PowerTorque January 2021

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WELCOME TO POWERTORQUE

I

t is my pleasure to welcome you to the first edition, under the Prime Creative banner, of PowerTorque. We have decided, following the acquisition of the PowerTorque title last year to merge the Diesel and PowerTorque titles to create one stronger magazine, bringing in the strengths of two well regarded brands under one roof.

I hope you like this first of many magazines, backed up by a strengthened online presence, to continue our crusade to keep the trucking industry informed with operator profiles, in depth analysis of the industry issues, straightforward reviews and truck tests, as well as the ongoing development of a technical database, overseas news and a strong stance on keeping the trucking industry safe and appreciated.

Looking forward is a much preferable option to looking back, after a tumultuous 2020. Legislative change, new product from truck and trailer makers, the Brisbane Truck Show and the ongoing incremental improvement in the way the trucking industry is regulated and supported are all on the agenda.

PowerTorque will be travelling with the industry all of the way, supporting the positive improvements while calling out the issues which hold the industry back.

The final shape of the new Heavy Vehicle National Law is going to be one of those era defining points, if the changes proposed get up in a practical form and have not been watered down by the consultation process, where all of the interested parties in government have their say, and often make smart ideas impractical.

Looking on the bright side, it does look like the new rules will be designed to be more flexible in the way trucking operators are required to demonstrate their compliance with whatever regulation it is. We are also looking for more recognition and less restrictions for those who are patently doing the right thing, and can prove it, and less tolerance for those who choose to flagrantly breach the rules and seem to get away with it.

Changes like this are also vital to enable the industry to overcome other issues which are going to come to a head. The trucking industry needs to improve its image with young people in order to bring them in and avoid the massive generational crunch which is happening now.

If Australia returns to something akin to normality, and people are back on the roads with their cars, congestion is going to return and productivity and efficiency are going to suffer. Improved regulations making higher productivity trucks easy to use and become ubiquitous will ease the pain of the return to traffic jams on our cities’ roads.

A bit of clarity on a number of other issues would be helpful as well. A date for the introduction of Euro 6 might help give the truck industry some certainty. It would also mean that the much more sophisticated electronics used in Euro 6 trucks will also enable all of the benefits from state of the art telematics to be easier to access.

If there is one thing we can be sure of, it is that the freight task is not going to go away and will continue to increase at quite a rate. The trucking industry does not have a choice, it has to get the job done and, if it wants to make money, it has to be more productive and attractive to new recruits. Good luck in 2021!

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ISSUE 120

Contents

33

MAKE MINE A MACK

Based at Walgett and serving the north west NSW farming community, Steven and Kate Thurston operate Thurston’s Transport on the traditional values of trust, loyalty and reliability, reports Paul Matthei.

14

ON THEIR METTLE

In 1979 brothers Kevin, David and Peter Murada started a trucking business, Metal Transport Industries, hauling scrap metal for BHP at Wollongong. The company has grown and diversified over the years to include heavy haulage and oversize work.

20 IS HYDROGEN THE FUTURE OF LONG HAUL TRUCKING? As the world becomes more interested in low emission electric vehicles, the problems around long distance freight are leading major corporations around the world to ask, is hydrogen the future of long haul trucking?

38 PACCAR PRODUCTION IN ITS FIFTIETH YEAR There has been major investment into the Paccar assembly

plant in Bayswater, Victoria, which is bringing significant changes to the way the company builds trucks. PowerTorque talks to Paccar Chief Engineer, Noelle Parlier.

44 TESTING THE NEW 300 ON THE ROAD The new Hino 300 Series range was released earlier this year with a lot of new features included in the truck as standard.

PowerTorque takes a selection of the new models out on the road to see just how all of this new technology works together.

54 GETTING OUR HEAD AROUND AI Industry has got to grips with the latest technology and using telematics and safety devices as an aid to the business, the future is going to be about getting our head around AI as well, mining the massive data flow to further improve productivity and safety.

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Standard Issue 08 NEWS AND VIEWS An EWD finally gets up, the 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Awards saw top technicians and technical developments honoured, improved young truck driver competency for the future is in prospect, a new Australian livestock ramp standard, a new Iveco Telematics system, the International Truck of the Year is announced, affirmative action on women truck drivers and a big personality gets an award.

49

TRUCK INSPECTION UPDATE

This year’s truncated TMC hosted the usual ‘Meet the Inspectors’ session, where those running the roadside enforcement teams around the country tell us what’s happening.

64 BUILT FOR BUSINESS Demand for last-mile delivery services and economical local and national transport, whether it be fresh food or parcel post, has created a perfect storm for businesses tackling the great Australian freight task.

66

MAKING DAF TRUCKS AT LEYLAND

PowerTorque’s European CorrespondentWill Shiers called in on Paccar’s UK factory, to find a modern facility steeped in history and still making DAF Trucks in Leyland.

70

TECH KNOW

Fastener Thread Damage and Galling, as well as the Converter Dolly Project has had a significant impact in the trucking industry, revolutionising the dolly market.

66

26 A NEW START FOR IVECO With the arrival of Michael May as its new Managing Director, there is the possibility of a new start for Iveco. Tim Giles talks with Michael, now that he has settled into the job. www.powertorque.com.au

7

NEWS & VIEWS

AN EWD FINALLY GETS UP Truck drivers in Australia will finally be able to replace their paper work diary with an electronic work diary, as an EWD finally gets up through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulators (NHVR) certification system.

After such a long certification period, well over two years, there is still some uncertainty about what is being certified. Two suppliers were mentioned by the Minister, but Smart eDriver has stated that it is the first and only system 100 per cent tested and certified to the full NHVR EWD standards and will be going live on the December 1 2020.

The platform is fully compliant with all NHVR standard and Basic Fatigue Management rules with the ability to integrate Advanced Fatigue Management solutions on request. Users can download the mobile application onto any compliant Android device from the Google Play store, sign up with one of Step Global’s distributors and get started.

Training is integrated into the app and it is claimed a driver can start using the electronic work diary in less than 30 minutes. For the operator, there is free access to the Smart eDriver portal and reports. Drivers will be able to download the app after November 23 and complete training ready for the December 1 launch.

Step Global is a Family owned and operated business based out of Melbourne and has developed the Smart eDriver platform completely in house. It is 100 per cent Australian owned, operated, developed and supported. Since 2009, the operation has grown both its product offering as well providing engineering know-how in the application of those products.

The EWD Policy Framework and Standards were developed in association with technology providers, transport operators and transport and police authorities in 2018 and subject to comprehensive review and consultation.

“This approval gives the providers the green light to work with their partners to use their products as an approved fatigue management system,” said Scott Buchholz, Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport. “We know both companies have a number

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

of transport and logistics companies that are ready and eager to adopt the technology and we should see a good uptake across diverse industry sectors.

“Congratulations to Step Global and Teletrac Navman, who are delivering an historic moment for Australia’s heavy vehicle industry.”

NHVR Chair Duncan Gay pointed out that the trucking industry is managing 60 million pages of work diary paper per year, which equates to fourteen B-Double loads of red tape.

“Today’s announcement will enable companies and drivers to more effectively focus on managing their fatigue, rather than managing the book – which is an important step forward in delivering improved fatigue safety outcomes,” said Duncan. “As well as reducing time checking written work records on the side of the road, it also delivers huge cost and time savings for heavy vehicle businesses with many operators spending multiple days every week reconciling the written work book with internal systems.

“I look forward to welcoming other technology providers also submitting systems for approval.”

For more information go to the NHVR EWD website. https://www.nhvr.gov. au/safety-accreditation-compliance/ fatigue-management/electronic-workdiary Teletrac Navman introduced its first EWD solution, Sentinel, in 2008. Its customers have adopted Sentinel to check the accuracy of their written work diaries and gain a greater level of back office visibility into driver hours.

Continually updating the solution based on customer feedback has given Teletrac Navman a deep understanding of fatigue risks and challenges, creating a comprehensive EWD solution that meets the real day-to-day needs of transport operators, administrators and drivers.

Sentinel is already being used by over 40,000 drivers across Australia, and Teletrac Navman says that these customers will be able to move to the new NHVR-approved solution at no additional cost from December 1 2020. The new solution is also available now for all new clients of

Teletrac Navman from this date.

A group of early adopters will be the first to install the technology in December, including prominent organisations such as Lindsay Australia and Aldi.

“Lindsay Australia strongly advocates improvements for the trucking industry in safety through innovation,” said Nick Lindsay, Fleet Quality and Efficiency Manager at Lindsay Australia. “We fully support the use of the Teletrac Navman Electronic Work Diary and look forward to our work force embracing technology and the many benefits it will provide.”

Kelly Wells, Logistics Director at ALDI Australia, said, “Since investing in technology to maintain our safety trackrecord, we are pleased to see that the Teletrac Navman EWDs have received approval. We truly believe that our Transport Operators will benefit from the efficiency and reliability that comes from a paperless logbook and we look forward to EWDs being made available to our entire national fleet.”

NEWS & VIEWS

TOP TECHNICIANS AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS HONOURED The 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Awards saw top technicians and technical developments honoured, as the Australian Trucking Association celebrated industry technical and maintenance excellence, at the TMC Online event.

The awards ceremony was broadcast live in conjunction with the TMC Online conference, the awards revealed Dennis Roohan (AJM Transport, Beresfield NSW) as winner of the 2020 Craig Roseneder Award, and the ITC Converter Dolly Project supply partners as winner of the 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Achievement award.

Dennis is General Manager of AJM Transport, overseeing 150 pieces of equipment and 100 staff members.

Dennis has been involved in the transport industry for more than 25 years, starting an apprenticeship in 1994.

“Dennis is a proactive industry member and demonstrates outstanding knowledge, ability and leadership qualities,” said David Smith, ATA Chair. “Dennis is a longstanding member of the ATA’s Industry Technical Council, joining more than 15 years ago.

“He currently serves at the ITC Vice Chair, and Chairs the council’s

Productivity working group, and is wellknown his expert technical knowledge and hands-on approach to workshop management.”

Sponsored by Castrol Vecton, Dennis will receive a fully paid trip to the US to attend a US Technology and Maintenance Council’s Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition including full registration, partners’ program, return airfares and accommodation, AUD $1,500 spending money and complimentary registration to the next in-person ATA Technology and Maintenance Conference.

The 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Achievement Award was awarded to the ITC Converter Dolly Project https:// www.dieselnews.com.au/new-converterdolly-to-hit-the-road/ supply partners: MaxiTRANS, Jost, WABCO, Alcoa, Bridgestone and Hendrickson.

“The project was a collaboration of the resources and knowledge of manufacturers, suppliers and operators all working towards a common goal,” said David Smith. “With immense support from the supply partners, this project explored the further development of a rigid drawbar converter dolly and came

after ITC member discussions regarding the dynamic issues with hinged drawbar converter dollies, especially brake reactivity and tyre wear.

“The needs of our industry are constantly changing, and this project and its partners are essential to ensuring operators and businesses stay up to date with best practice. I congratulate our award winners and commend all award nominees for the important work they do,” he said.

Dennis Roohan, AJM Transport, Beresfield NSW.

TRUCK DRIVER COMPETENCY FOR THE FUTURE Improvements in heavy vehicle driver training and licensing systems across Australia, plus nationally improved young truck driver competency for the future is in prospect after an announcement

by Austroads. A consortium has been appointed to deliver the final stage of the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework review and revision.

The consortium, appointed by Austroads, will be led by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia (CILT-A), in collaboration with the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), the National Road Safety Partnerships Program and the National Truck Accident Research Centre.

The project team will be led by Dr Kim Hassall, National Chair of CILT-A and Professor Sharon Newnham, Associate Director of the Systems Safety Team at MUARC.

“It is encouraging that Austroads has appointed these experts to guide necessary reform to heavy vehicle licensing,” said Warren Clark, NatRoad Chief Executive Officer. “Reform is urgent and unfortunately the project report isn’t due until mid-2022. Change is needed now to improve productivity, safety and longevity of our drivers.”

This project builds on the work undertaken during Stages 1 and 2 of the Review of the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework. Stage 1 provided a comprehensive review of heavy vehicle licensing in Australia while Stage 2 investigated best practice overseas experience and available research.

This third stage focusses on strengthening national heavy vehicle licence training and assessment standards to ensure drivers are equipped with the knowledge, skills, competence and

experience to safely drive in a range of conditions.

The project objective is to deliver a harmonised Australian licence training and assessment framework, that produces safe and competent heavy vehicle drivers, as well as reflecting the current and future needs of heavy vehicles operators and the future freight task.

In addition to developing robust heavy vehicle driver training and assessment standards and an associated curriculum framework, this project will also examine related areas such as licence class progression arrangements.

This work reflects the continued collaboration of all states and territories to achieve improvements to heavy vehicle licensing and ensure safe and competent drivers on Australian roads.

The project is due to be completed by mid-2022.

www.powertorque.com.au

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NEWS & VIEWS

NEW AUSTRALIAN LIVESTOCK RAMP STANDARD

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Australia (ALRTA) has welcomed the publication of a new Australian livestock ramp standard.

After some years of lobbying, the new Australian Standard for the Livestock loading/unloading ramps and forcing pens (AS 5340:2020) has been published.

The standard has been developed

by Standards Australia following public consultation during 2020 and input from a representative supply chain and

community steering committee.

Former ALRTA Vice President and Chair of the ALRTA Driver and Animal Welfare Committee, Mick Debenham, said that the new standard will improve worker safety and animal welfare.

“Loading ramps and forcing yards are the most dangerous part of livestock handling facilities. In 2020, livestock producers, handlers and transporters can no longer accept the unnecessary risk of crushing, lacerations and slips, trips and falls, and tragically, sometimes death,” said Mick. “There is consensus within the industry that improved safety can be best achieved by keeping livestock and people separated, a guiding principle that is reflected throughout the standard.

By improving safety for workers, we also improve the safety and welfare of our livestock – the two go hand in hand.

“The standard is strongly supported by the livestock supply chain and based on the pre-existing Guide for Safe Design of Livestock Loading Ramps and Forcing Yards which was published by ALRTA in 2015. Those who have followed the guide

will generally meet the standard.”

ALRTA National President Scott McDonald said that there has never been a better time to invest in safer and more productive livestock ramps.

“After an unprecedented string of natural disasters, the rural sector is now enjoying a good season and minds will soon turn to investing profits in improved supply chain infrastructure,” said Scott.

“The Federal Government is encouraging new investment via instant asset writeoff provisions announced in the 2020-21 Budget. Until 30 June 2022, businesses can generally write off the full cost of depreciable assets in the first year of use or installation.

“I strongly encourage all ramp owners to undertake a safety risk, animal welfare and productivity assessment of their existing livestock ramps and take the opportunity to bring facilities into line with the national ramp standard while the investment incentives are in place. Farmers and depot managers purchasing new equipment should ask the manufacturer if the product meets the standard.”

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ON WOMEN TRUCK DRIVERS An initiative to allow affirmative action on women truck drivers may prove to be a model for others to follow.

The Ipswich City Council sought an exemption under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (QLD) from the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) that would allow them to target women in their attempts to hire Waste Services Truck Drivers and assist them in gaining their Heavy Rigid (HR) licences.

“Given the under-representation of women within trucking and the socioeconomic factors that have historically prevented progress in this area, the granting of the exemption provides a pathway for other members to close the gap,” said the QTA Newsletter.

In its decision the QIRC stated: The QIRC, having considered the submission granted the exemption. In their decision they had to determine whether the exemption is in the community interest. In reaching the determination that it was in the interest of the community, they highlighted that: companies in the top quartile for

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

gender diversity are 21 per cent more likely to drive financial returns that outperform industry averages; the rise in female employment since 1974 has boosted Australia’s economic activity by 22 per cent; encouraging more women to join the workforce will fill roles across all sectors, increasing productivity and meeting consumer demand; and having a diverse range of voices gives businesses a large pool of expertise and makes them better at adapting to change.

Ipswich City Council applied to QIRC that an exemption be granted under the Act that would allow them to discriminate by sex in offering work and training opportunities. In seeking the exemption, they submitted that should the exemption be granted it would assist or advance women disadvantaged because of discrimination they have already faced. In support of this they identified that: women are recognised as being underrepresented across the transport industry and, in the specific case of the Council, there were only two female drivers from a

cohort of just over 50 drivers; Generally, only 17.5 per cent of those working in the transport industry were women, and of those, only 6.5 per cent were women in driving positions (from Working Women in Transport – A Snapshot The Follow Up) the transport industry is rated as one of the lowest in Australia for gender diversity. 26.4 per cent of the workforce were women, far lower that the all industry average of 46.9 per cent (from Driving Change: Transport Industry’s Gender Equality Gap Revealed) They also identified that there are often socio-economic barriers faced by women seeking to meet the Heavy Rigid (HR) licence prerequisite and that there are significant costs involved in obtaining a HR licence, including specialised lessons, the time involved for the lessons, as well as the cost of the licence itself. When considering the costs, it further matters that women are on average paid 14 per cent less than men (Australia’s Gender Pay Gap Statistic 2020).

NEWS & VIEWS

INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR 2021 ANNOUNCED At a virtual ceremony that took place in Munich, Germany, involving commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing 24 major trucking magazines, attendees saw the International Truck of the Year announced. At MAN’s headquarters, the MAN new TGX range has been elected International Truck of the Year 2021 by the IToY jury.

The award was handed to Andreas Tostmann, Chief Executive Officer of MAN Truck & Bus, during the ceremony. With a winning score of 155 votes, the German truck manufacturer’s flagship fought off the strong challenge posed by Volvo Trucks’ new FH range.

Based on the International Truck of the Year (IToY) rules, the annual award is presented to the truck introduced into the market in the previous 12 months, which has made the greatest contribution to road transport efficiency. Several important criteria are considered, including technological innovation,

comfort, safety, drive-ability, fuel economy, environmental footprint and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

MAN’s new TGX range represents a big step forward in terms of comfort, safety, fuel efficiency, connectivity, advanced service portfolio and humanmachine interface.

During extended test drives carried out last February in Bilbao, Spain, and more recently, between Germany and Austria in July, the Truck of the Year jury members appreciated the improved cab aerodynamics that, together with the D26 and D38 Euro VI d engines, optimised drive axle and GPS-assisted cruise control - contribute to a reduction in fuel consumption.

Moreover, the jury praised the humanmachine interface of the new truck range, based on an easy-to-read, fully-digital colour instrument cluster and the turnand-press control system (SmartSelect) of the secondary display, along with the

multifunction steering wheel.

Finally, the IToY journalists appreciated the wide array of assistance and safety systems, aimed at reducing the driver’s workload in every operating condition and at improving traffic safety. Summing up the jury vote, International Truck of the Year Chairman Gianenrico Griffini commented, “With the introduction of the new TGX, MAN has delivered a future-oriented heavy-duty truck range, able to answer today’s and tomorrow’s transport needs.”

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NEWS & VIEWS

INNOVATIVE NEW IVECO TELEMATICS SYSTEM components, comprising a small telematics module and GPS antenna, are fitted to the trucks at Iveco’s Melbourne manufacturing facility and connected to the vehicle CANbus interface via a secure, standardised and data-rich FMS (Fleet Management System) output, and the ignition.

Once the system is linked and activated for the customer, it’s ready to transmit information, via the high-speed Telstra Machine-to-Machine (M2M) 4G network, to the database server (housed in Australia).

The data can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Following an extensive local development phase, Iveco has launched its innovative new Iveco Telematics system in Australia and New Zealand.

Designed and manufactured in Australia specifically for local markets, Iveco Telematics is claimed to provide fleet operators with access to an extensive array of data (up to 70 channels) to help streamline and bring greater efficiency to their vehicle movements while minimising running costs and unforeseen downtime.

The system will now be fitted as standard equipment on every heavy duty Euro-6 Acco, Euro-6 X-Way and Euro-5 Stralis model in the Iveco range, effective with vehicles built from September 2020, and also comes with a 12-month complimentary subscription.

“As a standard package, Iveco Telematics provides logistics operators and other road transport businesses with a comprehensive, full suite of services that many other manufacturers charge additional for,” said Marco Stiffler, Iveco Australia Product Manager Telematics. “In developing the program, we consulted the industry and designed features and functionality to best suit the requirements of our local markets, both in Australia and New Zealand.

Although primarily designed with Euro 6 vehicles in mind, customers with existing applicable heavy duty Iveco models will also be able to have the system retrofitted through their Iveco dealerships.

The telematics

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

COMPLETE CONTROL Tracking and routing provides live GPS tracking, geo-fencing of operating areas and/or restricted zones, and trip information including trip details and trip reports.

The system’s driver monitoring capabilities include harsh braking and acceleration alerts, moving and stationary over-revving alerts, over-speed, overspeed limit and over-idling alerts. From here, the software can provide driver scorecard and productivity reports to help improve driving techniques and overall efficiency.

On the safety front, Iveco Telematics offers vehicle roll-over and impact alerts.

Another feature of the program is theft prevention, providing notification if a breaching of geo-fenced areas occurs, or if the vehicle is moved without the ignition being actuated.

Iveco Telematics also provides detailed insights into vehicle operating data including odometer and engine hour readings, scheduled maintenance reporting, ‘tell-tale’ activity reporting, battery voltage level and engine coolant, engine oil and transmission fluid alerts.

This data is complemented by vehicle

performance insights that detail truck performance in the application. The available information covers speed, brake count, gear changes, fuel usage, ambient and cooling temperatures, GCM status, engine RPM (low, green and high) and cruise control usage.

PORTAL AND APP “By offering valuable performance insights and monitoring covering parameters such as tracking and routing, safety, driver and vehicle performance, vehicle maintenance and theft avoidance, Iveco Telematics delivers a complete and holistic end-to-end service for users,” said Marco. “As well as providing extremely useful information to the end user to increase their efficiency, buyers who allow their Iveco dealer to have some visibility into their data can enjoy a range of servicing, maintenance and preventative maintenance benefits that will minimise downtime by ensuring correct parts are in stock prior to servicing.

All data from Iveco Telematics is accessed through a secure portal, where a profile page and dashboard allows users to customise their account details and settings, manage users and access information covering map page and areas, asset trails, live tracking, management of vehicles, groups, drivers and services, alerts, reporting, vehicle transfer and help. The data can then be organised via on-demand and scheduled customisable reports and downloaded in a variety of formats.

This information is also accessible through a mobile app which is available for both Apple and Android devices. For transport companies and fleet operators using their own telemetry programs, Iveco Telematics can be integrated with their current portal via the Applicable Program Interface (API).

NEWS & VIEWS

A BIG PERSONALITY AWARDED The presentation of the Personality of the Year Award at the 2020 Australian Freight Industry Awards saw a big personality awarded for all of the achievements of a long career in the transport industry. The AFIA event was a 90-minute virtual awards presentation broadcast from The Pullman hotel in Melbourne.

The Personality gong went to Peter Smith, founder of SCT Logistics and a strong presence in the transport industry since he founded SCT back in 1974.

It would have been a shame that the ceremony was limited in numbers, as Peter has plenty of war stories to tell.

In an interview over ten years ago, that this writer did with Peter, his strength of character and personality shone through.

In a world where control of the railways has become concentrated in a few hands and every city is trying to develop an Intermodal system, SCT created their own path to success on the back of fully loaded louver vans criss-crossing the country supported by an on road distribution network.

Strangely, for a man who is now so closely linked with rail, Peter began his working life on the road.

“I started driving trucks when I was eighteen years of age and I drove interstate for eight or nine years,” said Peter in the interview in 2007.

With Peter Gunn he developed the Cubico operation which, was later sold to Mayne Nickless, eventually coming under the Linfox umbrella in 2002.

He turned to examining the possibilities of rail after first running containers in and out of Tasmania. The world of rail freight looked rather different then than it does today.

The SCT Operation was pulling in freight to fill louver vans from Melbourne to Perth.

SCT were competing with the likes of TNT, Railex, Mayne Nickless plus another five or six private operators in a very diverse industry.

After years of steady growth in the business the atmosphere in the industry changed dramatically in 1994.

“We decided, maybe, there was an opportunity to provide our own train service going across to Perth, much to the disbelief of everybody especially National Rail who thought it was impossible to do,” said Peter.

Peter Smith, SCT Logistics Founder.

After long and hard negotiations the first train at 600 metres long and pulled

by Victorian Railways left Melbourne for Perth under SCT colours on July 13 1995.

“For us it grew very quickly,” said Peter.

“We took a lot of business because we cut the freight rates by at least thirty per cent across the board in the first year.

“Are we in competition? You betcha we are! We’ve been maintaining that rating structure and keeping them honest for the last ten years,” said Peter.

Peter remained cynical about all of the talking up of rail development over the years, “I remember going to a meeting in Sydney put together by John Anderson who was Minister at the time. People like Paul Little, Bob Shreuber from Queensland Rail, Chris Corrigan and three or four other players in the industry were all there.

“I had my general manager with me at the time and he got a little enthusiastic about this meeting how they were saying this and that was going to happen. I walked out of the meeting and he said, ‘I can’t wait to get into it!’.

“I said we should go and buy twenty Kenworths because it’s not going to happen.”

He was also right in other predictions for the future. Back in 2007 he said, “I believe that in ten years time we will still be running up the same railway track between Melbourne and Brisbane. With a couple of terminals chucked in by people like SCT trying to make the thing work without us making the major investments required to really make it work.”

Apart from Peter’s Personality Award, sponsored by CMV Truck and Bus, the winners were: Debra O’Donnell, Precise Pallet Management, Female Leadership Award – sponsored by Viva Energy Australia; Annastasia Denigan, Cement Australia, Young Achiever of the Year Award – sponsored by Daimler; Alex Fraser Group, Sustainable Environment Award – sponsored by National Transport Insurance; JOST Australia, Application of Technology Award – sponsored by Transport Certification Australia; Delta Group, Best Practice Safety Award – sponsored by Gallagher; and Nationwide Group, Investment in People Award – sponsored by Logical Staffing Solutions.

www.powertorque.com.au

13

OPERATOR PROFILE

ON THEIR

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

OPERATOR PROFILE

METTLE

In 1979 brothers Kevin, David and Peter Murada started a trucking business, Metal Transport Industries, hauling scrap metal for BHP at Wollongong. Having started with four trucks, the company has grown and diversified over the years to include heavy haulage and oversize work, Paul Matthei reports. www.powertorque.com.au

15

OPERATOR PROFILE

T

he Murada brothers grew up around heavy machinery as their father operated an earthmoving business which included three bulldozers, a prime mover and a float used to shift the machinery from job to job.

Later on, he had excavators fitted with magnetic shears for handling scrap steel, which along with the earthmoving equipment could well have been a pivotal factor in his sons cutting their transport teeth in the scrap steel hauling business before moving into heavy haulage some years later.

“We had that background with machinery and trucks that probably influenced us in the career path we took,” Kev says.

Both Dave and Kev completed mechanical apprenticeships, Kev as a fitter in a coal mine and Dave a mechanic at truck and car dealer Dwyers at Wollongong, after they left school. But when the opportunity to start their own business arose, they grabbed it with both hands.

The brothers greatly appreciate the assistance and knowledge their father gave them in their formative years, which particularly helped them in getting their fledgling business off the ground.

With the four semi-tipper combinations and a scrap steel cartage contract with BHP in hand, Metal Transport Industries was off to a flying start and everything went smoothly for the first four years or so. However, in 1984 a large haulage company based at Wollongong decided it wanted a piece of the Murada brothers’ pie.

“We were undercut on price and lost the BHP contract which forced us to sell three of the trucks,” says Dave. “But a year later we won it back again because BPH realised they weren’t getting the same top-shelf service from the other company that we had been giving them.”

Although it was a temporary setback for the business, the brothers fought back and continued to build it to the point where, by the late ‘80s, they had nine trucks doing the scrap metal haulage.

At this stage they decided to diversify and bought a Brentwood float so they could start hiring out their father’s excavators to scrap merchants like Sims Metal.

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Kev, Jarrod and Dave Murada.

“We were floating the machines to their yards and handling the scrap metal for them which added another string to our bow,” Kev says.

Further diversification was to follow in 1992 when the company began carting tinplate scrap from canneries in Melbourne, Shepparton, Kyabram, Brisbane and Sydney back to BHP in Wollongong for recycling. This contract ran for 15 years until 2007.

“That helped us grow to about 16 trucks and we also set up our own depot in Melbourne and used another company’s depot in Brisbane where we collected the scrap before trucking it back to Wollongong,” says Dave, adding that they used some flat-top trailers so they could carry general freight to both capitals and haul the tinplate

scrap on the return journeys.

“We actually used both flat-tops and tippers on that job because we had enough diversity in the freight going to Melbourne and Brisbane at the time,” says Kev. “With the flat-tops we used sheet steel lined gates to contain the load and when the trucks reached their destination the gates were removed and the tinplate scrap was pushed off by wheel loaders.”

In the mid-‘90s, when the B-double first started on its meteoric rise to domination of the line-haul trailer market, the company embraced the combination in both tipper and flat-top formats for its tinplate scrap carting operation.

Soon after that, the Muradas started ramping up the heavy haulage arm of the business, purchasing

OPERATOR PROFILE

another Brentwood float in 1997 to complement the initial unit.

The final year before the dawning of the new millennium heralded a significant milestone for Metal Transport Industries with the company acquiring its first Drake float, a 4x8 Full Widener.

“From then on we continued to buy Drake floats and we now have 12 of them including one 2x4, four 3x4s, three 4x4s, one 3x8, one 4x8 and two 5x8s,” says Kev, adding that they also own four Drake dollies, a pair each of 2x4s and 2x8s.

“Kev and I like to buy Australian-made products wherever possible, which is another reason why we buy Drake floats and Kenworth trucks,” says Dave.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS The first half of the noughties saw the company reach the dizzying heights of 36 trucks including a number running around Brisbane hauling scrap metal.

Then in 2007 the tinplate scrap contract finished and the trucks working in Brisbane were sold to another company.

As a result, the brothers sold 20 trucks to bring the tally back to 16 which is what they describe as the ‘sweet spot’ for the business.

“After that our heavy haulage work really picked up which meant the majority of our drivers were doing float

“WE WERE FLOATING THE MACHINES TO THEIR YARDS AND HANDLING THE SCRAP METAL FOR THEM WHICH ADDED ANOTHER STRING TO OUR BOW.” work while a small proportion were still doing the scrap metal work,” says Dave.

In 2011 Metal Transport Industries won a contract with Australian Steel Mill Services working at BlueScope Steel carting slag, which is a by-product of the iron and steel manufacturing processes, from the blast furnace and the BOS (Basic Oxygen Steelmaking).

“We move between 3,500 and 4,000 tonnes of slag every day, in 12-hour shifts seven days per week,” says Dave, adding that BlueScope currently produces between 2.5 and 2.6 million tonnes of steel per year.

This is an onsite operation whereby the slag is carried from the blast furnace to an area where it is processed into construction materials including concrete, sand and road base.

“They turn 1,500 tonnes a day into sand that is sold to Australian Cement for its concrete production and the remainder gets turned into roadbase and sold as an alternative to the

road-base that comes from quarries,” says Dave.

The company purchased specific trucks for this contract including minespec Kenworth C509s and mine-specific off-highway Western Stars, the latter unable to be road registered due to being 3.2 metres wide and riding on 14.00 tyres.

The Kenworths feature ultra heavyduty 45-tonne capacity Sisu hubreduction tandems with steel spring suspension. They tow super-sized single tri-axle tippers, two side tippers and two conventional end tippers, hauling 75-tonne payloads. Each of the trailer axles has a maximum load rating of 25 tonnes.

A PAIR OF LOUISVILLES Over the years a number of brands have populated the fleet. The brothers started out with a pair each of Ford Louisville LTL9000 and Kenworth W-model prime movers and after two years the Louis

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17

OPERATOR PROFILE

were traded in on another pair of Kenworths, this time cab-overs. From then on the KW brand was firmly entrenched in the fleet and continues to provide what the Muradas describe as unmatched reliability and durability.

“After running the Kenworths and Louisvilles side-by-side for a couple of years we realised how good the Kenworths were in comparison and we’ve been buying them ever since,” says Dave.

The operation included the odd Western Star, International, Mack and Freightliner in the fleet, with Western Star being reckoned by Kev to be the next best to Kenworth. However, with accessing spare parts for the Western Star being not as easy to source as spare parts for Kenworths, the die was cast.

“That’s one thing about the Australian transport industry, there are a lot of operators buying Australian-made gear which is great for the country,” adds Kev. “We wouldn’t buy a trailer made in China, that’s for sure.”

Other trailers in the fleet include two 45’ flat-tops, two extendible flat-tops, an O’Phee extendible drop-deck and a standard drop deck.

The brothers reckon that, for them, using Kenworth trucks almost exclusively for the last four decades has made good business sense. With the trucks well maintained by the pair of qualified mechanics in the workshop and driven with care by the drivers, the Muradas agree they can be confidently run for 15 to 20 years if necessary.

“I drive our 2003 T904 and Kev drives a 2011 K200 Big Cab,” Dave says. “We’ve bought a number of new K200s since 2011 but Kev prefers to keep driving the truck he knows best.

“We also still cart scrap metal for a select few customers who we have dealt with over the last few decades. It is our bread and butter so we don’t want to give it away completely. We now use triaxle trailers with roll on, roll off bins.

“In the past we actually built our own tippers in the workshop for the scrap metal haulage. We don’t do that anymore, but we still do complete overhauls on our floats, we have a three-bay workshop and our two mechanics really know what they are about.”

The company offers mechanical

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

apprenticeships to young people as a way of giving back to the industry that has served them well over the last four decades.

“We like the fact that we can give young people a start, some of our apprentices over the years have their own businesses now and some have gone

on to become TAFE teachers,” says Kev. “It’s great to see them do well, knowing that we gave them a start in the trade.”

DIFFERING ROLES Interestingly, Dave, Kev and their brother Pete, who passed away in 1992, are triplets. Despite being the same 62 years

OPERATOR PROFILE

of age and having started the business together, these days Dave and Kev have somewhat different roles.

Dave is Managing Director and spends a fair bit of time in the office sharing an operations role with another employee. The rest of the time he can be found driving his favourite truck, a 2003

The KW brand is firmly entrenched in the fleet and continues to provide what the Muradas describe as unmatched reliability and durability.

model Kenworth T904, particularly when things are busy, which is nearly every week, he says.

On the other hand, Kev is a full-time driver and specialises in the heavy haulage operations with which he has vast experience. He did spend a couple of years in the office in the mid-‘90s, but says it nearly drove him around the bend and he couldn’t wait to get back behind the wheel of a cab-over Kenworth, which is where he has been ever since.

“Back in ’95 I was in the office for a while but it just wasn’t for me, so we ended up hiring another employee to help Dave with the operations and I went back on the road full time,” says Kev. “I still quote jobs and Dave and I bounce off each other a beauty, customers ring either of us when they want work done.”

Kev reckons his contribution to the business as full-time driver is beneficial in a number of ways because he always has his finger on the pulse.

“Our drivers know I’m out there doing the same amount of work as them and they appreciate that because they can see that I’m just as stuffed as them after a hard day’s work,” says Kev. “It just works, it really does.”

While accepting that heavy haulage is a hard game, Kev nonetheless enjoys his trips away, saying there’s always somewhere new to go in this vast country.

“We go all over Australia with the heavy haulage and the thing I really like about it is that you go to so many places that you would otherwise never experience,” says Kev. “There are always

a lot more challenges with the heavy haulage work, but I really enjoy it.”

Both of the brothers now running the business agree that running 18 trucks, which is the current size of the business, is the ideal number for them.

“Anywhere between 16 and 20 trucks is about right for us and it would have to be a damn good job for us to increase the fleet past that size,” says Dave.

The longest serving employee initially drove casually for them in the early ‘80s and subsequently became permanent 28 years ago.

There is another family member in the business, Dave’s son Jarrod. He did his mechanical apprenticeship with another company and later came onboard as a driver.

“The drivers working for us are all good blokes and we have a great bunch of people in the workshop and office also,” Kev adds. “Our company is based on family values and is an operation where everyone cares. When you get too big, people don’t care as much.”

All up, the last 40 years have seen big changes for the Murada brothers.

From starting the business and doing all the driving, repairs and maintenance themselves, they gradually built up a solid team of employees which enabled them to grow and diversify.

“Kev and I have stuck together through it all,” Dave says. “From a young age we played all our sports together and rode dirt bikes together. In fact, we still surf and snow ski together today.

Besides brothers, we’re best mates.”

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

Is Hydrogen the Future of

LONG HAUL TRUCKING? As the world becomes more interested in low emission electric vehicles, the problems around long distance freight are leading major corporations around the world to ask, is hydrogen the future of long haul trucking? Hyundai reckons it has the answer.

C

oncerns around climate change and the passing of peak oil have been fuelling debates about possible alternative fuels for the trucking industry for years. There has been plenty of speculation and entrepreneurs talking about coming up with the magic solution to the need to reduce carbon emissions for the freight industry.

The year 2020 saw a change in who was talking about and doing something about the topic. The focus moved away

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

from small tech start-ups showing us videos of their futuristic trucks using fuel cell technology and moved over to the genuinely big players in the truck manufacturing world putting their money where their mouth is and pouring considerable research dollars into fuel cell technology.

The two biggest global truck makers, Daimler and Volvo, announced they were going work together to develop basic fuel cell technology, which would then be fitted in their various brands in the future.

Iveco signed on the dotted line with fuel cell truck developer Nikola, pouring money into the company in return for access to a mature fuel cell technology for its trucks. Paccar is working with another global giant, Toyota, adapting its fuel cell system and has fitted it in a number of Kenworth trucks in the US. However, there is one global player which is even further down the road to bringing fuel cell technology into the trucking industry, and that’s Hyundai.

Here in Australia, we associate the

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

name Hyundai with some good valuefor-money hatchbacks and, more recently, importer of a small range of trucks. In fact, there is a lot more to the multifaceted industrial giant than this.

The Hyundai name covers a loosely connected, but strongly performing, group of enterprises run by the Chung family.

The company’s interests include: vehicle manufacturing from little cars up to top weight trucks, construction, heavy industries, engineering, development and a department store chain. As an industrial leader in South Korea, Hyundai has been developing fuel cell drivelines as an alternative to diesel for heavy trucks in the freight industry.

Hyundai Motors is delivering up to 50 units of its heavy duty Xcient Fuel Cell, which it reckons is the world’s first series-produced fuel cell electric heavyduty truck, to customers in Switzerland.

In the U.S., Hyundai reckons it is collaborating with logistics leaders to supply mass-produced fuel cell heavyduty trucks. The company revealed the fuel cell-powered Neptune Concept heavy-duty truck at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in October 2019, hinting at what the future holds

and Hyundai’s plans for it. The North American market will be getting a 6x4 prime mover. By 2030, Hyundai says it expects more than 12,000 fuel cell trucks to hit the U.S. roads.

Hyundai is also working with various parties in China, which aims to get 1 million hydrogen vehicles on its roads by 2030 as the country’s hydrogen industry is on a sharp growth trend, creating massive potential. Three fuel cell electric trucks are scheduled for launch in China: a medium-duty truck in 2022, a heavyduty truck is planned to follow.

WHY HYDROGEN, AND WHY AUSTRALIA? PowerTorque had the opportunity to sit in on a global discussion, hosted

by Hyundai, with about 20 technical journalists. The management team driving the development of fuel cell technology in Hyundai talked about their plans and answered a wide variety of questions.

“It’s safe to say that we are at the forefront, and the number one with the launch of the first serial produced hydrogen fuel fuel cell truck,” said Maik Ziegler, Vice President Hyundai CV Business Division. “We know that

we are not the only ones but with our experience from the last few years. We began developing fuel cell trucks in 2006 and we launched a fuel cell bus in the United States two years ago.”

In light of the development already made and looking into the future, the team at Hyundai are convinced that the future is electric. It is already making electric cars, As well as fuel cell cars, alongside the heavy duty fuel cell trucks. In the long term, the company sees that electric power will be the standard on vehicles, it is the source of the energy to supply that power which may differ.

For short journeys and for vehicles which only run for a few hours a day, on board batteries supplying electric power and then recharging when off the road is a viable technology. However, if a truck is running at higher weights and over longer distances, or the vehicle is being used for long periods during the day, then fuel cell will be the energy source for the electric motor.

The development of powerful batteries has not come far enough for long haul freight vehicles. The commonly used example is the B-double running from Sydney to Melbourne. To enable

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

an electric powered truck to travel this route at a GCM of 62.5 tonnes, it would need over 20 tonnes of batteries to make the journey, leaving precious little room for actual paying freight.

“For light commercial vehicles, battery electric vehicles are not a bad solution,” said Martin Zeilinger, Executive Vice President Hyundai CV Development Tech Unit. “The heavier a vehicle is and the longer range you are expecting, the more the fuel cell comes into the game. We are not talking about different things here, it is all an electric power train. In the case of the heavier vehicles, you use a fuel cell and hydrogen as the energy storage, you have a way better range and you do not sacrifice your payload. Plus, you have a refuelling time which is comparable to that of a diesel truck.”

Economic forecasts tell us that the price of hydrogen on the world market is likely to reduce to $4/kg by 2030, with the prospect of staying at this level, or below, into the future. This will have the effect of making zero emission renewable hydrogen a keen competitor to diesel, even without legislation to reduce emissions.

One of the main issues when a new technology comes along, using a new fuel, is refuelling infrastructure.

This is an area of expertise Hyundai have been working on and this has led to the building of a network of

Filling up at a Hydrogen service station.

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility won the IToY Truck Innovation Award 2020.

hydrogen fuel stations in Switzerland.

“The concept is relatively easy, if you want to build up infrastructure, passenger cars are the wrong product to start with,” said Mark Freymuller, CEO Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, who has been running the Hyundai project in Switzerland. “A truck is a much better way to create the demand to enable a hydrogen fuel station to be able to stand on his own two feet.

“If you look at the annual cost of a new fuelling station, including staff and space and investment, and compare how much hydrogen needs to be sold at a certain margin, you need around 700 passenger

cars to refuel at this station, but you only need 10 to 15 trucks to refuel at the station to make a financially viable business case. It is, obviously, easier to organise just building a refuelling station to supply fuel for 15 trucks and then allow passenger cars to use that fuelling station to refuel.”

Australia may be one of the countries to benefit from the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell technology, both here and overseas. In fact, Hyundai is already planning the next generation of Xcient fuel cell trucks, for introduction in 2024 and there will be a right hand drive variant suitable for our market.

“Australia has great potential in producing hydrogen, you have plenty of sunshine and you have really good wind from the south pole,” said Dr Sae Hoon Kim, Senior Vice President Hyundai Fuel Cell R&D. “We think that Australia has one of the biggest potentials for producing hydrogen. I think that Australia, alone, could produce all of the energy for the world. Geographically it’s quite near to Korea and Japan.

“A study has shown that if Australia produces hydrogen and delivers it to Korea, the cost could be about three dollars a kilo, which will be cheaper than producing it in Korea by other means. In the future, there will be more industrialised countries, which will need more renewable energy than they can produce domestically. God bless Australia, because you have been able to export the resources in the past, and now you’ll be able to export the sunshine.”

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

The first Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell in Switzerland leaving the new filling station in St.Gallen.

DRIVING THE TECHNOLOGY The current development program by Hyundai in terms of truck fuel sales is looking to develop a new fuel cell stack which is capable of producing 200 kW of power, and then fitting two of these in each truck. This equates to a final power output of 350 kW of power altogether, which converts to 475 hp. This would be plenty of power for the part of the truck market in which Hyundai currently plays.

“The advantage of the fuel cell is that you can use the same components in the technology for commercial vehicles as well as passenger cars, “ says Dr Sae Hoon Kim. “You just add fuel cell stacks, we are using two fuel cells from our car in the Xcient fuel cell truck. People are looking for a truck to be able to go one million km, so what we are doing is a developing a new membrane and catalyst, which will be more durable. We are working on getting to the point where we have a fuel cell truck which is comparable to a diesel fuel truck by 2023 or 2024.

“Today, we have a continuous improvement plan because today we are using the components that currently exist, the fuel cell was developed within our company but there is also motors, converters, inverters and many other components. What we need to develop are new components that are dedicated for fuel cell trucks. Currently, we are using off-the-shelf products, which are not designed specifically for our system.”

The growth in both electric power and fuel cells means that there will be

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

many new, better and more specifically designed components becoming available virtually on a regular basis into the future.

Hydrogen fuel cell trucks will take off when one of a couple of opportunities occur. One is a situation where the business case for a fuel cell truck gets to the point where it is either comparable or even cheaper than the whole of life cost for a diesel truck. The second possibility, and this is occurring in some countries already, is that national regulations limit the use of diesel trucks and incentivise hydrogen trucks.

When PowerTorque asked for more detail about the trucks we might see on our roads, the team did not get into specifics, but were adamant about the fact that a fuel cell truck would be close to and, in some cases, better than the current diesel trucks, but with zero emissions. One issue is bound to be tare weight.

“I think the future prime mover will be in the same weight range as a current

prime mover,” said Martin Zeilinger, Executive Vice President Hyundai CV Development Tech Unit. “At the beginning we might have a slight disadvantage, but with further industrialisation of the fuel cell technology we can expect to be the same or less weight than the current technology.”

To increase the range of a truck you simply add another bank of hydrogen tanks. The current truck can achieve a range of thousand kilometres with three rows of hydrogen tanks. Not only can the size of the tanks be increased but, also, the pressure within those tanks can be increased, if a longer range is required.

The current fuel cell trucks which Hyundai are running in Switzerland use a tank pressure of 350 bar, but the company’s fuel cell cars are fitted with tanks which are at 700 bar, suggesting that higher pressures to increase range is not a major issue. If the current tanks on the trucks in Switzerland were able to use liquid hydrogen as a fuel source, a range of well over 1000 km would be possible.

The reason that the hydrogen is currently stored at 350 bar is because this makes building a hydrogen refuelling station much cheaper. It could well be that the initial infrastructure for refuelling will be the cheaper option, but capable of being upgraded to higher pressure at a later date. Filling up time for the current trucks at a service station, with a hydrogen system which runs at 350 bar, takes around 15 minutes.

Some industry experts have predicted that parity between a heavy duty diesel powered truck and a heavy duty fuel cell truck will happen around 2030. Any government policy which encourages the use of renewables, in a country, will bring that parity date forward.

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A NEW START FOR

IVECO

With the arrival of Michael May as its new Managing Director, there is the possibility of a new start for Iveco. This is a welcome change for the Australian operation, which has had a turbulent few years. In light of the corporate changes to the global organisation, Tim Giles talks with Michael May, now that he has settled into the job.

T

he journey of the Iveco organisation in Australia has seen many changes in the last 20 or so years. The global truck manufacturer, which is based in Italy, took over the International Harvester organisation here in Australia – a business that had been struggling for some time.

For a new company in a new country, it

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

was difficult to understand what they might achieve. International trucks had been a powerful force in the Australian market for many years up until then, but Iveco took over when the global truck industry was on the cusp of major changes.

Within 10 years of the initial takeover, the global truck manufacturing landscape changed dramatically, shifting from a

larger range of different manufacturers, to a much smaller number of manufacturing companies with Daimler, Volvo and Paccar consolidating several brands under three global umbrella groups. Iveco, itself, is not a small business, but part of the larger Fiat industrial group which includes CNHÂ Industrial and many other engineering-based brands.

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

Michael May stepped into his new role as Managing Director of Iveco in Australia.

The Iveco organisation had at its disposal some good trucks with good reputations. The strongest of which was the Acco, which is still a strong seller in vocational applications. The Iveco brand has also developed a strong range of trucks from the European market and had access to product coming out of the International brand in the US. What the Iveco organisation lacked, when compared with the larger global groups, was a large research and development budget which could be amortised across a large and diverse number of models and brands around the world. This left Iveco at a disadvantage when competing against the brands of ‘the big three’.

Such is the situation Michael May stepped into in this new role as Managing Director of Iveco in Australia. Iveco has a respectable history and sturdy relationship

with the Australian trucking industry, and trucks like the Acco have a place in the hearts of many who grew up with these vehicles.

However, these are fast changing times and any brand has to be light on its feet to keep up with the changing technologies and evolving requirements of the trucking industry. Michael is well aware of the situation – coming from an engineering background and previously serving as general manager for Mercedes-Benz trucks here in Australia.

“I started with Iveco in February and I could see the pandemic coming like a wave, because I am connected globally with places like Italy,” says Michael. “So, I have been out of my office since March.

There is no doubt about the fact that it is a very interesting time to take the helm of a company. I really like meeting people in person and luckily I got the opportunity to meet with most of the team here in Dandenong before we all had to start working from home.

“In this role, I have to do a lot of online working anyway, because I am reporting directly into the team in Italy, headed

by Gerrit Marx, (President, Commercial and Specialty Vehicles of the global organisation). Connecting directly into Europe and working with Iveco as a single entity has been really good for us.

“I knew that this job was going to be a big opportunity and a big challenge for me. This is an opportunity to do something really different, Iveco is a broader company, it’s got the van and cab chassis market, plus it has got strong off-road product. There’s a lot of good

product and there’s great manufacturing opportunities.”

There is a lot of untapped potential in the Iveco product, which Michael can begin to work on exploiting. The company’s inventive and entrepreneurial philosophies were also an attractive proposition for Michael to get involved.

“There’s a lot of innovative thinking going on within Iveco,” says Michael.

“Covid has probably limited what I hoped to do in the first hundred or 200 days, but on the whole we’ve done a good job. We have been very concerned about people’s safety and providing them with continuity.

“I think we have a unique window for Iveco to get it together and really move forward. It’s got its challenges, but all of the bigger companies are facing similar challenges. However, we do have a strong heritage around International and our manufacturing and production here. There are a lot of people in the truck industry in Australia who have come through this organisation. The depth of knowledge around product and engineering is really robust.”

In recent years that engineering strength has been put to the test as Iveco has had to go through the process of moving from a North American truck platform which is performed so well for so many years, the Acco, and now replace it with something coming out of a European heritage, but required to meet the exacting requirements of market segments like the waste industry.

BRAND IDENTITY IS CRITICAL “I think that brand identity is critical and we need to make it very transparent to

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27

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

In Europe the X-Way is a kind of crossover vehicle, but due to the conditions in Australia, in that we are heavier and hotter, the X-Way is a basic truck for us.

people, so they can latch onto it,” says Michael. “We’ve got to decide where we can be strong and refine our product portfolio. We may have all the contents in the candy shop, but we are not doing some of it justice. We need to decide where our strengths lie, what the brand will look like and what it stands for. That kind of focus and refinement is something that I have always been into.”

The Daily van from Iveco is a strong point for the brand. There is a new model on its way, which will help to energise this part of the business. There are growth opportunities for the organisation with a premium product which does a good job.

The other parts of the product offering, like Eurocargo, X-Way and Acco are all very different propositions. Michael is looking to develop a focus on particular products and the market into which they are being sold.

This process is going to involve some new team building within the organisation.

Michael is confident that the right product for the market can be made available and that the dealer network which is already in place can distribute the right product to the right people and become energised.

“We have got to work out exactly where we stand as a brand, make that very clear and bring people in on that journey,” says

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Michael. “It’s not for me to come in from the top and shove something down people’s throats. We are working really hard to understand our identity. We need to make it clear to customers that we offer a choice and that we play in particular spaces.

EUROCARGO AND X-WAY “I think of Eurocargo as a separate unique opportunity for us,” says Michael. “It’s a bit of a hidden secret, there’s some really good stories out there that people should be able to latch onto. In my mind, Eurocargo has the potential to be the product that you would choose.

“If you have to drive a 16 tonne truck around, you would use this truck, it’s beautiful, it sits on the road really well, but there is a lot of competition in this segment.

We can position ourselves for people who are interested in comfort, reliability, safety, the whole European package.

“The S way product is still in our future, so, at the moment, we are offering the X-Way product. In Europe the X-Way is a kind of crossover vehicle, but due to the conditions in Australia, in that we are heavier and hotter, the X-Way is a basic truck for us.”

The X-Way itself is out in the market and has had some success in certain areas, but

it would appear that many truck buyers are not quite sure where the model sits in the overall scheme of things. Part of Michael’s job will be to clearly define where it stands in the Australian market.

In many ways, the issue for Iveco when it comes to working out exactly what to do with the X-Way is very similar to problems which have affected other European Brands in the past. Not having a 15 litre engine available in the prime mover limits the model’s ability to compete strongly at the top end of the heavy duty market. However, this does not preclude them from being able to compete strongly in the interstate and occasional B-double market, as well as offering a wide range of heavy duty rigid trucks.

“We are working in the space to really redefine X-Way,” says Micheal. “It is going well in rigid applications, but it is more about giving people flexibility. Quite often people will buy a truck as a prime mover to pull a single trailer but want the flexibility to move it up in weight, if needed. That’s exactly where we are looking at.

WHERE TO WITH ACCO? “We have a lot of expertise and experience in waste in particular and we do have a product for the industry,” says Michael.

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

“We have transitioned from an Acco based on a North American product which has been market leader for as long as we can remember, to something which is safer and cleaner, based on the X-Way. It really is getting some traction for us, it is a Euro6 product, but we have more competition in this space now.

“A lot of companies in the waste segment have built their business success on the back of vehicles like the Acco. They can work on it, they understand it, there’s a real knowledge base around how to look after these products.

of the old Acco models had been on the cards for some time and this gave rival manufacturers the opportunity to develop a product which would match those specifications and also make inroads into some of those applications where Acco had been dominant for so long.

“I still think we can be the default choice for customers in the sector,” says Michael.

“It comes down to what Acco offers and also the inbuilt flexibility with the bodybuilders, which we have developed.

The waste industry continues to evolve, our market is very unique. I think that we

“A lot of companies in the waste segment have built their business success on the back of vehicles like the Acco.”

“The take up on our current Accou, dual control product built here locally, in Euro-6 and based on an X-Way platform is good. It’s been a transition which has been a little bit quiet, but it has been successful. We have had really good intake this year on that product, which is really promising for us.”

It would be almost impossible for the new model to return to the place and position that the original Acco has held for so long. From 1972 until just recently this particular model dominated several sectors of the truck market, just because it was such a simple solution to what can be a difficult problem. Industries like the waste and cement industries have very specific needs from their trucks in terms of tare weight, turning circle, chassis lengths and chassis layout.

As it happens, Euro-6 was a step too far for the old Acco and there was no choice for Iveco but to go for a completely different design. The solution they have come up with ticks all of the boxes in terms of specifications which the customers are asking for.

However, the impending discontinuation

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

can leverage the connection with all of the engineering skills that we have got here, and our ability to be to adaptable and agile.

“With the large bodybuilders we can still maintain that mantle of, ‘this is the default truck’. Are we alone? No, we definitely are not. We are alright, we can stand on our own feet and we are still strong with this product. It’s gaining more and more traction, which is good.”

On the new Acco, the tare weight is slightly higher, there is new technology on board which is required in order to meet Euro-6 emission requirements. Iveco is working hard with the bodybuilders and going through a process of moving the placement of certain components in order to work with their requirements and in order to maximise the productive capacity of the new trucks.

THE BIG PICTURE “The way people are buying products has changed, you have got to offer a solution, it has to be a complete package,” says Michael. “In Iveco, we have got all of these pieces, in my view. We need to bring them all in and offer a solution that’s packaged.

We have got finance, we have got good maintenance and repair, we have good dealers and the right product. We have got to get all of these key components right and then take that to market.

“Because the fact is that the trucks are pretty good to drive, they are a good product and the reliability people are getting is awesome. We need to get to the point where we are on the list of options for an operator.”

As a whole Iveco are working globally towards improved sustainability. This is more of a priority in Europe, where the company are offering LNG and electric solutions, and there’s exciting links with Nikola on the fuel cell using hydrogen as well.

“Our region needs to take this opportunity, in my view, you start thinking about using this fiscal stimulus to improve the environment,” says Michael. “Why wouldn’t you do what countries like Germany are doing and put your money where your mouth is. There is so much money available now, which we should be investing into the future and giving us a bit of hope, particularly around emissions.

There is nothing at all in the way of incentives at the moment.

“We have got skills here and we are looking for opportunities where we can be innovative. This country is a good place for technologies to get validation because we have heavy loads in high temperatures. We are looking at innovative evolutions in what we provide here locally. We have got to start somewhere, we are having discussions with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency around the hydrogen possibilities. We are also talking to renewable energy producers and we are really trying to understand how these pieces fit together.

“We can’t ignore this topic any longer.

Iveco sees offering an alternative or a choice as critical. We are a smaller manufacturer, but that does give us the opportunity to be more disruptive into the future.

“We have had to change our mentality, if you talk about speed and being agile, and being flexible to adapt. These are the kinds of words that I like. In any organisation you have to overcome a certain amount of inertia. There is a real willingness here in Iveco and a good cross pollination of different people. We need to be thinking differently about the skill sets that we have and how we can use them.”

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RURALTRUCKINGMATTERS

The Red Tape Removal Squad

T

his issue’s column is a shoutout to the Federal Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, the Hon. Scott Buchholz MP, who came, listened, and fixed a regulatory problem of great significance for livestock transport in the eastern states.

But it is also a lamentation about just how difficult sensible regulatory reform can be to achieve within a federated regulatory system.

The problem was that farmers could not pre-apply for a permit to move livestock using a commercial carrier. This meant that, after being approached by a farmer, a transport operator would often need to apply for their own permit before moving the livestock, a process that could take up to 28 days.

The livestock market is highly dynamic.

Prices are constantly changing in response to seasonal conditions and regional supply and demand balances. Decisions to buy or sell livestock are often made at short notice to take advantage of new opportunities.

That means decisions to move livestock are also made at short notice. A 28 day delay is simply unworkable.

The permit system does actually allow freight consignors to pre-apply for permits before engaging a carrier. However, this only works if a generic permit is issued that can be used for any vehicle matching a general description, for example a standard B-double. A consignor with such a permit can contact any carrier, who can then send any vehicle matching the description. If something unforeseen happens to that vehicle, another can be substituted that matches the description. This system has potential to work well for most class 2 heavy vehicles.

However, a quirk of regulation results in livestock vehicles being treated differently.

While s136 of the HVNL includes livestock

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

vehicles (even those exceeding 4.3m in height) within the definition of ‘class 2’, this definition no longer applies if prescribed mass requirements are breached. Of course, practically all commercial livestock vehicles operate under a state livestock loading scheme which allows the vehicle to exceed otherwise prescribed mass limits.

In effect, participation in a livestock loading scheme moves a vehicle out of class 2 and into class 3.

The irony is that all state jurisdictions then issue class 3 notices to exempt livestock vehicles operating under a livestock loading scheme from the prescribed mass limits. So, even though the vehicle is exempt from the very limit that pushed it from class 2 into class 3, it technically remains a class 3 vehicle.

And here is the rub. Unlike class 2 permits, class 3 permits require the applicant to provide the specific registration details of the vehicle combination. Applications that do not include this information are invalid. A class 3 permit issued in response can only be used for that specific vehicle combination.

In practice, farmers can’t be expected to know the vehicle registration details of a vehicle they have not yet engaged to do a job. As a result, permit pre-approvals have not been a workable option in the livestock sector.

I know all of that sounds confusing and ridiculous. It really is. It is the result of multiple layers of regulation interacting across multiple jurisdictions and multiple road authorities, all within a rigid permit approval framework.

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association explained this problem to Assistant Minister Buchholz in early 2020. With his background as a road transport operator, he immediately grasped the problem and asked why the

requirement for registration details on class 3 permits couldn’t just be removed?

It was a good question, but one with a long and confusing answer. After listening to the explanation, the Assistant Minister pondered the situation and agreed to help.

The Assistant Minister’s understanding of the problem and desire to resolve it was a vital part of driving a solution through the system. I could write many thousands of words about the process, but let’s just say that this simple removal of registration details for a class 3 livestock permit involved the ALRTA, the Minister’s office, NHVR legal, NHVR management, NHVR Board, all HVNL state transport departments and all state HVNL police departments.

There can be no doubt that this reform was worth the effort. Removal of the vehicle registration requirement from class 3 permits will give farmers greater certainty, more choice and access to lower cost transport options. Carriers can immediately accept jobs without the red tape and delay of having to applying for their own permit.

But this was a relatively simple regulatory change. It just removed one unnecessary piece of information from a complex assessment process. No laws were changed, safety is unaffected and proper permits must still be obtained. This change required months of effort. More ambitious changes can take years.

As a national industry association with six state members and over 700 member operators, ALRTA is well resourced to lobby for sensible regulatory reform and we have an excellent track record of success.

ALRTA understands the political and regulatory decision-making process and we strive to maintain mutually beneficial relationships at all levels.

There are plenty of regulatory problems.

By joining one of our six state associations you can be part of the solution.

RURAL TRUCKING MATTERS

MAKE MINE

A MACK

Based at Walgett and serving the north west NSW farming community, Steven and Kate Thurston operate Thurston’s Transport on the traditional values of trust, loyalty and reliability. As Paul Matthei discovered, these same values correlate with the trucks they operate, all of which belong 100 per cent to the Bulldog brigade.

T

he Thurston name is synonymous with rural trucking in Walgett and surrounding districts of north western NSW, where several generations of the family have been plying their transport trade over the last 72 years.

It all began in 1947 when, then 17-yearold, Bob Thurston, who sadly passed away in 2020 at the grand age of 89, started doing the mail run in the Walgett district.

Bob subsequently did gravel work for the shire council along with general freight to and from Sydney and Newcastle to the western areas in a British-built Ford Thames Trader.

In the ensuing years he built up the business with the help of his family, carrying livestock, wool, grain and general freight. Deals were done on a handshake, and the welfare of the freight was always the top priority.

Bob’s four sons, Allan, Steve, Nobby and John, followed him into the business. Nobby eventually branched out on his own and with his wife Kelly now runs R.J. Thurston Trucking at Breeza, 300km to the south east, while John also took a different path in his trucking career.

Meanwhile, Allan, Steve and his wife Kate carried on with Thurston’s Transport at Walgett until ill health unfortunately forced Allan into retirement some years

back. Nowadays it’s husband-and-wife team Steve and Kate who do the bulk of the driving, along with a number of longtime family friends who help out in times of

Husband-and-wife team Steve and Kate Thurston.

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RURAL TRUCKING MATTERS

peak demand such as the grain harvest.

The day PowerTorque visited, the Thurston crew were cooling their heels as recent rain had put a temporary hold on the harvest. It proved to be fortuitous timing as a few days later the headers once again whirred back into action and it was all hands on deck to provide the grain transportation from paddock to silo.

Speaking with Steve Thurston, it’s clear from the outset that he lives and breathes trucks, which is hardly surprising considering he was travelling with his Dad in trucks from the age of four.

“Dad was born and bred in the Pilliga region near Baradine and apart from a few years living and working in Sydney he spent his whole life in the north west of NSW,” Steve says, adding that the family moved to Walgett in the early ‘70s when he was about four years old.

BULLDOG TO THE BONE Asked about his penchant for Mack trucks, Steve says the B-Model that his father bought second-hand in 1970, and that he has recently restored back to its original glory, probably had a fair bit to do with it.

“My old man didn’t have Macks for a long time, he’d buy whatever he could afford, like the original Thames Trader and various International C-lines with Cummins 160hp and 180hp engines,” says Steve.

“The B-Model came after that and he also bought a Volvo G88 and put a driver in the Mack, but that didn’t go too well because the driver didn’t know how to drive it properly. Then he bought an F12 Volvo brand new, which was a very good truck.”

The first Mack that Steve and his brother Allan bought in 1989, a year after they took the reins of the business, was a 1983 R-Model with a 350hp two‘Burr-Cutter’ ready and raring to resume pride of place behind the large black steering wheel of the Titan.

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

valve (per cylinder) engine, 12-speed Mack transmission and 44,000lb diffs on Camelback spring suspension. The truck had been bought new by MacInnes Transport at Dubbo and featured dual headlights, dual air-cleaners and the luxurious ‘Western Trim’ velour interior.

This was the truck that started the ‘Mackopoly’ at Thurston’s that continues unabated today.

“In 1993 we bought our first V8 Super-Liner which is an ’85 model with a 400hp rating, and in ’97 we bought a second V8 Super-Liner, a 500hp

RURAL TRUCKING MATTERS

The ‘Mackopoly’ at Thurston’s that continues unabated today.

’88 model,” Steve says.

The flagship of the fleet is a 2000 model Titan that was bought in 2014. Powered by a Cummins 600hp Gen II Signature driving through a Mack 18-speed ‘box, it is the truck that Steve, mostly, drives all year round.

The others, including a ‘94 model E7 400hp CHR with an 18-speed Roadranger that Kate Thurston drives, mainly used in the busy periods including harvest, and then only when Steve can find drivers who, like himself and his wife, are sufficiently skilled and caring to be trusted

with piloting the precious metal.

One such driver is ‘Burr-Cutter’ who was there the day PowerTorque called in, ready and raring to resume pride of place behind the large black steering wheel of the Titan for the remainder of the harvest period.

A veteran driver, having started his trucking career in 1965, Burr-Cutter is now retired and lives in Queensland, but returns when needed to assist in the Thurston’s operation, particularly during the busy late spring harvest season.

“This old girl was brand new when I started driving,” says Burr-Cutter, gesturing

proudly to the bottle green ‘Flintstone’ R-Model that has been lovingly restored

by Steve.

“We’re very fortunate to have ‘Cutter’s help and we only get the other trucks out when there’s plenty of work and I can find the right people to put in them; if not, they stay in the shed,” Steve remarks resolutely, agreeing that finding suitable drivers is one of the biggest challenges of running the business.

“If you put the wrong person in it can cost you a lot of money,” says Steve, adding that keeping up with the

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RURAL TRUCKING MATTERS

ever-changing rules and regulations is another constant battle.

SPIDERMAN Having the latest and greatest in trucking technology is not a high priority for Steve, who prefers the old school components like spider wheels, mechanical suspension and mechanically controlled engines. As such he tolerates, but is not enamoured by the drive airbag suspension on the Titan or the bud wheels on the CHR, saying the ride in the Titan is rougher when empty than he thought an airbag system should be.

“Airbag suspended trucks are not as good in the bush as those with mechanical rear suspension, in my opinion,” says Steve. “Our newer tippers also have airbag suspension, but only because we need to have scales on them to ensure we get our axle weights right.”

Overall, he’s very satisfied with his fleet of Macks and has no intention of upgrading anytime soon.

“For what we do I just can’t see the point in spending close to half a million dollars on a new truck; the trucks we have now work for us, rather than us working for the trucks, and they do the job just fine.”

LOCAL AND LONG HAUL As for where he travels for work, Steve

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

says he’ll go anywhere, but a fair bit of his work is local with the odd trip to Dubbo, a round trip of about 550km, thrown in for good measure. That said, of late he’s been doing a fair amount of hay haulage from Victoria and South Australia due to the dry conditions in northern NSW. “A lot of the work around here is seasonal, like wheat and cotton, but in the last few years there’s been minimal crops of both because of the dry conditions and lack of water for irrigation of the cotton,” says Steve. “The last few years we’ve been carting a lot of hay from Victoria and some out of South Australia, it just depends on what’s going on, you do whatever you need to do.”

Given the nature of the goods hauled, including grain, hay and cotton, the Thurston’s Transport trailer fleet consists of tippers, convertibles, drop-decks and flat-tops.

The company has six O’Phee semitrailers including two flat-tops, two convertibles and two drop-decks, one of which is also a widener with ramps that is used to carry oversize farm machinery. The other non-widening drop-deck joined the fleet in September 2020.

The new drop-deck has five-inch (127mm) coaming rails and runs Fuwa K-Hitch axles with drum brakes and

leaf spring suspension. It also features a Ringfeder coupling to enable a dolly and second trailer to be connected.

“We bought it for hay and cotton haulage, it can carry nine bales of cotton each weighing 2.2 tonnes,” says Steve,

RURAL TRUCKING MATTERS

adding that the lower deck height of the drop-deck is ideal for maximising the number of cotton and hay bales that can be carried without exceeding overall height dimensions.

“You have to have a drop-deck to cart nine bales of cotton, five on the bottom and four on the top,” explains Steve. “There is a hydraulic frame on the trailer which pulls the cotton bales down to hold them on and so they don’t exceed the height limit.

Interestingly, the two convertibles have been ‘converted’ into grain tippers with bins bolted to the decks which can be removed at the end of harvest so the trailers can then be used as flat-tops for hauling hay or cotton.

Speaking about the future of the business, Steve says he has no succession plan to talk about at this stage because his son and three daughters are pursuing other ambitions, with none being particularly interested in trucks.

“I’m happy enough with that because I don’t really see a big future in the transport industry with all the rules and regulations and the fact that there is always someone willing to do the work cheaper. Kate and I will carry on with the business as long as it’s viable and we can do the work,” says Steve.

“I really think you’re better off just working for someone else these days

Steven and Allan Thrurston.

“INTERESTINGLY, THE TWO CONVERTIBLES HAVE BEEN ‘CONVERTED’ INTO GRAIN TIPPERS WITH BINS BOLTED TO THE DECKS WHICH CAN BE REMOVED AT THE END OF HARVEST SO THE TRAILERS CAN THEN BE USED AS FLAT-TOPS FOR HAULING HAY OR COTTON.” because then you get a fair wage, superannuation and holiday pay. When you’re working for yourself you don’t normally get all that unless you make a point of paying it for yourself, and then

you have to be making enough profit to cover those expenses on top of all the other associated costs.”

ON THE SPANNERS Steve takes care of all the servicing and repairs that are required on the Mack prime movers and trailers. While he’s had no formal mechanical training, Steve says he learnt his skills literally from the ground up when he was a little tacker helping his father with vehicle maintenance.

“I was the chief bearing washer and re-packer and brake lining changer from the time I was old enough to hold a hammer and a paint brush,” quips Steve.

“That was a pretty good grounding and it taught me to keep my foot off the brake pedal as much as possible so as not to have to do that sort of work too often.”

This is an important factor for Thurston’s, considering that during the busy harvest season there’s no time for downtime, it’s all go to haul the grain that’s stripped at a phenomenal rate by the headers safely to the local silos.

For Steve and Kate Thurston, this is much more than just a job – it’s a way of life.

Driving the Macks they adore and restoring the old ones to their former glory are labours of love that suit them just fine.

www.powertorque.com.au

37

PAC

PRODUCT

FIFTIETH

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

CAR

ION IN ITS

YEAR

There has been major investment into the Paccar assembly plant in Bayswater, Victoria, which is bringing significant changes to the way the company builds trucks.

PowerTorque talked to Paccar Chief Engineer, Noelle Parlier, about the changes, and plans for development down the track for the Kenworth and DAF brands.

K

enworth began manufacturing trucks in Australia in 1971, so 2021 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first Australianmade Kenworths to roll off the line at the Bayswater plant. Kenworths had initially arrived in Australia in 1962 when the S295 models were imported by Ed Cameron and George Blomfield.

The first Australian-made truck was the K100CR, the predecessor of the current K200 model on sale now and still being built in Bayswater. By 1971 the Kenworth truck had developed a reputation as a tough truck able to cope with the rigours of working in the Australian trucking industry.

However it was the development work done by the Kenworth organisation to improve the durability of their trucks and make them even more suitable to Australian conditions that has proved to be the making of the brand here in Australia, where it continues to dominate the heavy duty truck market.

As with any truck development, there is no time to rest on your laurels. In order for the brand to maintain its market position and reputation, it has to move with the times and continually improve to meet demands, both of the conditions and needs of Australian trucking operators.

The person charged with the task of keeping ahead of the pack, as well as developing the DAF truck brand further, is Noelle Parlier, Paccar Chief Engineer.

She comes from a strong engineering background, and having worked in the Paccar organisation in North America will be able to draw on her extensive

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39

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

Noelle Parlier, Paccar Chief Engineer.

experience to develop the truck technology and manufacturing here in Australia.

“In my team I have about 100 people,” says Noelle. “There is the engineering liaison team, which works in the assembly plant, then there’s the customer service team, engineering operations, current product engineering, and the new product design team.

“Moving here from the USA, I found the engineers to be pretty similar to those in North America. However, because it’s a smaller organisation here in Australia, we are able to do those kinds of one-off designs, whereas in North America you can’t support that kind of customisation, because they are building so many trucks.

“From that standpoint it is very interesting building trucks here in Australia because there is so much room for customisation. With some customers, for example, they might buy one truck from us every 10 years but have five or six unique requirements just for their trucks. That’s really fun from an engineering standpoint, because you get a new challenge and you see your customers getting exactly what they need.”

To source the engineers required for such an operation, Paccar has developed a graduate engineer program, which each year recruits engineering graduates into the business. Once working within the organisation, the graduates are rotated through all of the engineering departments to provide them with a holistic understanding of the design and

40

POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

truck engineering process.

This process takes a number of years, but at the end of the period, Paccar have engineers able to work within the business who have a broad knowledge of not only the philosophy behind the Paccar brands, but also a strong technical background in all of the aspects of the trucks and their manufacture.

“This process means that our engineering teams are a really diverse group, coming from many different backgrounds – whether its cultural, experience, etc. – it’s about diversity of thought helping us design trucks for a diverse customer base,” says Noelle. “It’s a much more diverse group than I have been used to working in the US. Among my team we have 15 women, which is pretty good for engineering, but we could do better.

“In terms of other diversity, it used to be the case that 70 per cent of engineers in a truck organisation would be mechanical and 30 per cent would be electrical. Now it’s 33 per cent electrical, 33 per cent mechanical and 33 per cent who are software engineers. Nowadays everything is software based.”

DIFFERENT CHALLENGES IN AUSTRALIA “We do have different challenges in Australia, one of the most important things is reliability. We went through EGR issues that we didn’t see anywhere else in the world. I think that did leave a bad taste in some people’s mouth about the changing technologies.

“At the moment we don’t have a date for the introduction of Euro-6, which I think is a little shocking for Australia. We are heading towards an emission standard where China and India are already there. Australia had been very smart about adopting new technologies about three or four years after other parts of the world. I think that makes a lot of sense.”

The time lag which now exists between the adoption of Euro-6 in North America and Europe is now quite long and the market here in Australia is looking for sophisticated technologies which are developed with Euro-6 vehicles. This is particularly the case with safety features which are gradually becoming standard on trucks in our market, because they often need the level of sophisticated electronics which comes with the Euro6 emission standards in order for them

to be integrated easily.

“The industry is already six or seven years behind and working on older platforms on which some of the software required takes an enormous effort to implement,” says Noelle. “When there is technology that you want but you can’t carry it over from another platform , development starts to become challenging.

“The new DAF product that we launched earlier this year is on the Euro-6 platform.

The new platform is going really well for our customers.

2020 ISSUES “Our manufacturing team did an absolutely tremendous job,” says Noelle. “Covid hit us at the beginning of March. At the end of March we shut down the plant to change the set up to include social distancing. We were doing this before we had any mandate from the government to do anything.

“We did it proactively, we decided we needed face masks and 1.5m interaction between people. On our production line it is quite difficult to maintain a 1.5m distance.

It was a huge change for us. We shut down for between two and three weeks to rejig the whole line, and then develop shields to be in place in between people working on the frame rails. We set up a new area, which is our cab build section, as we added stations onto our line to allow people enough space to work safely.

“We had initial issues with people wearing face masks and safety glasses, such as the glasses fogging up when you are wearing a mask. The manufacturing team did a lot to make sure that the line was laid out completely differently in order to support social distancing.

“Since the reopening, we have been going gangbusters. We have increased build rate and are going from 2 DAF trucks a week to 1.2 DAF trucks a day.”

At the same time as all of this was going, the expansion of the entire Bayswater assembly plant, was continuing in the background. This has seen the plant itself extended by 20 metres, but there is also a large warehouse building, about the same size as the assembly building, now adjacent to the plant.

This new warehouse is currently having its shelving installed and parts needed on the assembly line are beginning to be stored there before making their way onto the assembly line itself.

“All of this has been happening during

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

the period of Covid,” says Noelle. “So there are some of my team who have not actually seen the changes, because they have all been working from home, so we have had to send them videos to show them what has been going on.

The changes in the layout of the assembly line are most likely not going to be permanent and if the coronavirus goes away, the line is likely to return to a similar layout to the one used in the past, as it takes up less floor space.

“Next year we will be installing more robotics,” says Noelle. “On the North American cabs, we will have robots assembling the cabins for the T610, T410 and T360. The big benefit of this will be that it will speed up the process, in that we don’t have to pre-order the cabins from the US but be able to assemble them to order.

It will also enable us to do more custom engineering on the North American cabs, because we have the engineering in the same building.”

At the moment, the DAF trucks built at Bayswater have the chassis built away from the main line, because the chassis rails are splayed at the front to accommodate the engine. The chassis is then added to the main assembly line just before paint process. When the full redesign of the assembly plant has been completed the DAFs will be able to travel all the way down the production line in the same way as the Kenworth trucks do now.

Currently, the plant is building some of the DAF CF models, but the plan is to extend the range of models from DAF that can be built in Bayswater.

“We are looking at locally assembling more models, like the XF, in the future,” says Noelle. “The deciding factor will be the ROI, especially whether we can transport more thanPAGE one XF cab in a container. We HAND

are looking at ways to do that, but you don’t get any savings if you just shift one cab per container.

“We are also looking at more customisation of DAF trucks, such as customising frame paint colours and fitting different turntables.

“The most exciting project I am working on is one where our Paccar Australia engineers are designing onto a DAF chassis and then sending our designs back to the Netherlands to be included in the design of the truck. This is the first time we have ever done that, where we have locally made changes on the DAF. We will be going into production with that next year.

“This is a pretty exciting development, because we are now changing the way we build the trucks in the same way as we did with Kenworth in the past. To begin with we just built what North America was building and then slowly built-up the engineering resources here, having the expertise, building relationships, and now we are starting to do that on the DAF side as well.”

The DAF trucks will still be DAF, but the designs will be customised more for Australia, than they have been in the past. The redesign of the plant was predicated on the assumption that more DAF trucks would be coming down the line in the future. The expansion has not only increased the capacity of the assembly line but also flexibility of systems to enable it to build either brand of truck as and when required.

“When we launched the T610 product in 2017, we also introduced the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) system, “ says Noelle. “We introduced it with the new T610 and have been slowly rolling it out through our products. From a manufacturing standpoint it means that both our suppliers and our manufacturing

line are ready to build up production volumes when we are ready to go into full production.

“This is just one example of how we have been applying higher quality standards.”

PACCAR POWER There has been an increased uptake of the Paccar MX engine, in fact, the new T410 model is only available with this particular engine. This means that eight per cent of the build rate is powered by the MX. This number is likely to increase with the introduction of the T410 SAR model recently, with trucks now coming on stream, and with a car carrier version of the T410 SAR to follow in the early part of 2021.

The Paccar AMT was introduced into the Kenworth range when the T410 first arrived and has had some success in the new model, limited only by the fact that it cannot be specified above a GCM of 50 tonnes.

“Customers are loving the new Paccar transmission, they can’t believe the great drivability that comes with it,” says Noelle.

“They are saying it drives like a car. That’s a big deal.

“We are working on a larger transmission for higher GCM, which will be of a similar design to the Paccar AMT, in that it is designed as an AMT from the ground up, but able to take a higher torque load.

“The take up of AMT transmissions is not as big here as it is in North America. In 2018, in the US 80 per cent of our build was AMT, but here in Australia, it is probably closer to 30 per cent now. I think that as you are starting to get younger and younger drivers coming in, with less experience, that number is going to rise. That’s what happened in the US.” The Paccar MX 11 engine will be

NEW GENERATION

ACCOUNTS FOR EVERY DROP. NSW (02) 9677 1555 QLD (07) 3204 9166 VIC/TAS (03) 8787 8288 WA (08) 9302 4199 SA/NT (08) 8241 7111 NZ (09) 447 1007

RIGHT

TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

Please note: all of the images of truck production were taken before the changes to meet Civid-safe requirements.

coming on stream this year in the DAF product. The specification of the new engine overlaps with the specification of the current MX13, the highest horsepower rating will be 450hp.

“It’s a great engine, and it will still play with that single trailer type of application,” says Noelle. “There is a weight saving of 180 kg. Over the front end of the truck you can convert most of that to payload.

“Most customers were really excited about the MX 11 at the DAF drive days in February 2020. It’s got great fuel economy and it really pulls well, there’s a lot of torque. I think it will be a shining star here in Australia.”

Another innovation from Paccar this year will be the introduction of the Paccar ConnectPAGE Telematic system. It will be made HAND

available on the DAF XF and CF, to begin with, before being rolled across into the Kenworth range, starting with the T610 and then to the other 2.1 metre cabbed models.

This is going to be an open platform system which will be able to interact with other truck and third-party systems to meet truck operator’s increasing desire for full data from trucks and safety systems on board.

One of the burning questions PowerTorque had to ask was whether there is a Kenworth T910 on the horizon. A model like this would mean the 2.1 m wide cabin will be available right across the entire conventional range from Kenworth.

“Talking about a T910, we are not hearing a lot of demand from the market,” says Noelle. “I am not sure whether people

want it right now. We have just done the T410 SAR so that we have just about done all of the conventional trucks with a 2.1 metre cabin, and we will eventually get to the T910, but we are not hearing customers asking for it now.

“It’s more likely the T9 will be updated to the 2.1 meter cabin when suppliers can no longer source some of the older components we would need. The T9 can go to Euro-6 easily, the engineering has already been done.

“It is still analog-based, so that when you were talking about introducing the new safety systems, there is a lot of work involved. We do it, it has all of our safety features but we are going to have to make a business decision as to whether that continues to make sense in the future.”

TRUCKS ON TEST

TESTING THE The new Hino 300 Series range was released earlier this year with a lot of new features included in the truck as standard.

PowerTorque takes a selection of the new models out on the road to see just how all of this new technology works together.

NEW

ON THE ROAD

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he pace of change, when it comes to technology being included in trucks, is accelerating all of the time. Another transformation which is increasing is a reduction in the time-lag between the introduction of new sophisticated technologies in heavy duty trucks to when they are introduced in the light and medium duty market segments.

As a result of these changes, Australia has seen the amount of high-tech included in light duty trucks increase exponentially in recent years. You only need to go back 10 years to see basic Japanese light duty trucks on the Australian market with only manual gearboxes, and minimal electronic sophistication.

Yet 2020 sees these new Hinos available with the kind of high-tech which has only recently come online in the most sophisticated, and not all, by any means, heavy duty prime movers on our roads.

There has clearly been a paradigm shift in this market and truck manufacturers are rushing to utilise the latest technology to make their trucks the most sophisticated they can be.

The first thing to note when you look at the vehicle is that it doesn’t look that different. Japanese truck designers are by their very nature conservative, so model upgrades invariably involve low-key changes in small details and tweaks to parts of the design. That is the certainly the case with the new series, which brings the Hino right up to date without modifying it too much.

HINO OUT ON THE ROAD One of the models tested was the 721 model which has the 205 hp Hino J05E-UJ

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

5.12 litre engine. This truck is specified at a GVM of 6.5 tonnes while the engine puts out its 205 hp (151kW) with a torque rating of 600 Nm. All of this drives through a six-speed automatic gearbox which benefits from the torquey engine, where maximum torque is available between 1500 and 2250 rpm.

This truck can only be described as a bit of a ‘flyer’ as it reacts well to any pressure from the right foot. This gives the transmission plenty of leeway and

there is plenty of get up and go available to the driver’s right foot at any time in this kind of setup.

This five litre engine performs well and is aided by the fact that the engine rpm at 100 km an hour is 1994 rpm, couple this with the maximum torque available from 1500 rpm all of the way to 2250 rpm. With this much torque available, this goes someway in explaining the sprightly performance.

The transmissions in the 300 Series

300

models are both manual and automatic, but the auto is going to be the go-to for most of the truck buyers. On the larger trucks in the range the six-speed fully automatic transmission is a double overdrive. On some models the auto is the only option.

Driving these autos gives the driver a clear indication as to why the auto option has become virtually standard. The modern auto in a small truck performs seamlessly and offers improved torque characteristics, when compared to the

manual option. We have seen major improvements in the software and sensors controlling what is going on in the mysterious interior of the transmission, to the point where, even the best drivers would struggle to match the consistency of performance.

The transmission in the hybrid model is a six-speed AMT with a single overdrive and, from the driver’s seat, this doesn’t perform quite as smoothly as the pure diesel, fully auto models. The

gear changing seems quite ponderous at low speeds. Surprisingly it seems to be a little more positive when the Eco button is pressed.

Hino in Japan has decided that although the diesel engine should be married to a fully automatic box, when it comes to the hybrid, with its mixture of diesel and electrical power, that the best transmission is an automated one and not the fully automatic offered elsewhere in the 300 Series.

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TRUCKS ON TEST

Experience over the twenty years over which the automatic has slowly, but surely, taken over in the light and medium duty truck market, has told us that although the AMT performs really well at the heavier end of the market, the automatic transmission is proving to be more effective below 25 tonnes GCM. As a rule, the Japanese truck makers who thrive in this part of the truck market have gone the course with the AMT, but later found the auto to be a safer option.

To get the best out of a hybrid setup, the driver never needs to floor the accelerator. But pushing gently with the right foot can sometimes induce the transmission to change too early, and from the point of view of the driver’s ears, it seems to struggle. This seems to be connected to the way the transmission control system communicates with the computer controlling the balance in hybridisation of the driveline.

There is some logic here, the electric motor has full torque available from zero rpm, this means it can pull up from a very low level at low speeds. It just seems that the diesel engine is struggling just a little to get the kind of performance a driver would normally expect. Of course, the pay off would be that driving like this and keeping the rpm levels so low will give

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the operator plenty of payback in terms of fuel consumption.

The hybrid does perform some really effective fuel saving tricks to get the best out of the system. Driving it from unloading point to unloading point at an industrial area, it was possible to travel on electric power only. The revs dropped to 400 rpm and the truck moved, virtually, silently from A to B. This is where this technology really comes into its own. A careful driver in a city centre or large industrial estate could get around and get delivery and collection work done with hardly any fuel being used.

INSIDE THE CABIN OF THE HINO 300 One of the traditional design features which Hino has kept in the cabin as they modernise the design, is the big gearstick.

The controller for the auto transmission is in the same position and takes up as much room as the manual stick. As already mentioned, the auto is excellent and the driver does not need to intervene, apart from engaging reverse or parking the truck up. So, why does the controller have to take up so much room?

Moving the controller to a button pad on the dash or a small stalk on the steering column would free up some real estate in

the middle of the cab and make cross-cab access much less problematic. To most intents and purposes, it is just somewhere to rest the left hand while driving.

From the driver’s seat the controls are easy and intuitive. To the right of the steering column is the cruise control stalk.

The stalk to the left controls the information screen directly in front of the driver. This information screen gives the driver an idea that they are dealing with something a little more sophisticated than we have seen in Japanese trucks before.

In terms of the information screen design, over the years the Japanese have given into their innate conservatism and designed simple screens which look like they may have been something out of the 70s, even though they were the interface between the driver and some sophisticated 21st-century electronic systems.

Now Hino have got with the program and are using an information screen which looks like something out of 2020. This is a feature which makes these new Hino trucks, visually, getting closer to looking as modern as the European and North American trucks which are emerging onto the truck market.

The larger information screen to the left of the steering wheel is part of what used

TRUCKS ON TEST

to be called an entertainment system but is now so much more. The enhancements are coming thick and fast in this area and it can sometimes be difficult to keep up.

Apart from a radio, an MP3 player, navigation system and reversing camera, there is much more which can be included on these systems. Being based on the Android operating system means apps can be developed to do specific tasks. One of the simpler ones available is a tyre pressure monitor interface on this screen, connecting to pressure monitors on the wheels.

Similar to the information screen in the middle of the dash, this larger screen does look more modern than its predecessors, but will still need a redesign relatively soon judging by progress being made by other truck manufacturers in bringing smooth intuitive design to the driver/ truck interface.

Looking further afield from the driver’s seat, the all-round visibility is excellent, as we have come to expect from Hino.

The interior finishing is also well up to the standard.

This set of models is something different, especially in an area like light duty trucks.

The number of safety systems available as standard has grown in recent years, but this 300 Series does make a quantum leap.

The transmission in the hybrid model is a six-speed AMT with a single overdrive.

Standard on these trucks we have Vehicle Stability control, ABS, a PreCollision System (including Autonomous Emergency Braking and Pedestrian Detection), Lane Departure Warning system, plus a number of other items we would normally expect like ABS, reversing camera, daytime running lamps and so on. To say this is a comprehensive list is a little bit of an understatement. Look at the specification

sheet for a top level European prime mover in our market and all of the systems may be available, but not very often are they all fitted as standard. This is where Hino have made the quantum leap.

As has been the case for a few years now, a new model being launched onto the Australian market by Hino is not just an upgrade, but a statement, and a challenge to their competitors to match their offer.

This set of models is something different, especially in an area like light duty trucks.

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INDUSTRY ISSUE

TRUCKING TRIALS AND

ACHIEVEMENTS From bushfires and a global pandemic to lockdowns and a national truck law review, 2020 was a significant year for the trucking industry, which was tried and tested but come out on top. Boosted by the support of our members and industry, Australian Trucking Association Acting CEO Bill McKinley writes about how the ATA was able to deliver great achievements for trucking in the face of adversity.

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ith our industry hit hard by the bushfires and the pandemic, it was our job to make sure industry members on the road, in the office and at the depot received the support and recognition they deserved.

A big issue was maintaining driver access to facilities at truck stops, distribution centres and customer sites. Together with our members, we campaigned hard to keep facilities open and engaged with governments to ensure these businesses adopted the national protocol to allow truck facilities and dining to remain open.

It was also vital that freight was able to keep moving. We made it clear to governments that it was impractical to distinguish between essential and nonessential freight, as was tried in New Zealand. Despite red tape, confusion, interstate inconsistency and ambiguity, the inspirational efforts of ATA member associations meant our industry could continue to operate, along with truck and trailer manufacturers and repairers.

Working collaboratively with our members, the ATA delivered many other strong achievements in 2020, especially when it came to advocating for our safety agenda.

We pushed hard for mandating

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advanced emergency braking for new trucks, with the Australian Government now releasing draft Australian Design Rules for the technology.

We also pushed hard for safetyfocused crash investigation, with the Productivity Commission recommending that the Government transition the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into heavy vehicle crash investigations.

As the review into the national truck laws progressed, we advocated for riskbased and safety-focused reforms Some of the ATA’s greatest achievements in the year were on supporting new investment in trucks and trailers. Our efforts, and the efforts of many others, ultimately resulted in the Australian Government’s budget decision to allow businesses with a turnover of less than $5 billion to deduct the full cost of new depreciating assets, such as trucks and trailers. Small and medium sized businesses, with a turnover of less than $50 million, can also expense secondhand assets. This is a move that will support jobs and put newer, safer and greener trucks on the road.

Collaboration and extended advocacy from the ATA and our members also resulted in new measures to improve Australia’s domestic fuel security, including $200 million for building new

domestic fuel storage.

The trucking industry depends on fuel. Without it, our supermarkets would be empty and deliveries brought to a standstill. The ATA’s member associations played an important role in advocating for this great win for industry and deserve enormous credit for their work on this issue over many years.

2020 also saw Parliament pass new legislation to establish the Payment Times Reporting Scheme, a scheme that will require big businesses to report on their payment practices.

Trucking is a small and family business industry. More than 98 per cent of trucking operators are owner-operators or small businesses. Trucking is also characterised by tight margins, and most costs, like wages and fuel, are incurred before operators can bill their customers.

Operators often have little capacity to negotiate with large customers.

The ATA has long called for strong action to deliver fair payment times for operators and has called for penalties for big businesses who continue to pay their bills late.

Despite 2020 being a challenging year, our industry has demonstrated resilience and strength. It will continue to lead the way for a safer and more productive future.

INDUSTRY ISSUE

TRUCK INSPECTION UPDATE This year’s truncated TMC hosted the usual ‘Meet the Inspectors’ session, where those running the roadside enforcement teams around the country tell us what’s happening and answer questions from the audience.

T

he Australian Trucking Association’s TMC with a pandemic-style online forum proved to be a little less fraught for the speakers than it has been in the past, when they were actually face-to-face with the trucking industry.

This year the guests included, Paul Simionato, National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Director Southern Region (Operations), Russell Greenland, NHVR Manager, Transport Safety Services Metropolitan Operations and Roger Weeks, Transport for NSW Director Compliance.

In Victoria, Paul tells us, the NHVR does more mobile intercepts than checking of vehicles at places like weigh stations. Many of these mobile interceptions are instigated by information called into the NHVR via its heavy vehicle confidential reporting line, as more NHVR activity is based on targeted intelligence than was the case in the past.

“Load restraint figures are indicating that it is an issue, predominantly in Victoria,” said Paul. “Overall, out of around 10,000 intercepts in the last 10 months there were nearly 3000 infringements.”

The overall non-compliance rate turns out to be over 60 per cent in the NHVR numbers, but because it runs a much more intelligence-led and targeted interception regime than has happened in the past, the figures can be deceiving.

“Once you are targeting, you are more likely to get most of the people who are non-compliant,” said Paul. “Hence the compliance rates is very low at this point.”

The Regulatory Compliance Mobility Solution has been used by roadside enforcement for some time in Victoria, but is now being rolled out by the NHVR across ACT, South Australia and Tasmania. This system enables the agency to drill down further into the data and detect trends and problems more effectively and accurately.

Figures about brake defects are now broken down into the actual component which is defective in this more granular data.

“We do detect issues around load restraint and our education efforts are quite

TMC Online with Paul Simionato, Roger Weeks, Jodie Broadbent and Russell Greenland.

high around this subject,” said Paul. “We are trying to be a risk based regulator and trying to help industry by educating rather than taking other alternative actions. You get a better result long-term.

“Now, we are trying to build in some national performance measures. We talk about compliance rates generally as an overall percentage. What we have tried to do at the NHVR is to break it up into two compliance rates, one being a high level of non-compliance and the other being a low level of non-compliance.

“When we are looking at planning our enforcement strategy and deciding what we should be targeting, we are more interested in looking at what is causing that high rate of regulatory non-compliance, incorporating things like severe or critical breaches or severe issues around mass, roadworthiness or fatigue.”

From the point of view of Roger, in NSW, there have been some positive results from the pandemic, with a decrease in heavy vehicle fatal crashes as a result of considerably lower levels of traffic on our roads.

“Whilst I hesitate to use the word good news, at least it is showing signs of moving in the right direction, “ said Roger. “We saw no decline in the amount of heavy vehicle movements, but there has been a reduction

in fatalities and fatal crashes.

“The other thing I would like to share, that’s also good news, is that our compliance rate had an uptick in 2019 of 1.3 per cent.

That’s significant because that’s across almost 330,000 inspections and it’s the first time we’ve seen an improvement in compliance over a four year period.”

As is often the case in these presentations, Roger talked about a roadside stop, in this case, a truck intercepted near Byron Bay in the north of NSW was found to have had its speed limiter interfered with to enable it to be capable of 132.9 km/h and the driver tested positive for methamphetamine.

The increased monitoring of the industry has seen Transport for New South Wales identify the soil and aggregate sector as being particularly problematic in terms of compliance. There is a much higher non-compliance rate in the truck and dog sector in NSW, and a higher rate again in the Sydney area. Using operator risk profiling, Transport for NSW is targeting operators with above average non-compliance rates.

“Every week we conduct operations on mass and roadworthiness in the truck and dog sector and it is starting to have a positive impact but, clearly, the level of noncompliance we are finding means that we have more work to do,” said Roger.

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Making Our Industry Safer and More Efficient National Heavy Vehicle Regulator CEO, Sal Petroccitto, is reflecting on what we’ve learnt and what opportunities we can pursue in making our industry safer and more efficient in the new year and going forward.

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elcome to 2021. We were all extremely challenged last year and I know we’re looking at 2021 with new optimism.

I’ve said it before but I want to acknowledge and praise our industry for the strength and resilience you have shown servicing our local communities with essential supplies throughout the pandemic. You have been at the

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frontline of the pandemic and your support in servicing our country has been unwavering.

If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that as the regulator and governments we need to ensure we create a culture that embraces change and will prioritise initiatives that deliver the greatest benefits. By the regulator and governments working

closely with industry during the pandemic it enabled us to achieve outcomes in a timely way.

A key priority for industry and governments this year has to be changing the high-risk perception around safer and higher productivity vehicles, this is the only way we encourage a safer, younger and modern national fleet on our roads.

The NHVR’s Performance Based Standards (PBS) scheme should provide the foundation from which we leverage benefits. The scheme enables heavy

INDUSTRY ISSUE

vehicle operators to use innovative and optimised vehicle designs to achieve greater productivity and improved safety, while minimising possible impacts on the environment and road infrastructure. PBS vehicles have shown to be involved in 46 per cent fewer crashes per kilometre travelled when compared with their conventional equivalent and improving productivity by 15 to 30 per cent.

Despite the positive benefits these vehicles provide, PBS vehicles are subject to a slow and cumbersome vehicle and access approval process.

This is a barrier for many operators and it creates reluctance by some to make the investment in PBS for fear their combination could sit idle.

This delay in access is due to many road managers finding the safety and productivity features difficult to understand and assess. The NHVR continues to improve this understanding through direct liaison, bridge and asset assessment program and an on-going

“I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND PRAISE OUR INDUSTRY FOR THE STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE YOU HAVE SHOWN SERVICING OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES WITH ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC. YOU HAVE BEEN AT THE FRONTLINE OF THE PANDEMIC AND YOUR SUPPORT IN SERVICING OUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN UNWAVERING.” program of PBS Demonstration Days.

During the most recent demonstration, last November, the NHVR and local road managers reviewed a new Super B-triple going through its paces at the Port of Brisbane. This combination will safely increase the operational efficiency of container terminals.

The Super B-triple is the extension of the Super B-doubles that have been operating across various ports for decades. The 42m long B-triple is capable of carrying three 40-foot containers, or six 20-foot containers compared with two 40-foot containers that is currently carried by the Super B-double.

The quad-axle groups of the semi-trailers are fitted with self-steered axles to improve low-speed swept path performance of the combination. The benchmark assessment showed that the performance of the Super B-triple was comparable to the Super B-doubles.

The NHVR has significantly increased its heavy vehicle modelling capability and that expertise is essential to make technically sound decisions about the various performance characteristics and the safe operation of heavy vehicles on the networks and will be key to providing advice to transport agencies and road managers to improve access.

Similarly the outcomes from the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment program being administered by the NHVR

is demonstrating how the application of conditions (such as reduced speed, single lane use) can turn an access rejection into an approval.

We are also focused on ensuring the approval processes for PBS vehicles are more efficient and user friendly, including moving the PBS transactional process to the NHVR Portal to automate approvals, this is expected to be delivered in 2021.

We are also pushing, through the Review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, the ability for manufacturers to be able to self-certify PBS combinations to improve efficiency, increasing gazetted networks available to PBS vehicles, moving mature designs to the ‘as of right’ fleet and approving access in the design phase (ensuring the performance of the vehicle is the same as in the build phase).

This year will be critical in ensuring we get the new Heavy Vehicle National Law right so we can continue to adapt and evolve to the needs of our ever changing industry. This means ensuring the law is principles based and enabling the regulator to regulate by moving increased requirement to regulator approved standards and codes of practice.

We look forward to working with our industry and government partners in continuing to pursue more modern and innovative outcomes for our industry in 2021.

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The Next Stage of

OBM

The world of on-board mass (OBM) is changing fast, as we approach the next stage of OBM and new regulatory allowances are coming on stream.

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t wasn’t that long ago that all an on-board mass monitoring system consisted of was a set of air pressure gauges fitted somewhere on a trailer to give an estimation of the mass on each axle group. This was fine when an operator wanted to avoid problems with mass out on the road but could still be a little hit and miss.

When regulatory authorities started to require better recording and reporting of axle masses on each journey taken by a truck, in order to allow it to run either under the Performance Based Standard system or some other higher productivity schemes, the need to find a more accurate solution was identified.

This led to solutions which could provide operators with a digital readout, in the cabin, which were based on modern electronics and sophisticated mass measuring sensors. However, even in this more sophisticated form they still had to be read and recorded by a driver or an operator in order to ensure compliance and safety requirements.

These OBM systems were brought under the umbrella of Transport Certificate Australia (TCA), which would type approve the OBM systems which could then be specified by the road

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authorities as a requirement in order to check compliance.

The combination of quickly increasing sophistication in electronics and telematics systems in trucks and the need for a higher category of OBM to integrate and communicate with these systems was seen to be needed. At this point the TCA came up with a specification for a smart OBM system, Category B type approval.

These new OBM technologies would not only have to provide the accurate data on axle group masses, but it would also have to be able to communicate that data live in a secure way. The systems also had to be future ready, and as such, enable operators using the systems to gain further productivity benefits as part of the National Telematics Framework developed for the TCA. Although the category B has been around for some time, it has been a slow process for the OBM developers to meet what is quite a strict security threshold.

Of the five OBM systems which have been approved by the TCA as category A, only two have made it into category B. The first cab off the rank was Tramanco with its CHECK-WAY Eliminator model, which has been approved for quite some time.

This was recently joined by the

Airtec Corporation, whose 89AX Series received the category B gong at the beginning of December 2020. A third system is thought to be close to approval for this category, but this has not been confirmed as yet. All of the suppliers have come across problems with the way that OBM communicates its data through the telematics provider and onto the authorities.

“Airtec is a leading supplier and manufacturer of digital tyre inflators, inflator accessories and mass management systems around the world,” said David Hewett, Managing Director of Airtec Corporation, at the time of the system’s approval. “We’re pleased to have obtained type-approval for a smart OBM system, which allows transport operators to take advantage of new initiatives currently being introduced.

“We’re also proud of our efforts to ensure there is backward compatibility.

It means that vehicles already fitted with the 89AXM Series can easily be upgraded to a smart OBM system.”

One of the issues is that the technology developers in the OBM area are in a highly specialised and technically difficult segment. This is a completely different type of

INDUSTRY ISSUE

business to the telematics suppliers, who are competing in the fast moving global electronics industry with millions being poured in research and development every year.

“The step towards a smart OBM system involves collecting data from an OBM system and then handing it across to the telematics provider,” says Gavin Hill, TCA General Manager Strategy and Delivery. “Depending on the OBM system, that may be relatively easy but it may be quite difficult. You may have to rely on the telematic system in the truck to do some of the functions making the OBM supplier dependent upon the telematics supplier for some functions.

“Some devices need the telematics device to calculate the overall vehicle mass, the system itself doesn’t do that.

Some systems do that calculation straight off and they don’t rely on the telematics system to do much more than simply relaying the data that is pushed through.”

There has been a new urgency for both the OBM and the telematics

suppliers to get these kinds of systems up in light of the proposed strategy by the Victorian Government around, what it calls, high productivity freight vehicles (HPFV).

Trucking operators in Victoria are expecting an increase in the scope and scale of the HPFV scheme. However, the Victorians have also flagged a requirement for any truck included in the scheme to not only meet the PBS requirements, be fitted with a GPS device accredited under the intelligent access program (IAP), but also be fitted with either a category B or category C (IAP Level) on board mass system.

This has led to the flurry of interest in smart OBM on the part of operators anticipating access to new routes and new possibilities in Victoria.

These changes have concentrated the minds of both OBM and telematics suppliers to the Victorian trucking industry, as sophisticated electronics will not get a vehicle over the line unless it has OBM category B approval

Now Type-Approved

Smart On-Board Mass System

For more information: Email info@airtecaustralia.com.au Call 1800 818 884 Visit airteccorporation.com

Any changes which the Victorian government introduces in 2021 are likely to make things difficult for operators of HPFVs who do not have the correct OBM. Hopefully, Transport for Victoria will take some of these issues on board and there may be some allowances made for a specified period to allow some operators to run their vehicles without a fully approved OBM system, until it is fully approved. In most cases, it is likely that operators who already have an OBM simply need it to be updated rather than replaced in order to meet the requirements of the HPFV scheme.

We can expect these OBM category B systems to become a required option on more and more vehicles over time. Some states currently allow high productivity vehicles to run with simple OBM and simple manual recording, but we can expect that these practices are likely to be grandfathered out in time following the advent of the smart OBM systems and them becoming available more broadly on the market.

CONVERGENCE

GETTING OUR H Industry has got to grips with the latest technology and using telematics and safety devices as an aid to the business, the future is going to be about getting our head around AI as well, mining the massive data flow to further improve productivity and safety.

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he sophistication of electronics and modern computing which has developed in the last 10 years is phenomenal. The fact of the matter is that the next 10 years will probably see an even bigger increase in sophistication within the industry, as it learns how to use the data produced to manage operations even more effectively.

It all began with the occasional black box in the cabin, which was tasked with measuring fuel consumption or telling the operations staff where the truck was, or even just getting a read out for the driver of the fuel consumption or axle weights. By 2021 it has now become a very different beast, with increasing integration in the truck and into the business systems with all of this data converging and flowing.

Simple black boxes of the past were simply there to monitor one or two specific pieces of information. As the systems became more more sophisticated there was much more data coming through

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“ALL OF THE MAIN PLAYERS IN THE TELEMATICS SCENE ARE USING MACHINE LEARNING IN SOMEWAY WITHIN THEIR SYSTEMS CURRENTLY, AND FOR ALL OF THEM THE LEVEL OF AI INVOLVED IS GOING TO BECOME MUCH LARGER IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.” and the telematics industry developed dashboards on which a fleet manager could look and see key indicators to assess how the business was flowing and whether there were any problems.

The next steps in development of electronic and monitoring systems is going well beyond these simple, almost analog, processes. There is now a vast amount of data flowing out of each individual component in the chain of computing power, both in the truck, back at the office and on the CEO’s smart phone.

Most of the time we know how to

interpret this information, but the amount of data is reaching a point at which not even our best computing solutions can cope with interpreting all that information. This is where the next quantum leap in the use of this information is going to happen and that is the use of machine learning, artificial intelligence, to pick out trends in the data flow and identify potential problems or potential sweet spots.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a cover-all term and many in the field prefer to call what is going on machine learning.

Essentially what we are talking about is the fact that the human brain has a certain capacity for processing information, but machines have your ability to go way beyond this kind of processing looking for patterns in massive flows of data and interpreting them quickly. It is then up to us as humans to ask the right question, in order to get an answer which is useful.

All of the main players in the telematics scene are using machine learning in someway within their systems currently, and for all of them the level of AI involved is going to become much larger in the next few years.

At the moment, many operators using telematics are receiving their weekly or monthly reports with a large amount of data included, from which they can make some conclusions and then make business decisions on what they may or may not choose to change in order to improve productivity.

What happens when something like AI machine learning comes into play

CONVERGENCE

EAD AROUND AI

is that instead of getting that monthly report which is a bunch of figures and indicators, the system will come up with what that operations manager needs to do. For example, it could suggest moving this particular vehicle across to another route, on which it would be more efficient and changing the departure time of another particular truck due to road conditions, looking for efficiency. It becomes decision based knowledge and not just information, which it currently is.

that in order to use that data they have to digitise their business. Once they digitise the business and have got that baseline information, then they can start to turn that flow of data into useful information.

“This is what utilising AI does, it takes industry from a static report business model to an actioning based model. There is definitely an appetite for change, which

I’ve never seen before in this sector. They are looking to adopt digital technologies that allow them to move from being reactive type models to much more preventative type models.”

According to a recent telematics market entrant, Geotab, its systems do use machine learning in their processes. The system is looking for patterns within the

BUSINESS MODELS “When we look at our customers, there is a large disparity between their ability to adopt things like AI and where they are in the life cycle of developing these data managing systems,” says Mark Whitmore, Directed Technologies Head of Business Development. “Some are driving towards advanced levels of Business intelligence systems, and then others still using paper based systems.

“What we see is an organisation which may start with a tracking device and then a little organisational system, then realise

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CONVERGENCE

At the moment, many operators using telematics are receiving their weekly or monthly reports with a large amount of data included.

data. Developing AI is a priority for the Geotab, as the system records all of the data as it comes through and doesn’t take samples periodically. Algorithms are used to take note of when change is detects.

The AI will discard what it regards as less important data coming in and pull other data in to get a better picture of the situation.

The company reckons its role is more as a data management supplier for transport companies. At a larger scale than individual enterprise based data, Geotab has a team of data analysts working on the anonymised data flowing through all of their systems.

A recent study identified the warning signs in the data flow from vehicles in the period before an electrical failure occurs and the truck fails to start. The team were able to aggregate the data from the system, and the company currently has 800,000 connected trucks in the world, enabling the system to kick out a message in advance, warning an operator of the potential problem.

These kind of developments tie in with the philosophy behind the way Geotab has been set up to develop, in that it has been built as a platform through which

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other system’s data can be channeled and then be utilised elsewhere in the business.

HERE Technologies is the company which has developed the mapping data behind the EROAD telematic system and many others. In fact, HERE is the largest supplier of mapping data for fleet telematics providers in the world.

“Yes, we have all the right data data for trucks, but if that operates in isolation it doesn’t help the network,” says Daniel Antonello, from HERE Technologies.

“HERE technologies is very focused on having an open platform and not a closed one. With data sharing capability.

At the end of the day, there’s all of the trucks on the road using multiple systems and one of the biggest issues we see is transparency.”

One of the most important elements in data flow analysis is scale. The more data, which has been anonymised, flows through, the easier it is for machine learning to pick up trends and highlight issues.

“We know our mapping data very well, but we don’t know your business very well,” says Daniel. “We are going to hand all of our mapping data to you, and when bring your data along,

we put them together.

“It gets very interesting when you add in machine learning and it’s also interesting when you add in scale. Scaling on a global level vehicle sensing data is huge. We are also looking to develop further by bringing clients together who are working in the same sector, who would see value out of coming together in putting their data together. Government can bring this data together, but I also think there is a role for private industry once they understand the value of aggregating all of this data.”

Driverisk talks about the incredible amount of driving analysis and curated video it has in its library. This anonymised data flow has led to the company’s most recent innovation, something it is calling machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI).

MV+AI refers to a technology’s ability to recognise behaviour or a pattern. In order for this recognition to be accurate, the algorithm must be taught with large volumes of verified examples of the pattern or behaviour. Globally, the Lytx system has billions of verified and curated examples of video outlining poor driving behaviours, which led to an MV+AI algorithm that is claimed to be amazingly accurate.

Traditionally, harsh driving was used as a trigger to capture an event on video. The Lytx Driving Risk Analyst team, with over 400 trained and certified analysts, watch the event video, detail the risk assessment and look for collision leading behaviours. This analysis is presented back to clients via reports and dashboards and other forms of data tabulation for them to coach and support the risky driver to change any bad habits.

The library of curated video with over 60 behaviour classifications ‘teaches’ the MV+AI technology to accurately recognise high-risk driving behaviours directly from the video without any harsh driving triggers.

This means that driver video monitoring is uncovering significant amounts of previously hidden risk, e.g. drivers using cruise control on the highway while texting or losing focus on the driving task will now be identified.

This technology has seen a quadrupling in the number of risk assessments the company now performs.

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This AI powered technology also delivers these key AI features to fleet operators and managers accessing greater fleet visibility and control, •

GPS Tracking, Geofence capable - Live, historical and linked to each event or alert as well as the ability to capture live cabin view at any time

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CONVERGENCE

Now’s The Time To Make Fatigue Management Electronic

D

river fatigue remains one of the biggest challenges in Australia’s transport industry.

A report by National Transport Insurance found that 53 truck drivers fatalities in 2019, with fatigue linked to one-third of these fatalities.

In a huge move to modernise fatigue management, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) recently approved Teletrac Navman’s Electronic Work Diary (EWD) solution as an alternative to written work diaries.

This is a significant step forward for the industry, as EWDs create a safer environment for drivers while offering greater visibility across all levels of businesses. Here’s how else they improve operations.

SAVING TIME AND MAKING MONEY The days of jotting down work and rest hours on paper are soon to become a thing of the past.

With an EWD, these previously manual tasks are done automatically. Drivers can enter their fatigue status in real-time, and the information is immediately available for back office staff to view. By shifting from reactive to proactive fatigue

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

management, you can reduce compliance violations and incidents, rather than acting after they’ve occurred and ensure the accuracy of all your collected data.

This also means no more admin costs for archiving written work diaries. An EWD combined with an AI-enabled fleet management solution let you create highly detailed insights and reports with just a few simple clicks. Instead of waiting for days for drivers to return logbooks, or spending hours sifting through stacks of pages to find the most relevant data, the info you need is right at your fingertips.

All these functions add up to significant return on investment (ROI) – but the benefits extend beyond dollars. By creating greater transparency, you can effectively manage your jobs to ensure drivers aren’t exceeding work and rest hours. Improved job scheduling and allocation leads to better customer service, bringing more money and improved efficiencies back into your business.

EVERYTHING IN YOUR HANDS The uncertainty around reporting and compliance can be overwhelming for many drivers, and the business. Juggling

written work diaries with hard deadlines is time-consuming and delays in getting paper diary pages back from your drivers and checking them for compliance can lead to important information slipping through the cracks.

EWDs eliminate this uncertainty and let everyone in the business self-manage fatigue. They enable drivers to get on with the job at hand by taking the stress out of reporting. Entering work and rest hours is simple, and EWDs make it easy to plan out breaks. The system offers warnings when drivers need to take a break ahead of time, ensuring they stay in control of their own fatigue.

EWDs also empower drivers to manage their own compliance, give managers peace of mind that their drivers are safe, and make it easy for everyone to stay compliant and keep records of driver work and rest times.

In research completed by Monash Uni, Australia’s truck drivers have a 13-fold higher risk of a fatal accident at work than other workers. By digitising work diaries, compliance and fatigue, you take a big step towards a safer workplace for your drivers, so all drivers feel secure and looked after at work.

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CONVERGENCE

FATIGUE AND DISTRACTION AI POWERED CAMERA WITH SO MUCH MORE… Understand and Evaluate Emerging Technology.

I

n today’s lightning speed advances in technology most companies take their time to understand and evaluate emerging technology that could add tangible benefits to their organisation’s efficiency, staff safety and cost savings.

But everyone in the industry agrees that a safer fleet operation not only fulfil these needs, but also reduces negative impact on organisation’s hard earned reputation.

The number one concern of the transport industry today, not only in Australia but around the world is Driver Fatigue and Distracted Driving habits.

Future Fleet have recognised this from the many notable national customers they currently service. In order to fulfil the need of their customers they have looked all over the world for the most advanced solution in its class.

After extensive in-house testing with a six-month live trial with a national customer as a proof of concept, Future Fleet have now launched the most advance fatigue and distraction weapon as part of their Solution offering portfolio.

Introducing the state of the art ‘idrive’ AI powered fatigue and distracted camera and monitoring and alerting solution platform, iris.

This powerful solution agAInst fatigue and drowsy driving does not stop there…

The idrive solution delivers the following powerful features Live Tracking • AI Facial Recognition • Multi Network 4G GPS tracking suite • Geofence setup and reporting • On demand Live Streaming Cabin & forward view In-Cab Alerting • Fatigue • Cognitive, Visual and Technology Distraction

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Management Alerting/Reporting • Not wearing Seatbelts • Un-Safe distance driving • Alcohol presence detection • Covering the AI Camera • Speeding - With Dynamic Speed Sign Detection • Excess Idle reporting • Harsh Braking • Harsh Cornering • Potential Accident Prediction With addition AI features and management tools launching in 2021 Saving lives in real-time, Future Fleet’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) and proprietary artificial intelligence device enables you to coach the world’s safest drivers and optimise fleet performance with this advanced AI driver monitoring system.

These features will allow organisations to gain tangible savings agAInst these cost centres

THE IRIS PLATFORM, SMART, FLEXIBLE & SCALABLE The iris platform is the other power behind this solution. This service is housed in Australian at the secure Amazon Web Services with an impressive 99.99 per cent uptime rating.

Iris has imbedded AI analytical machine learning algorithms that consumes all the data captured by the AI Camera from thousands of worldwide kilometres driven locally and internationally and presents all the refined relevant data to each customer’s account.

All the reporting and analytical data is presented to managers in usable downloadable formats geared to provide key information to optimise efficiency, staff safety and overall cost savings.

ELECTRONIC WORK DIARY SOLUTION NOW ON OFFER - EWD Future Fleet are now also a licensed solution provider for the accredited EWD services provided

by Step Global’s Smart eDriver technology. Standard BFM AFM. The benefit to industry and drivers is enormous. No more timeconsuming paperwork, less data entry required, work break schedule is easily set up.

Additional benefits from this solution are also, Improved data accuracy, the ability to review past work and rest records to ensure compliance, increased productivity through automation and reduce driver infringements.

Talk to Future Fleet, they would be delighted to answer any questions or do a full solution presentation to you and your team.

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Get real-time fatigue information for each of your drivers to better understand work hours and their availability to complete jobs.

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CONVERGENCE

The Geotab Platform

I

t is a new name in the Australian telematics market but, in fact, the Geotab platform has been around for over 15 years, and most of that time in Australia, but not under the corporate name. In the past, Geotab equipment was sold by a reseller in this market. The company has now decided to change tack and participate in the market as Geotab.

There are now people on the ground in Australia designing and distributing Geotab telematics systems, as it goes through the process of increasing the awareness of the Geotab brand itself.

The Geotab device is relatively small, when fitted into a truck it can be connected to a wide range of systems, plus the vehicle CANbus and other ancillary monitoring devices which may already be on the truck. This can also include satellite connection if required.

One of the interesting aspects of this device is that it has been developed using an open platform. This means that other suppliers can develop apps to run on the Geotab system. This leads to an operator being able get highly customised data out of the system for use elsewhere in the business. It can also enable the system to use developed apps to connect to various devices which the operator chooses to have fitted to the truck.

The Geotab Marketplace works like an app store where customers can source useful items to be used on the system. Customers are using these apps to work on specific engine diagnostics, there are also interfaces with components like Alison transmissions and Cummins engines available.

The strength of the system is the fact that it is not generic but, instead, configurable specifically for a particular truck or a particular operation. It is also possible to add further functionality on as new apps become available or have been commissioned by the operator.

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Solution Engineers are available to work with clients on developing unique applications to be used on the platform. Applications which have been developed include concepts like very specific customers interactive journey plans for operators. The attitude is of a collaborative approach to enable the system to better integrate with the clients processes and systems.

The word platform is an appropriate one, Geotab does not see itself as a complete solution to all needs but instead as an efficient platform onto which can be built the kinds of information structures and dataprocessing that an operator may need in order to improve productivity or safety.

The overall philosophy around the product is that the eventual aim of the Geotab product is to become like the operating system within the truck or the hub through which data used around the vehicle and around the business can be channelled.

All of the data from the systems go into a cloud-based platform called My Geotab. This platform can supply standard reports, but also has the functionality to create customised reports specifically aimed at particular parts of the business.

“THE STRENGTH OF THE SYSTEM IS THE FACT THAT IT IS NOT GENERIC BUT, INSTEAD, CONFIGURABLE SPECIFICALLY FOR A PARTICULAR TRUCK OR A PARTICULAR OPERATION.” The Geotab system has recently finished a project involving integrating with SAP, which a lot of businesses use within their enterprise. In fact, the SAP system works on a similar principle to the Geotab system in that it is a platform on which unique customised business systems can be developed for and by the customer.

MAKING DAF TRUC AT

LEYLAN

PowerTorque’s European Correspondent Will Shiers called in on Paccar’s UK factory, to find a modern facility steeped in history and still making DAF Trucks in Leyland.

The Paccar-owned Leyland Assembly Plant produces the full range of DAF product.

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

GOING GLOBAL

KS

D

New DAFs roll off the Leyland Trucks assembly line.

A

m I the only one to yearn after trucks with proper names? Rewind the clock a few decades and they had emotive titles, that conjured up images of power, strength or life on the road.

This hit home on a pre-COVID visit to Leyland, Lancashire, in the north west of England. The town has a rich history of truck manufacturing, and even today is the beating heart of what’s left of the British truck industry.

Having watched numerous new DAFs roll off the Leyland Trucks assembly line, I dropped in at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum just down the road.

Here I found numerous 1980s classic Leylands with proper names, like Roadtrain, Roadrunner and Constructor.

Travel back another decade, and you’re into Cruiser, Boxer, and Marathon territory – all great sounding truck names. Prior to that, the Leyland factory was more like a zoo, with Bisons, Beavers, Badgers and Cubs rolling off the line.

Today, names have long since been replaced with letters, and it’s LFs, CFs and XFs that come out of the factory.

A HISTORY LESSON The Paccar-owned Leyland Assembly Plant produces the full range of DAF

product, in fact it’s thought to be the only truck factory in the world that produces every model in a manufacturer’s range.

While 50 per cent of production is for the UK market, the other half are exported to the European Union and further afield. This currently includes Australia, but probably not for much longer – but more about that later. It also produces a handful of Peterbilt- and Kenworth-badged LFs for North America.

While it’s unquestionably a modern facility, truck production in Leyland has a long history. In fact, it was in 1896 that James Sumner and Henry Spurrier, who together formed The Lancashire Steam Motor Company, built their first 1.5-tonne steam van.

Their vehicles grew bigger and better, and steam wagons were joined by petrol-engine trucks in 1904. The Leyland Motors name first appeared in 1907, and by the start of the First World War, the company had 1,500 employees and had produced approximately 1,700 petrol and steam-powered vehicles.

Leyland played a key role in the war, with thousands of its trucks seeing active service on the frontline in Northern France and Belgium. As you’d expect, these trucks were badly abused,

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GOING GLOBAL

with very little in the way of routine maintenance being carried out.

Yet, despite the odds, roughly half survived the war, and made their way back to the UK. Shrewdly, Leyland purchased the survivors, and reconditioned them. This clever move prevented knackered old trucks from entering haulage fleets and damaging the truck maker’s reputation.

Animal-named trucks, such as the Lion, Llama, Tiger, Badger and Beaver were launched in the 1920s, and were joined by the likes of

DAF DOWN UNDER DAF has had a presence in the Australian market since 1997, and currently sells in the region of 500 units per annum. Although all three models are offered, by far the best seller is the CF, accounting for 84.2 per cent of DAF sales. The LF’s and XF’s split are 6.5 per cent and 9.3per cent respectively.

Traditionally all Australian DAFs have been assembled at Leyland, but this changed in August 2018 when production of the most popular model (Euro-5 CF 85.510 FTT 6x4 prime mover) started in Paccar’s Kenworth plant in Bayswater, Victoria. Since then, the Australian-built range has expanded, and now consists of Euro-6 sleeper cab CF 530, CF 480 and CF 450 FTT (6x4) prime movers. The FT (4x2) prime mover, FAT (6x4) rigid and FAD (8x4) rigid and prime movers are currently still imported from Leyland, but perhaps not for long.

“We have plans to expand the models we assemble in Australia, including local engineering input to develop customer specific application requirements,” a spokesman says.

The popularity of DAF’s XF is limited in Australia by the MX-13 12.9-litre’s 530hp top power rating. Although denied by DAF, there are rumours that it could be considering offering the truck with the Cummins X15 15-litre engine.

Were this to happen, it would certainly broaden its appeal. And if DAF was to ever go down this route, I reckon it would be the perfect excuse to dust down one of those great names it owns.

The DAF XF Roadtrain has a great ring to it! (Really? Ed.)

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

A Leyland Buffalo from 1931.

the Rhino, Hippo and Buffalo in the following decade.

Leyland played an even bigger role in the Second World War, its 11,000 employees turning their hands to manufacturing tanks and munitions. And as a result, the various factories were frequently targeted by the Luftwaffe.

The 16 acre factory, which employs 1,000 staff, has gone from strength to strength.

During the post war years British vehicle manufacturers were told to export or die, and Leyland Motors opted for the former approach. Leyland’s trucks were soon a familiar sight throughout most of the world. During this golden age of road transport, the truck maker expanded rapidly,

GOING GLOBAL

“DURING THE POST WAR YEARS BRITISH VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS WERE TOLD TO EXPORT OR DIE, AND LEYLAND MOTORS OPTED FOR THE FORMER APPROACH. LEYLAND’S TRUCKS WERE SOON A FAMILIAR SIGHT THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE WORLD.” purchasing Scammell Lorries and Albion Motors on the way.

In the 1960s the popular VistaVue (aka LAD) cab was replaced by the Ergomatic cab. This tilting cab was undoubtedly a great piece of engineering from the UK’s market leader, offering superb visibility and decent levels of driver comfort. However, it soon found itself competing on the world stage with a growing number of superior European-built trucks, including Volvos and Scanias.

This is when Leyland Trucks needed some serious R&D money thrown at it, but unfortunately by this stage it had been swallowed-up by British Leyland, and soon found itself propping up

the ailing car division. The Ergomatic cab was allowed to limp through the 1970s, while the parent company haemorrhaged money on automotive abominations like the Austin Allegro and Morris Ital.

The much-needed T45 cab finally arrived on the scene in 1980, and it would be built in a brand new £33m ($60m) assembly plant. This is the current home of Leyland Trucks.

Although the T45 was well received, the government of the time saw British Leyland as a problem, and was preparing to sell off parts. In 1987 Leyland Trucks was sold to Dutch truck maker DAF, forming Leyland DAF. A few years after the merger, recession hit Europe, and truck sales slumped. DAF was unable to weather the storm, and called in the receivers in early 1993.

In the Netherlands a new DAF would arise from the ashes, while in the UK Leyland Trucks was saved by a management buy-out. An agreement was made for the plant to produce DAFs for the British and selected European markets. In 1996 Paccar acquired DAF, and two years later it had purchased Leyland Trucks too.

Since then the 16 acre factory, which employs 1,000 staff, has gone from strength to strength. Not even the ageing cabs (the XF’s cab was developed jointly between DAF and Spanish truck maker Pegaso in the late 1980s, the CF dates to the early 1990s and even the Renault Trucksbuilt LF cab is more than 20 years old now), have dented sales, and this year DAF celebrated 25 years of market leadership in the UK. In addition to assembling the DAF range, Leyland Trucks has also established itself as PACCAR’s centre of excellence for the design, development and manufacture of lightand medium-duty trucks.

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TECH KNOW

Fastener Thread Damage and Galling Galling can cause permanent damage to bolt and nut threads. The coating on critical OEM shear-head bolts, such as Hendrickson QUIK-ALIGN pivot bolts, helps prevent galling. But it can still occur if there is any damage to the thread before assembly.

Therefore, to minimise any likelihood of damage, it is important to visually check the threads for damage before assembly.

Even what may initially appear to be minor thread damage can cause galling.

GALLING Galling is where materials adhere to one another. In fasteners, this means that metal from one surface, usually the bolt, transfers over to the moving nut. As the nut moves further down the thread the galled-up metal grows in size as it collects more metal from the adjoining surfaces.

Heat from friction increases the likelihood of the metal thread galling.

Prevailing torque locknuts have added friction, which is why they are particularly susceptible to galling.

Not all metals have the same susceptibility to galling. Aluminium, stainless steel and titanium are particularly prone to galling. On the other hand, brass is used in bushings because of its resistance to galling.

“EVEN A SMALL AMOUNT OF DAMAGE CAN INITIATE GALLING AS THE FASTENER IS TIGHTENED. ONCE THE METAL BEGINS TO GALL, IT WILL SIMPLY GET WORSE AS THE BOLT IS TIGHTENED UNTIL THE THREAD IS BEYOND REPAIR.”

• Stop tightening if it does begin to gall. If the galling is near the start of the thread, you may be able to save the bolt with a thread die. At the very least, it will be easier to remove the bolt before the metals have completely fused together.

• Never reuse critical nut or bolts.

• Some fastener use allows for the application of a thread lubricant, such as anti-seize. However, never apply lubricants to coated shear-head bolts, for example Hendrickson shock absorber and QUIK-ALIGN pivot bolts.

• Run the bolt through by hand for a few threads to confirm thread consistency.

For more info, go to: www.hendrickson. com.au

and shear-head bolt before assembly to ensure there is no damage that could cause galling.

Threaded bolt holes can also cause galling due to weld splatter or hole misalignment.

So, they should be checked as well. It only takes a few seconds to run a bolt through with your fingers to check the thread.

Any problems can be quickly repaired with a tap before serious damage occurs.

Galling can completely weld the nut and bolt together and may cause the bolt to shear off if remaoval is attempted.

THREAD DAMAGE New bolt threads can easily be damaged in transit. Even a small amount of damage can initiate galling as the fastener is tightened. Once the metal begins to gall, it will simply get worse as the bolt is tightened until the thread is beyond repair. Therefore, it is essential to visually inspect every QUIK-ALIGN

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

GALLING PREVENTION TIPS There are several steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of galling: • Inspect the threads for damage before assembly.

• Tighten the fastener slowly to reduce heat from friction.

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TECH KNOW

CONVERTER DOLLY MAKES WAVES From proof of concept to national industry recognition, the Australian Trucking Association’s Industry Technical Council Converter Dolly Project has had a significant impact in the trucking industry, revolutionising the dolly market, reckons Bob Woodward, Chief Engineer ATA.

F

ollowing concerns raised regarding dynamic issues with hinged drawbar converter dollies, in particular brake reactivity and tyre wear, the Converter Dolly Project was born.

There has been a lot of issues in the past where, particularly under braking when they were lightly laden, weight transfer occurs, and an axle comes off the ground. There have even been instances in which axles have come off the ground to the point where the back of the dolly has hit the underside of the trailer above it.

Led by the ATA’s Industry Technical Council together with technical and component support from MaxiTRANS, Hendrickson, Alcoa Wheels, Bridgestone, JOST and WABCO, the project explored the further development of a rigid drawbar converter dolly and is a collaboration of the resources and knowledge of these manufacturers, suppliers and operators all working towards a common goal.

One of the most versatile components in a combination, the dolly market has been well overdue for a change. While the traditional dolly has been around for a long time, this has been the first significant shift in dolly design for many years.

The project aimed to explore options and opportunities for industry to design and manufacture a converter dolly based on a rigid drawbar design for use as a further ‘proof of concept’ engineering test bed.

The ITC converter dolly was first on display at the Brisbane Truck Show in 2019, where it received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback. Since then,

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POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

Bob Woodward, Chief Engineer ATA.

the dolly has been trialled with several operators across the country, including BAB Quads and ABB quads.

This new type of dolly delivers a range of benefits to improve safety, productivity and reduce maintenance costs, including improved tyre wear, stability, and controllability as well as advantages in vehicle handling, braking performance and dynamic load distribution for more consistent and even tyre wear.

Taking out the pivot point with no hinged drawbar makes a dramatic difference in the way the brake system can control everything.

With such positive response from industry, the ATA has developed a technical bulletin which outlines specification guidelines for Rigid Drawbar Tandem Axle Converter Dollies – allowing operators access to the insight behind the project.

The technical bulletin details the specifications of the project dolly, including fifth wheel positioning, axle group spacing, drawbar length, and suspension and coupling requirements.

A suspension with neutral roll steer at nominal ride height is preferred, as well as a coupling type, which must be limited to a flanged drawbar eye or a special flanged drawbar eye and the drawbar length is determined by combination and application.

To limit static vertical loading at the tow coupling of a tandem axle converter dolly, the axle spacing range needs to be reduced as the drawbar length reduces, and the fifth wheel positioned on the theoretical centreline of the axle group, and not restricted in fore/aft articulation (just as a fifth wheel would be installed on a prime mover).

In recognition of the innovative design and contribution to industry, the Converter Dolly Project supply partners MaxiTRANS, Hendrickson, Alcoa Wheels, Bridgestone, JOST and WABCO were awarded the 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Achievement award, in celebration of the development and implementation of modern technologies and design to improve the industry’s safety and productivity.

As the converter dolly gains more recognition throughout industry, it is hoped the design see an increase in adoption with operators around the country, who are looking to drastically improve their combinations and overall performance.

To view the technical bulletin or find out more about the Industry Technical Council, head to www.truck.net.au

Liftable Pusher or Tag Suspension

Load Sharing Liftable Non-Steer Increased Payload TOUGHLIFT™ liftable suspension provides an economical load sharing suspension system when matched with the Hendrickson HAS or PRIMAAX® drive-axle suspensions. Compatible with other drive suspension pairings per installer requirements.

TOUGHLIFT offers: • 10 tonne capacity • Up to 150mm of axle lift • Increased tyre life • Reduced whole of life maintenance costs • Supports various chassis configurations • Brake options available

Hendrickson Asia Pacific Pty Ltd 32-44 Letcon Drive Dandenong, Victoria 3175 Tel: 03 8792 3600 www.hendrickson.com.au Actual product performance may vary depending upon vehicle configuration, operation, service and other factors. ©2020 Hendrickson USA, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks shown are owned by Hendrickson USA, L.L.C., or one of its affiliates, in one or more countries.

COLD CHAIN

NEW GROUP FIXING THE

BROKEN LINKS

IN THE AUSTRALIAN COLD CHAIN The role of the refrigerated road fleet in Australia’s food cold chain has been brought into sharp focus following the formation of the nation’s first advocacy group that aims to improve compliance and standards in the handling of food at all levels of the cold chain.

T

he Australian Food Cold Chain Council’s (AFCCC) formation in August 2017 coincided with the mounting global pressure to reduce food wastage, a cause that has now been enthusiastically taken up by the Australian government. The National Food Waste Strategy has committed Australia to halve food loss and waste by 2030, in line with EU policy.

Food loss and waste is a massive problem for Australia, and it’s not just about the food.

All inputs into food production like the water, soil and energy are also wasted. On top of that, it means less food available to feed the hungry. It’s estimated that 5 per cent or more of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food wastage.

Food loss and wastage is estimated to cost the country nearly $4 billion a year at farm gate values.

Australia depends so heavily on the distribution of food streams across often long distances in high temperatures.

Anecdotal evidence has revealed horror stories about food loss, like a southern state herb grower who consistently loses 90 per cent of his produce in transport, and a strawberry industry that has up to 17 links between grower and the store.

As AFCCC Chairman Mark Mitchell points out, “The tragedy is that the technology exists to combat food loss, but many of the links in the cold chain are broken. Cold chain food travels through many different hands before it gets to the plate, but nobody wants to take responsibility for the huge trailer loads of food that are rejected at their destination through temperature abuse or poor handling processes.

“The AFCCC is not about promoting an industry – it wants to change

74

POWERTORQUE January/February 2021

the industry for the better.’

“One of our priorities is to apply whatever pressure is needed in industry and in government to make sure the existing Australian standards for cold chain food handling are properly followed,’ he added.

Australia’s track record in efficient cold food handling, from farm to plate, is far from perfect,” said Mark Mitchell.

The AFCCC attracted a top level group of directors and members with intimate knowledge of cold chain issues from manufacturing, food transport, refrigeration and cold chain services.

Their combined expertise is in making significant contributions to cold chain improvement – the latest initiative being the release of the first of five proposed new codes of practice which will ultimately cover temperature management and monitoring, the principles of fresh produce transport and storage and the thermal requirements of

refrigerated transport assets.

Supporting the codes will be a Cold Chain Professional Development Series, comprising training modules that can be accessed by anyone working at the coal face of the cold chain, in transport, on loading docks and cold storage, as well as the managers of cold chain facilities. The first in the Series, covering thermometers, will be available early in 2021 from a number of websites, including www.afccc.org.au.

The AFCCC is working with government agencies and a range of kindred organisations that all have a stake in the food cold chain.

“Australian industry is well placed to solve the shortcomings in the cold chain,” said Mark Mitchell. “Performance across the chain can be improved with better equipment and handling processes as well as with improved monitoring and assessment to determine where the weaknesses lie.”

VECTOR® HE 19

POWERFUL, SUSTAINABLE & RELIABLE

Carrier Transicold Australia Nationwide Ph: 1800 448 166 www.transicold.carrier.com.au

©2020 Carrier. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice.

The information in this document is not contractually binding, and may not be reproduced without prior approval.

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