, encourage disinterested drivers to move along little doggie. It is a fact of life that only one vehicle can occupy a road space but many motives are in play when we use that space. Time pressures that are reasonable can drive overtaking attempts in such situations that can create negative outcomes.

It’s another case of being aware of our individual rights but not being aware of our obligations to other road users.

Interestingly, when the trio of us reached the first overtaking lane several kilometres from town, the small sedan had reached the highway limit and proceeded to try to out run the heavy rigid to the end. At the finish it admitted defeat. Granted it did not speed up to beat the HR and gave way once its lane came to an end. But what an untidy piece of driving with potential to have a disastrous outcome.

VARYING PARAMETERS Self-centred interest has become so much the Australian way. Bromelton House Road, no trucks in the right lane, the Australian Trucking Association refusing to support proper driver education for the wellbeing of all road users – not to mention the truckies whose wellbeing it purports to have at heart. And there’s the (not) National Heavy Vehicle Regulator pushing its own self-interest instead of doing the difficult business of unifying state law.

I mentioned earlier about the restriction of heavy vehicles in the outside lanes of Queensland’s M1. Even that would be less of an issue had Queensland adopted the same speed parameters as that state south of the border.

Now, because when I am under pilot escort with an oversize load and utilising two lanes at 80km/h, other heavy vehicles either have to curtail their schedules to plug along behind, or alternatively take the plunge and break the law; which incidentally means the loss of three demerit points if breached and overtake in the forbidden territory.

That more are not breached for this demeanour raises two points – either the cops are too busy to notice or those that do notice recognise the stupidity of the selfish attitude behind the legislation and turn a blind eye.

My required reading this month: Tarra, the story of an army small ship.

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truck technology

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TIME TRAVELS

No brand in the world today better highlights the technical evolution of conventional trucks than Freightliner with its unmatched advances in the latest Cascadia. Australia has certainly played its part in Freightliner development and in this remarkable report across 40 years of trucking, Steve Brooks delivers a detailed history lesson before doing time behind the wheel of two trucks that truly span the technological ages.

F

ORTY YEARS AGO, a seismic shift occurred in the global trucking landscape. A shift so vast it would eventually lay the commercial and technological foundations for Europe’s ultimate ascension over Fortress America as the dominant force in world truck manufacturing.

That was the year, 1981, when the company formerly known as Daimler-Benz bought the struggling US truck maker Freightliner, and whether by confluence or coincidence, it was also the year Swedish brand Volvo acquired the financially strapped White Trucks.

As historical milestones, these acquisitions by two titans of global truck manufacturing were the starting point, the beachhead of Europe’s assault and largely unchallenged annexation of the world’s biggest heavy-duty truck market. There would, of course, be much more to come, with no shortage of corporate convulsions along the way but even now it remains easy to wonder if brash corporate bravado blinded American interests to Europe’s ultimate ambitions until it was too late. Way too late.

Yet while Daimler-Benz’s acquisition of Freightliner would develop exponentially into North American market leadership, Volvo hasn’t reached the same heights of market strength in the US despite an ’80s campaign which was unquestionably the most dynamic and boldly aggressive of the two continental invaders.

Five years after buying White, for instance, the Volvo White company bought the heavy truck business of the massive General Motors organisation. Ironically, and perhaps most profoundly typifying the economic trauma then afflicting most of America’s truck makers, Volvo’s expansion came around the same time a US

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investor group formed a company called Navistar International to rejuvenate the truck interests of the quickly corroding International Harvester Corporation.

Strangely though, a couple of White offshoots rejected by Volvo in its ’81 takeover would many years later become high profile parts of Daimler’s bold new world, namely Western Star and a dormant brand in the White stable called Sterling. Down the track, Daimler in 1997 would buy Ford’s heavy truck business and recast Sterling in an entirely new light, only to eventually dump the brand altogether in 2008. Go figure!

Moreover, and despite Volvo’s purchase of GM’s heavy truck business, it seems the Swedes had little or no interest in also making a move on the General’s huge Detroit Diesel engine division. Volvo, after all, had its in-house powertrain and was obviously more intent on pushing its own hardware into the mindset of American truckers, with somewhat mixed results.

Still, the web of strategic takeovers and corporate complexity was far from finished. US automotive icon Roger Penske, for example, certainly saw the potential of GM’s Detroit Diesel division – specifically the revolutionary Series 60 engine – and took control of the General’s engine business in 1988. Then, after 12 years of hugely successful ownership but with difficult new emissions standards approaching, the charismatic Penske in 2000 sold the engine business to the company then known as DaimlerChrysler which, by the turn of the century, was forging plans to make Detroit Diesel a critical player in its HDEP – heavy-duty engine platform – global power push.

Funny thing though, Daimler’s announcement that it was buying Detroit Diesel came just hours after news also broke that its barnstorming

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Above and below: Modern trucks are far more complex in technical terms but from behind the wheel, comfort and ease are lightyears ahead of their forebears Rght: Like a ghost of the past, the FLC120 was just one of two brought to Australia for extensive assessment. Cascadia, too, underwent long trials before its local launch

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Freightliner brand had acquired Western Star from formerly Brisbane-based billionaire, Terry Peabody. Wild days indeed!

However, there was one American entity with expansion plans of its own, perhaps driven in large part by a desire to turn the tables on the Europeans and in the process, shore up its own future. In fact, Europe’s control of American truck manufacturing would be nowadays absolute if it wasn’t for the perception and strength of Kenworth and Peterbilt parent Paccar which in 1996 paid more than half a billion dollars for the relatively modest Dutch brand, DAF Trucks. As an industry analyst writing in the Wall Street Journal rightly commented at the time, ‘This is Paccar making a clear statement to say they are going to be an international truck manufacturer in the future.”

Even so, Europe’s expansion continued and in the same year Daimler bought Detroit Diesel – again, whether by confluence or sheer coincidence – Volvo acquired the heavy truck interests of French brand Renault and its famous American offshoot, Mack. It was a fortuitous lifeline for Mack, with several senior bulldog executives conceding that if the Swedes hadn’t stepped in when they did, the famous dog would have soon been dead and buried.

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“Volvo’s takeover of White was far bigger news for Australian truck operators than Daimler’s acquisition of Freightliner.”

Since then, of course, much else has occurred with Volkswagen stepping into the North American truck fray through its Traton Group which, after taking possession of Germany’s MAN and Sweden’s Scania, has patiently wrangled control of Chicago-based Navistar.

Consequently, as society now rolls with unstoppable energy toward an era of climate-driven technological change and even greater corporate ambition, the stage is set for a long and fierce battle for global supremacy by the trucking world’s four great superpowers – Daimler, Traton, Volvo and the lone surviving bastion of American might, Paccar.

Meantime, in the wash of all these events since 1981, Australia certainly hasn’t been isolated or immune. In fact, much of what has occurred in Europe and the US has also manifested here to varying degrees. Some brands more than others.

Building a brand Back in 1981, Volvo’s takeover of White was far bigger news for Australian truck operators than Daimler’s acquisition of Freightliner. And justifiably so. After all, up to that point, White had a long and celebrated history in our part of the world, and there were many devotees hoping Volvo’s acquisition would lead to the brand’s continuation in one form or another.

It wasn’t to be, of course, and as following events would show, the only skeleton of White’s glory days would emerge from the local introduction of Western Star by a Brisbane-based group led by Terry Peabody who somehow managing to retain Star’s Australian operation during the sale to Daimler.

From the outset, however, Volvo did little to hide an intention to completely sever White’s connection

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with Australia, trusting its Swedish NL and later NH models to contest the conventional truck sector.

Many years afterwards, there were strong indications that Volvo’s modern VN conventional in the US was being adapted for right-hand drive but this came to nought as Mack joined the Swedish stable, finally providing Volvo’s Australian family with a locallybuilt and highly competitive conventional.

For its part, Paccar’s Kenworth has largely continued to lead the Australian heavy-duty conventional class but nowadays, there’s also a major effort to take DAF to its full potential. In fact, there’s little doubt that in a few years from now, DAF’s place in the Paccar Australia fold will be far greater than many might be currently able to imagine.

On the other hand, while reality hasn’t always matched potential, Freightliner’s emergence on the Australian market is nonetheless a story of remarkable intuition and initiative. It all started with the company once known as Mercedes-Benz Australia (MBA) and critically, a handful of senior executives who saw immense potential for a new breed of US conventional suitably tailored to local conditions.

Ironically, the gap in the market left by White’s departure would be one of many motivations for MBA’s interest in Freightliner, but no motivation was greater than the desire to simply add a North American conventional to its entrenched range of Mercedes-Benz cab-overs.

Choosing the right Freightliner model was no straightforward task, though. Nor would it be a quick decision by the various executive voices within MBA, led largely and somewhat forcefully by the late Ian Bruce who would become rightfully regarded by

many as the ‘Father of Freightliner in Australia.’

Understandably, the excitement within MBA’s Mulgrave (Vic) headquarters after Daimler-Benz’s 1981 purchase of Freightliner was almost palpable.

Consequently, it wasn’t long before a small group from Mulgrave’s upper echelons boarded a plane bound for Freightliner HQ in Portland, Oregon.

It’s worth noting at this point that Freightliner had a well-deserved reputation for innovative engineering. The brand was founded in 1942 and its founder, Leland James, was a prominent US fleet owner who apparently viewed truck development as a somewhat natural fit for greater productivity in a road transport fleet. In the late ’50s, for example, the brand was first to develop a cab-over able to tilt through a full 90 degrees and was an even earlier adopter of aluminium in cab construction.

Ironically though, from the ’50s into the ’70s, Freightliners were sold in the US through the White network, even bearing a ‘White Freightliner’ badge, until White hit hard times and necessity drove Freightliner to assemble its own sales and service outlets.

Freightliner’s long list of innovative achievements definitely wasn’t lost on the ambitious Australian group who headed to Portland to not only search for a conventional contender, but also appraise Freightliner’s willingness to satisfy a right-hand drive market for the first time.

It wasn’t long before a possible candidate was found in the form of an FLC120 model, and with excitement and conviction in abundance, MBA ordered two trucks for extensive testing in Australian conditions. The pair of aluminium FLC120s (120-inch bumper to back-of-cab) were said to be the first right-hand drive units built in

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Above: Performance standards are incomparable. The 1982 FLC120 has a Cummins NTC400 with a modest 1,150lb-ft of torque.

Cascadia 126 sports a DD16 at 600hp and 2,050lb-ft Right: In a wise move, Australia’s first Freightliner was the highly durable FLC112 Opposite top: Australia’s early Freightliners were assembled on a line at Mercedes-Benz Australia’s Mulgrave (Vic) facility

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“The truck had notched around 3.6 million kilometres before it was given a modest makeover.”

Freightliner’s Portland factory and by mid-1982, they’d landed in Australia for what would develop into a long and arduous test regime.

While these events were supposedly unfolding with a high degree of secrecy, excitement in the MBA camp was difficult to contain. Even Ian Bruce’s usual caution started to wilt and it’s still easy to recall a quiet but intensely deliberate discussion during a visit to Mulgrave in the early ’80s.

Quizzed about Freightliner’s potential for Australia, an anxious ‘Brucey’ first sought repeated assurances that confidentiality would be respected before eventually leading the way to a nondescript building where one of the two ‘secret’ FLC120s was undergoing engineering evaluation.

“Well, what do you think?” he asked after a few minutes, and if memory serves me right, the initial response was along the lines of, “It’ll be interesting to see how that aluminium cab and all those pop rivets stand up to our conditions.”

He immediately agreed, explaining that the other unit was already undergoing hard tests. Indeed it was, first at the Monegeeta (Vic) military proving grounds and later, severe on-road tests around Wilcannia in far western NSW. Requests to drive one of the trucks were met with polite but definite refusal. In fact, it would take almost 40 years before the opportunity to drive one of those two trucks presented itself and as Fate would have it, just a few hundred kilometres west of Wilcannia.

Meanwhile, ongoing US developments were giving the Mulgrave mob plenty of other things to think

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about beyond the two trucks being tested here.

Under Daimler’s direction, Freightliner in 1985 introduced a new ‘medium conventional’ model called the FLC112, obviously built on a 112-inch BBC dimension but also sporting a steel cab adapted from the Mercedes-Benz stable, and largely intended for US shorthaul and construction-type applications.

Australian interest in this model was quickly aroused, not least because of the durability and safety aspects of the welded steel cab compared to the FLC120’s aluminium sheets joined by a plethora of pop rivets. Despite concerns, the word from within MBA was that the two test units were actually surviving well and besides, tare weight was undeniably attractive.

It was, however, becoming increasingly apparent that the steel-cabbed FLC112 was building most favour in Mulgrave despite 1987 bringing news of Freightliner’s US launch of its first ‘aero’ conventional, the FLD range. Still, the FLC112 was the increasingly short-priced favourite for a number of reasons including, perhaps, an easier and less expensive conversion to right-hand drive than either the FLC120 or its FLD successor.

So finally, in 1989 after almost seven years of protracted discussion and engineering assessment both here and in the US, and Portland’s commitment to adapt a construction-type model into a truck suitable for everything from shorthaul tipper work to heavy-duty prime mover roles, the FLC112 became the foundation for Freightliner’s first foray into right-hand drive markets.

It took time and lots of toil but ultimately, the choice of the FLC112 – back then assembled on a now defunct Mulgrave assembly line – proved to be an inspired decision as the model notched a solid reputation in everything from logging to linehaul, tippers to tankers and eventually, even roadtrain triples. Indeed, it’s not uncommon to see an FLC112 still earning an honest living.

Of course, much has changed since then. Big time! In Freightliner’s case, some of the FLC112’s successors didn’t endure nearly so well while on the cab-over front, Argosy failed to achieve its full

potential despite an innovative design several generations ahead of anything else in the US cabover class. In many estimations, including this one, Argosy will long be remembered as a case of ‘what might have been’.

Yet in the conventional class, no brand in the world today reflects the extent of technological transformation over the past four decades than Freightliner, capped by the current Cascadia.

And strangely perhaps, it was in the backblocks of far western NSW where this transformation recently found function and form like nowhere else.

Now and then It all started with a phone image of an old red truck and being casually asked by Stephen Downes, the head of Freightliner in Australia, “Do you remember this truck?”

“Yeah, I do. It’s one of the two original Freightliners brought here in the early ’80s for testing.”

From that moment, it took only a nano-second for an idea to gain traction: What better way to get a hands-on appreciation for the advances in truck technology over the past 40 years or so than to run an old banger like this 1982 FLC120 alongside a premium Cascadia.

And what better place to do it than the backblocks around Silverton, a quirky and remote little village in far western NSW where the past lingers gritty and real among the earthy ruins of early enterprise.

Gratefully, Stephen Downes agreed and some months later, with chilled desert winds whirling under a bright and cloudless sky, two very different Freightliners rolled into this time-warped town.

Despite a good deal of restorative work, the old banger still needed to be treated kindly. After all, after enduring the uncompromising rigours of its original life as a test unit, the truck had spent much of its long existence delivering bus chassis around the nation for Mercedes-Benz Australia and its later Daimler descendant, all the while acquiring further data on Australian highway operations for feedback to Freightliner.

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“Cascadia’s only apparent connection to its forebear is little more than the badge on the snout.”

Originally a slimline unit, a 28-inch Sleek-Line sleeper was added in 1990 along with disc wheels in place of the original spokes.

All up, according to details from Daimler Trucks Australia, the truck had notched around 3.6 million kilometres before it was given a modest makeover and briefly brought out of retirement for a burst of time travel.

Wisely perhaps, the veteran arrived from Melbourne on the back of a drop-deck trailer hauled by the new Cascadia in the hands of another veteran of the linehaul league, Daimler’s Leon Beard. Both trucks were then coupled to identical trailers purposely loaded to a gross weight around 34 tonnes, reflecting the loadings of a long gone era.

Under the long and skinny snout of the FLC120 sat a 14 litre Cummins NTC400 engine stirring through a Fuller 10-speed transmission (manual of course, though the spec sheet claimed it was a 15-speed) feeding the engine’s 400hp and modest 1150lb-ft of torque into a Rockwell SSHD tandem running a 4.1:1 final drive ratio and riding on Freightliner’s

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remarkably enduring Airliner rear suspension. It was, of course, a powertrain typical of the time, though some sources question whether it was actually the truck’s original specification. Whatever, it’s a spec that served its purpose well, both now and then.

On the other side of the evolutionary expanse, Cascadia’s only apparent connection to its forebear is little more than the badge on the snout.

Everything else is nothing like it once was and comparing the specs of the two trucks borders on comical.

Indeed, the top-shelf Cascadia 126 with its stand-up cab, 48-inch XT sleeper and sporting a gross combination mass rating of 110 tonnes, is something very special in the modern era.

Under the broad drooping snout of the modern machine resides the 15.6 litre Detroit Diesel DD16 engine with 600hp and 2050lb-ft of torque pouring through Daimler’s Detroit-labelled automated 12-speed overdrive transmission. At the back, Meritor’s popular RT46-160 tandem ran a 3.58:1 diff

ratio, riding on the latest version of Freightliner’s Airliner rear suspension.

Then, of course, there’s the emissions factor which has forged and fast-tracked more technological development in truck and engine design than perhaps any other issue in history.

Back in the early ’80s, for example, exhaust emissions were little more than a far-fetched black art, literally, and while some may rue the emergence and subsequent complexity of today’s highly advanced emissions systems, the simple fact is that they are an essential and ever-evolving part of the modern trucking world.

Simply put, global society demands a new perspective on emissions outputs and for its part, Cascadia’s Detroit Diesel engines are configured to meet America’s – and specifically, California’s – exceptionally tough greenhouse gas standards and therefore exceed the Euro 6 emissions requirements which are yet to be mandated for the Australian market.

In effect, the Detroit package is already ahead of a game which in our part of the world, hasn’t officially kicked off yet.

Equally advanced, however, is Cascadia’s standard state-of-the-art safety package led by a driver’s side airbag which can now be partnered by a side head airbag. Additionally, Cascadia comes with the proprietary ‘Detroit Assurance 5.0’ safety kit comprising features like advanced emergency braking, lane departure warning and side-guard protection system.

Furthermore, this particular Cascadia was also fitted for the first time with the digital dash layout now becoming increasingly available across Daimler’s complete automotive armoury.

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Still, and despite all the visual, mechanical and technological differences that separate 40 years of engineering epochs, it was only after two days of regularly swapping from the driver’s perch of the old truck to the new, and vice versa, that the passage of time was revealed in all its stark and staggering immensity.

True, I enjoy a few days running down memory lane as much as anyone – even if the lane is becoming increasingly long these days – but to climb from behind the wheel of the FLC120 to the space, comfort, convenience and ease of Cascadia provides an insight of massive proportions, and blunt acceptance of the reality that the past is exactly where it belongs. In the past!

In the old banger, there’s no ignoring the fact that to a driver 40 years ago, a Yank conventional of this type would have probably been something special indeed. A big banger worthy of a gun driver, or at least the image of a gun driver.

But viewed in the glare of modern life, age shows. Sure, it’s one thing to recall the satisfaction and pride of steering and stirring a tough truck well, of flat-shifting on a flat throttle, and slick flicks of the stick to keep the power pumpin’ on any pimple of a hill. Yet there are other reminders, too, like the roaring noise and the limited vision, the rattles and

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rudimentary fittings, the dubious steering, the contortioned testicle-tearing climb in and out of the bunk hole, and after a few hours, the wearisome workload of just getting to where you’re going. And underlying it all, the knowledge that your only defences against unwanted contact with the machines and obstacles of the outside world are unwavering concentration and a very thin shell of aluminium.

Then there’s a truck like Cascadia with all its technological treats and safety systems accompanied by the quiet, assured comfort and ease of an intuitive powertrain and exceptionally well-equipped cab.

In 40 years, conventional trucks have come a very long way but in our part of the world, and only since the launch of Cascadia, none nearly so far as Freightliner.

Sure, there’s the durability factor still to be determined and the onus is squarely on Daimler Trucks Australia and Freightliner’s American counterparts to ensure Cascadia achieves the market potential which eluded some of its forebears.

But so, too, is the onus on others in the heavy-duty conventional class to at least match Cascadia’s attributes, particularly in safety standards.

Quite simply, lives depend on it.

Top: Over the hill, in more ways than one Above: A founding father of Freightliner in Australia, the late Ian Bruce. Daimler-Benz’s purchase of Freightliner in 1981 created huge excitement for the eventual introduction of the brand in Australia Opposite above: There’s a lot to be said for the satisfaction and pride of a drive down memory lane, as long as the lane’s not too long.

Driving was simply harder work back then

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tech briefs

Monitoring tyre performance from afar WITH THE AIM of enhancing its tyre business model, Bridgestone acquired Tom Tom Telematics early in 2019, rebranding it as Webfleet Solutions, a Bridgestone Company, on October 1 that year. According to Bridgestone sales director Heath Barclay, the acquisition has added an extra dimension to the company’s foundation business through tyre pressure monitoring.

“It enables us to use telematic data

to optimise the choice of tyre for a fleet, and it enables us to ensure that we’re looking at the whole role of the driver holistically, so driver performance and driver behaviour plays a big role in tyre usage,” Barclay says.

“We can bring all that together and have a conversation with customers to drive down the total cost of ownership.

“Tyre pressure plays a huge role

in fuel efficiency. So if your tyre pressure is under, then your fuel costs will drive up.”

Barclay points out that data is fed back immediately to the office, which is important in terms of avoiding unnecessary calamities.

“Usually a leak will happen slowly and then a failure will happen somewhere and the cost of repairing that tyre 1,000km from the nearest city is enormous.

“It enables us to do true preventative maintenance, so that when we’re seeing a leak starting to appear we can then go and deal with that before it becomes a catastrophe.”

However, it’s not only truck tyres that are able to be monitored.

Christopher Chisman-Duffy, Webfleet Solutions’ sales director, says a new piece of hardware, Link 340, is able to track all powered equipment.

“Link 340 is an asset tracker. When FAR LEFT AND LEFT: Christopher ChismanDuffy, Webfleet Solutions’ sales director; Bridgestone Australia sales director Heath Barclay

it’s connected to the tractor as it’s driving along, it gives a full update of position, speed, everything else as well, so we’re using just more data to help make businesses more efficient,” Chisman-Duffy says.

“Link 340 is designed for fleet managers and business owners to get the most value and productivity out of each of their assets. This can make a tangible impact on the reduction of unnecessary costs and optimise processes for better business results.”

Both Chisman-Duffy and Barclay were in attendance at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show in May, stating that the collaboration between Bridgestone and Webfleet Solutions will deliver great benefits to the local fleet industry from a safety and sustainability perspective.

“We’re in the infancy of our collaboration, but already we’re seeing the great potential for our customers in terms of utilising Webfleet Solutions for better insights into tyre requirements and scheduled tyre maintenance,” Barclay says.

– Greg Bush

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Right connections for Scania MORE THAN 500,000 connected Scania vehicles are rolling worldwide – including more than 7,000 of them criss-crossing Australia – continuously sharing data for analysis, according to the Swedish truck maker.

However, Scania says it is more than just a fleet management tool. Scania’s data collection claims to deliver a powerful competitive advantage to its customers when they are negotiating for new business.

Ten years ago, Scania introduced a communication device as standard in all its vehicles. This enabled customers to achieve improved uptime, performance and efficiency across their operations, and for Scania to collect scientific data about product use as well as analysing logistics patterns.

Scania’s lead product manager for Fleet Management Services, Venugopal Gangaiah, says the importance of having large numbers of vehicles connected cannot be over-stated, and considers this to be an important milestone for Scania.

“It is vital in our journey towards becoming a sustainable end-to-end solution provider of transport,” Gangaiah says.

“Scania wouldn’t be where it is today in terms of knowledge about products and customer behaviour, without the first vehicle being connected some 20 years ago making this possible.

“The Scania Fleet Management Portal and, later, launching our own communicator in 2009 were also strategically important milestones – not to mention recognition through the various telematics awards collected by Scania over the last decade.”

Scania says it has been promoting its Fleet Management Services in Australia for several years.

“Scania customers who monitor the data produced by their vehicles and drivers have a far clearer understanding about how their assets are being used and with what degree of efficiency and productivity,” says Richard Bain, Scania Australia’s services portfolio manager.

“The data generated and analysed by the Fleet Management System really gives them a bird’s-eye view of their costs and highlights where money is being wasted or where they can make changes to improve their total operating economy.”

Global logistics company Mondiale VGL, which currently operates 78 Scania prime movers in Australia, is said to be one example of its customers leveraging the data analysis from the Fleet Management Portal.

National fleet and maintenance manager, Rory Gerhardt, says Mondiale VGL benefits in many ways from the data collected and presented.

“We supply our customers with accurate fuel efficiency and emissions data, to help them strengthen their own green footprint position,” he says.

“Not only does the Scania Fleet Management Portal tell us where our trucks are, how they are being driven and when they are due for service, but we’re able to measure their environmental performance, something which is already growing in importance for us when we bid for new work.”

Scania says it reached the 100,000 connected trucks and buses milestone in 2014, and the numbers have risen at a rate of close to 60,000 annually to pass 500,000.

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tech briefs

New Iveco B-double model hits the highways IVECO TRUCKS AUSTRALIA has announced the release of a new Euro 6-rated, B-double model with 550hp (410kW) and a 70-tonne gross combined mass. The 6x4 AS Highway B-double is available in both low and high roof variants and shares some underpinnings with the latest X-Way and ACCO ranges, which Iveco says boasts similar benefits in terms

of advanced safety features, driver aids, low emission performance and productivity.

Powering the Highway B-double model is a revised 13-litre Euro 6 Cursor engine that develops 550hp at 1,900rpm and 2,500Nm of torque at just 1,000rpm.

Emission control comes courtesy of Iveco’s patented Hi-eSCR (selective

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catalytic reduction) system.

Iveco explains that Hi-eSCR is a single after-treatment system featuring passive diesel particulate filter (DPF) – DPF regeneration that does not require driver intervention.

Another stated benefit of this technology is that it’s uncomplicated and efficient, and provides many benefits compared to exhaust gas recirculation and SCR equivalents, including reduced fuel consumption and a lower tare weight.

Coupled to the engine is a revised Hi-Tronix 16-speed automated manual transmission that is said to deliver fast gear changes and also has the ability to more efficiently select the correct ratio for the conditions. Additionally, the Hi-Tronix is equipped with ‘rocking’ and ‘creeping’ modes as well as four reverse gears. Extremely quiet operation is another hallmark of the Hi-Tronix, which Iveco says leads to a quieter cabin and higher driver comfort levels.

Other driveline features of the Highway B-Double include rear eightbag electronically-controlled air suspension and Meritor differentials with driver-controlled locks.

The truck also benefits from an

expansion module and power takeoff provision as standard.

To cover the longer intra and interstate routes the new model is likely to work in, the Highway B-Double has a 1,010-litre on-board fuel capacity (630-litre on the driver’s side and 380-litre on the passenger side), plus an 80-litre AdBlue tank.

Standard safety equipment includes electronic braking system (EBS) with brake assistance system (BAS), electronic stability program (ESP), hill holder, adaptive cruise control (ACC), advanced emergency braking system (AEBS), daytime running lights and an extended catwalk, allowing for safer access to the back of cabin area to connect air hoses or conduct maintenance.

Additionally, Iveco says the Highway B-double provides other standard safety equipment such as a hydraulic retarder, lane departure warning system (LDWS), driver attention support (DAS), tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and Bi-Xenon headlamps and washers.

Inside, the cabin boasts leather heated and air-suspended driver and passenger seats, automatic climate control, modern instrument cluster design with intuitive features and IveConnect multi-media.

The IveConnect system includes driving style evaluation (DSE) software that aims to improve the operator’s driving style by giving feedback and making recommendations.

“Iveco is excited to be adding the new Highway B-double model to our heavy duty product line-up, filling a gap in our model range which, until now, has been without a Euro 6-rated, B-double-capable prime mover,” says Iveco Trucks Australia managing director Michael May. “The new Highway B-double model features extremely high specification levels as standard, ensuring buyers enjoy the added safety, comfort, convenience and productivity that is so important for the intra and interstate applications the vehicle is targeted towards.”

“We expect the models will be well received by the market and have already begun taking orders.”

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The publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for any losses incurred by a buyer responding to an advertisement in this magazine. Buyers are solely responsible for their own negotiations and transactions with advertisers. Prime Creative Media advises buyers beware of negotiating by email only; of paying deposits to private advertisers for goods unseen; of transferring money (for example via Western Union) interstate or overseas. Buyers should contact Prime Creative Media customer service on 1300 362 272 if they suspect an advertisement may be fraudulent. In the event that a buyer suffers financial loss as a result of responding to a private advertisement in this publication Prime Creative Media (The Publisher) shall not be held liable or responsible.

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Tanker Drivers Peter Stoitse Transport is seeking professional tanker drivers based at Drouin, Leongatha, Welshpool, Maffra, Warrnambool, Shepparton or Albury to join our milk transport operations. Seasonal, casual and some full-time positions.

Immediate start. Medicals, training and uniforms provided.

YOU WILL NEED:

• MC (preferred) or HC licence • Excellent time management • Satisfactory reference checks • Good VicRoads 5-year driver history report.

To apply, email your resume to Melissa at hr@stoitse.com.au, quoting ref: V003 and stating your preferred location.

WANTED

MC - B Double Tipper Drivers ABOUT AG-SPREAD Ag-Spread is a company that specialises in bulk commodity transport. We operate throughout Eastern Australia, mainly across Victoria, New South Wales and Southern QLD. We are an established transport company with a fleet of Kenworth / Western Star B Doubles, Truck & Dogs and Road Train Tippers

away from home during the week , and are looking for a secure full time position with high earning potential.

ABOUT THE ROLE We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced MC - B Double Tipper Driver to join our team. The work is suited for drivers who are able to spend some time

TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU WILL NEED: • 1 year B Double experience • 1 year tipping experience preferred • A current MC Licence

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OWD 343 81-85.indd 84

27/7/21 1:34 pm

Positions Available

Exodas Pty Ltd is a well-established Transport and Warehousing company that operates Australia wide. We predominately provide transport services to the east coast of Australia, from North Queensland through to Melbourne.

Exodas Pty Ltd, Head Office is located in Yatala (QLD). Additionally we also have three sub depots located in Warnervale (NSW), Townsville (QLD) and Mareeba (QLD).

We are now seeking candidates for the following vacancies: • Heavy Vehicle Mechanics (Yatala) • Linehaul Drivers (Various Locations) • Local MC Drivers (Various Locations) • Tug Drivers (Yatala) • Forklift Operators (Yatala) The successful candidates will join a fast growing company, access great working conditions and be offered a competitive pay rate!

If you could see yourself working for Exodas, email your resume to employment@exodas.com.au or contact our Recruitment Officer on 0459 922 550.

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LINEHAUL DRIVER WANTED Brisbane based company, established for over 35 years, is looking for a linehaul driver. Intrastate only- Eastern seaboard- to start immediately.

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3. Current Roadranger MC licence 4. Current Medical Certificate 5. BFM Accreditation preferred

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OWD 343 81-85.indd 85

27/7/21 1:19 pm

FOR THE OWNER-DRIVER Frank Black

International shame South Korean owner-drivers increased rates and job satisfaction in just eight months. So why can’t we?

I

RECENTLY had the privilege of joining a global summit on Safe Rates. Unions from around the world met online for two days to discuss the model to lift standards, safety and viability of trucking around the world.

What jumped out at me was how this system has been held back in Australia – the birthplace of Safe Rates – by Liberal governments and industry stakeholders who are only interested in supporting their mates at the top end of town.

The basis of Safe Rates is to regulate trucking so that wealthy clients who control the economics of supply chains don’t cut costs in transport to a degree that puts pressure on operators and drivers to work unsafely.

The model includes enforcement through a tribunal that can set minimum standards and provide a safety net for those of us at the narrow end of the supply chain funnel.

It’s been a highly contested model in Australia after the Turnbull government brought down the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) and dished out lies that the tribunal was an attack on owner-drivers. It was

hundreds of drivers before and after Safe Rates was implemented.

The results show the impact this system can have in a short space of time and the study will be used to direct the policies that will make further improvements to safety and fairness for the owner-driver trucking industry.

It’s a really impressive case study and it didn’t come easy. During this presentation, and others I’ve seen from the trucking union in South Korea, KPTU, drivers have risked a lot – including prison sentences to fight for Safe Rates.

Their mass protests were handled with military precision. I’ve seen videos of hundreds of drivers lined up in neat rows blocking off main squares and streets in Seoul. The rows and rows of people as far as the eye can see are equally spaced apart, like they were demonstrating how to social distance.

Arrests were made several times, but they always came back for more.

Eventually it paid off and the results speak for themselves.

FRANK BLACK has been a long distance ownerdriver for more than 30 years. He is a former long-term owner-driver representative on the ATA Council.

RATE PROTEST

At the summit we also heard from

“The minimum freight rate floors are a great achievement.”

BELOW: South Korean ownerdrivers are enjoying the benefits of operating under a Safe Rates system

other countries that are pushing towards a Safe Rates model, like Brazil and New Zealand. After a mass truck driver protest in Brazil in 2018, the government implemented a ‘Minimum Price Policy for Road Freight Transport’ with minimum freight prices per kilometre based on type of cargo.

In February 2021, Brazilian truck drivers planned to protest again. The government tried to prevent it by holding talks as well as trying to scare drivers off with threats of big fines and penalties. But the drivers didn’t back down. The protests went ahead with the president of the union, saying: “The minimum freight rate floors are a great achievement, but we need to go further,” because the freight rates currently only apply to covering costs, not profitability.

If truck drivers in other countries can stand up together and fight in the face of police threats and severe governments that punish people just for protesting, why on earth are we lagging behind in a country with such leniency and freedom? Are we just too soft?

Considering Australia thought up Safe Rates, we should be leading the way. So why aren’t we? Whatever the different opinions on the RSRT, the fact is that nothing has been put in its place since.

Trucking barely gets a look in. Even during the pandemic, we had to fight for truck stops to stay open just so we could get a shower and a bite to eat. We continue to eat with disposable knives and forks as though we’re animals from the street. Once or twice during the last year we were called ‘pandemic heroes’ and acknowledged in press conferences as ‘essential workers’ but none of that stops the downward pressure on rates or the outrageous death toll in trucking.

As I write this, 20 truck drivers have already been killed in Australia this year. It is obvious Scott Morrison (should be known as ‘Go Slow’) just does not care.

There’s a lot we can learn from owner-drivers in other countries. We need to stop fighting each other and fight the good fight together.

in fact the opposite and South Korea has proven it.

South Korea introduced Safe Rates for owner-drivers in January 2020.

Within the first eight months of implementation, a major study of hundreds of owner-drivers showed rates increased by five per cent, and job satisfaction increased by more than 10 per cent. Time off or ‘leisure time’ increased by 14 per cent. Some may say that a five per cent in rates is minimal, but when it is taken into consideration that time off increased, that makes it significant.

Overloading decreased by 10 per cent, speeding decreased by 11 per cent and experiencing drowsiness while driving decreased by 21 per cent.

Fatigue levels decreased – unsurprisingly, because daily sleep hours increased. The study was led

by Pukyong National University’s Institute for Global and Area Studies and involved 90-question surveys of

86 AUGUST 2021

OWD_343_086_COL_Frank Black_GB.indd 86

ownerdriver.com.au

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FREIGHTLINER FLXC112 2000, Cat C12 engine, rtlo18918 gearbox, Meritor rt46160 diffs, cab parts, Alcoas. W2499. TA1077026.

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Part number NDK-7087

$1000

Purchase 10 sets of Bendix Brake Shoe Kits in one transaction and receive a FREE $50 Coles/Myer Gift Card.

HAND RATCHET

BULK BUY & SAVE

MADE IN JAPAN

Mix and match from our range of Protrans brake shoe kits.

BULK BUY & SAVE

9m x 50mm. 2500kg rating.

16 tooth ratchet, ergonomic handle. Complies with AS/ NZS4380:2001 standards.

OWD-FP-5011309-CS-343

$575

HADLEY 500C HEIGHT CONTROL VALVE*

HAND RATCHETS 9m x 50mm.

2500kg rating.

16 tooth ratchet, ergonomic handle.

Complies with AS/ NZS4380:2001 standards.

Coles Group & Myer Gift Card

Fifty Dollars

Part number 010.0002

10 for

FREE

$130

50

$

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HURRY, LIMITED GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE! *Check Application Guide. Prices include GST and valid until 30 Setember 2021.

*Check Application Guide.

All prices include GST and valid until 31 March 2021.

Townsville

Port Hedland

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AD-584741738.als - Base Edition 88

Rutherford Wetherill Park

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