CVIAQ Chief Executive Brett Wright has confirmed that every site available over all three levels of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) have been booked and every truck brand available in Australia will be at the show to be held on May 5 to 8.

In what is already shaping up as a record breaking show the CVIAQ has confirmed that the 2011 Brisbane Truck Show is sold out and also becomes the largest event ever held at the world class BCEC in its 16 year history. With over 250 exhibitors situated over all three levels the show will provide a feast of trucks, trailers, transport equipment and technology for even the most discerning buyer.

Wright added “The CVIAQ is proud to host the show from our new home at the BCEC at SouthBank. Together with our Show Ambassador Shane Webcke, we look forward to welcoming all of our regular show visitors and the many new guests from all over Australia. With all of the famous Brisbane Truck Show hospitality and atmosphere to also look forward to, it’s the place to be from May 5 to 8!”

By Brad Gardner

The peak trucking lobby has scored a seat on the Federal Government’s carbon tax committee, and industry is already pushing for it to demand reductions to the diesel excise.

Australian Trucking Association CEO Stuart St Clair has joined groups such as the Australian Automobile Association and the Minerals Council to discuss the Government’s proposed carbon price ahead of its July 2012 introduction.

The NSW Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association (LBCA) wants the ATA to campaign for any increases due to a carbon tax to be offset by reductions in the diesel excise.

The proposal is similar to the cent-for-cent cut in the excise that would have been introduced under former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Under Rudd’s model the diesel excise, for one year, would have been cut by one cent for every one cent rise in the price of fuel due to the CPRS.

While it has outlined some policies it will be pursuing, the ATA is yet to determine whether it will push for diesel offsets. “We’ll be strongly representing the industry, but there is not enough detail around the government’s proposal as yet for us to reach a position,” ATA Government Relations Manager Bill McKinley says. However, he says the ATA will hammer the message that the industry is under strain and cannot afford to pay higher taxes.

“Because of the economic climate, many trucking businesses are already finding it impossible to pass on increases in the price of fuel or increases in their costs,” McKinley says. “We’ll also be pointing out that trucking businesses are already taxed heavily through the road user and registration charges.”

The ATA is planning to use the committee to pursue an expansion of higher productivity vehicles and for emissions standards currently applied to trucks to include all diesel engines. “There are already emission standards in place for the trucking industry. They are very, very stringent indeed, particularly the latest set, and that should be mandated across the board,” McKinley says.

The carbon tax committee has already held its first meeting, and McKinley says it will meet on a monthly basis. The news comes as the ATA commissions a research study into the trucking industry’s environmental credentials. It says the study will look at the industry’s environmental performance and examine possible future developments such as alternative fuels, higher productivity vehicles, carbon pricing and emerging technologies.

“The study is particularly important given the debate about the Government’s proposed carbon price,” St Clair says. Under the Federal Government’s scheme, companies will need to pay a fixed price for permits to pollute. The Government’s climate change advisor, Professor Ross Garnaut, wants a starting price of between $20 and $30 per tonne of carbon dioxide, with the price rising by 4 percent annually.

In an update to his 2008 climate change review, Garnaut recommends transitioning from a fixed carbon price to an emissions trading scheme in 2015. He wants an independent regulator to oversee the scheme. During its recent council meeting, the ATA was told diesel prices would increase by 6.75 cents per litre under a carbon price of $25 a tonne. Garnaut says fuel prices will increase by between five and seven cents a litre if a carbon price of $20 to $30 is introduced.

Garnaut says a fixed carbon price can help to provide certainty to businesses and allow them to become familiar with carbon permits. In his updated paper, Garnaut says it is essential the Government gets the price right. “If Australia’s carbon price is set too high – out of step with international action – there could be an unnecessary costly transition,” he says.

“On the other hand, too low a price could impose transactions costs for no real gain. It would not raise the chances of reaching the goals of Australia and the international community.”

Source: ATN (http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/articleid/73171.aspx)

After 20 years of continual UD Truck ownership, Rays Logistics’ catch phrase of “You Call, We Haul” continues to ring true today, as business is booming for the Western Sydney crane truck specialists.
From humble beginnings with a one-ton ute performing local courier work, the husband and wife team of Ray and Roslyn Sariful have grown their business to include five semi trailers and 12 rigids, working a rigorous seven day a week schedule. Rays Logistics has grown hand in hand with Glendenning based Wire Industries, which specialise in the manufacture of various wire and mesh products.

The company however made their start in the steel transport industry by being a sub-contractor for Smorgon Steel, which proved to be hard work prior to the introduction of crane trucks to the fleet. “I got an opportunity with Smorgon Steel, and along with that I got an eight ton UD,” Ray Sariful said. “After subbing for Smorgon’s for four or five years, I bought my first UD with a crane.

“Prior to that, all of the unloading was done by hand, and that was tough work, it’s hard to imagine doing that these days! “Now we’ve been with Wire Industries for 13 years, we started with three trucks, since then the fleet has grown to match the growth in their business.”

As a pioneer in crane trucks, demand for Ray’s services proved high, with Ray’s tray and crane configurations providing an ideal match to client’s needs. The company’s fleet now consists of five prime movers (including four new UD GW470s), six rigids (including two new UD PK10s) and six specialised three-quarter cab rigds.

Although the bulk of their work is in an around Sydney, the prime movers often make longer interstate trips. “I’ve had a good hard look at the competition, and they don’t even come close,” Ray said. “UD’s are built tough, but at the same time you can drive them with your finger tips.
“Between services we never even bother checking the oil, we never top the oil up, we just don’t have to do it. “You just know that between scheduled services that there won’t be any problems. “Everything that goes onto the trucks (parts wise) is genuine, you just can’t go wrong.

“We service the trucks here onsite with parts from UD in at Chullora, because we can’t afford to have them off the road at all. “We service the trucks every 10,000 kilometres, and you can feel the difference in the trucks if you are using genuine and non-genuine parts”

The six UD three-quarter cab units take pride of place in Ray’s fleet, allowing the company to haul steel up to 12 metres in length, three metres longer than on a traditional flatbed. Ray prefers to use rear mounted Palfinger Cranes due to the ease of operation, safety and weight distribution considerations.

“We got our first three-quarter cab in 2003 and haven’t looked back,” Ray said. “It’s really important, because around metro areas, the three-quarter cabs can get to a lot of places you can’t take a semi-trailer. “We have to drop off in a lot of residential areas, so it’s very important.

“Our oldest three-quarter cab has had no major work done to it in the seven years we have had it, it just keeps going and going. “The fantastic thing about the three-quarter cabs is that even after seven years of use, they are still bulletproof, and have a top resale value.

“We have some new ones being built at the moment to replace some of the older trucks in the fleet, it takes three to six months to get a three-quarter cab built up.”
A feature on the new-generation trucks is UD’s SCR emission system, which Ray believes that even in the early stages of a truck’s life provide discernible savings in fuel use.

“The new GW is a massive improvement; it’s basically a big step up over the previous models,” Ray said. “Recently we’ve made a couple of interstate trips, and you can see a fair bit of difference in the fuel economy stakes, even running a fairly high GVM.

“The new GW prime mover is great on fuel, I think the AdBlue system makes a big difference compared to the older model trucks. “It’s easy to top up the AdBlue, and there are definite advantages to using it; the savings on fuel make up the difference to the cost of the AdBlue.”

Apart from the usual rounds transporting steel products, Rays Logistics also carry general freight, pellets and scaffolding. Expansion plans for the future of the business include an imminent move into a new holding yard, which is located only a few hundred metres from the Wire Industries base, featuring near direct access to the M7 Motorway.

Ray remains hands on with the business today, regularly joining his four other prime mover drivers during busy periods.

By Brad Gardner
Governments are being urged to overhaul fatigue management laws as part of a push to establish national trucking regulations.

An expert panel responsible for developing options to achieve uniform truck regulations wants the problematic advanced fatigue management (AFM) scheme revised to make it simpler for industry.

Introduced alongside the basic fatigue management (BFM) and standard hours modules in 2008, AFM was designed to allow operators to develop their own fatigue management plans. It permitted drivers to work up to 16 hours in Queensland and South Australia and 15 hours in NSW and Victoria in extenuating circumstances.

However, the panel claims the current system is too expensive and sets the entry bar too high for trucking operators. It proposes a scheme built around countermeasures that offset fatigue if a driver works more than 12 hours a day.

The panel says scientific evidence shows fatigue-related risks escalate after 12 hours of work, so companies that want drivers to work longer should develop measures to show how the risks will be minimised. “For example, an operator might propose a longer shift time but offset the risk through operating only in daylight hours,” a regulatory impact statement on national heavy vehicle laws released last month says. “The operator might further reduce the risk through mandating a longer rest period before an after this longer shift.”

Unlike the current system, templates will be freely available to operators to develop their own plans, reducing costs and streamlining the application process.

“Industry would have access to approved implementation plans drawn from actual applications or templates rather than starting from scratch and duplicating work across industry,” the impact statement says. The expert panel, which is independent of government and the transport industry, claims AFM applications currently cost between$10,000 and $20,000. Advice from fatigue management experts – a requirement under the application process – is estimated to cost businesses between $10,000 and $12,000.

If accepted, the panel’s proposal will do away with the need to seek advice from fatigue experts. The fatigue authorities panel, which is responsible for approving AFM applications, will be replaced with a “fatigue expert group”.

The expert panel says only 21 operators have been approved since AFM’s inception, well below a 2006 assumption that 11,300 drivers in 5500 fleets would become accredited.ATN reported back in February 2009 on the problems engulfing the AFM scheme.

Despite passing all the necessary compliance and audit requirements, trucking operators’ AFM proposals were still being knocked back by the authorities panel. There were delays in the announcement of fatigue management experts, limiting operators’ ability to organise workplace audits as part of the AFM process.

Provisions originally excluded from AFM were also slotted into the scheme, causing more angst and confusion in the industry.

Source: ATN (http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/top-story.aspx)

By Brad Gardner

NSW is fighting a push to scrap its heavy vehicle ‘three strikes’ policy under national truck regulations despite claims there is no proof it works.

An expert panel established to resolve cross-border regulator inconsistencies has recommended against keeping the NSW scheme when national laws are introduced in 2013.

Unlike other states, NSW suspends a truck’s registration for 28 days if it is caught exceeding the speed limit by 15km/h three times in a three-year period.

“The panel has concluded that there is insufficient empirical data to justify the policy’s inclusion in national law,” the National Transport Commission says in its Heavy Vehicle National Law Draft Regulatory Impact Statement released late last month. The panel rejected NSW claims that less than 15 percent of vehicles that received a first strike went on to receive a second. According to NSW, less than 3.5 percent of vehicles receive a third strike.

“A lack of comparative data and multiple policy variables makes it difficult to establish the success or otherwise of the policy,” the NTC says. The panel believes demerit points and warnings might have been equally effective in reducing the rate of speeding trucks.

“It is arguable that chain of responsibility provisions mirror the intent of ‘three strikes’. The expert panel recommends that ‘three strikes’ not be included in the national law,” the NTC says.

Victoria and South Australia scrapped similar policies, and the NTC says the latter’s experience suggests enforcement was problematic because a vehicle’s information was stored on a database separate to the driver.

“Tracking and correlating data has led to delays in identifying vehicles and prosecution, thereby limiting the policy’s overall effectiveness,” the NTC says. Trucking operators have in the past criticised the scheme, complaining that the Road and Traffic Authority’s (RTA) focus on de-registering a vehicle penalises a company rather than the offending employee.

The department insists the ‘three strikes’ policy is a key component of its heavy vehicle enforcement regime. NSW is also standing by its decision to allow RTA officers to detain defective vehicles.The NTC says the expert panel wants the measure abolished in favour of allowing officers to stop a vehicle until a breach is rectified, but not beyond that. The panel claims the NSW policy might actually restrain trade.

Like its ‘three strikes’ policy, NSW claims the ability to detain vehicles promotes road safety and should be part of national regulations. “However, no empirical evidence has been presented to date that proves enhanced safety outcomes as a direct result of the power,” the NTC says.

“Given the sheer size of some heavy vehicle combinations, the very act of detaining the vehicle might compromise safety as there may be limited availability of places where it may be safely stowed.”

The states and territories have agreed in 2009 to introduce national regulations by 2013. NTC CEO Nick Dimopoulos says a single set of laws will save $12.4 billion over 20 years.“The proposed law will streamline requirements for interstate operators and allow them to focus on growing their business and improving safety, not filling in forms,” he says.

A national regulator will oversee the system and will be based in Queensland with offices throughout Australia. All jurisdictions will be responsible for passing similar laws to ensure national uniformity.

Source: ATN (http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/technical-news/articleid/72872.aspx)

TNT Express employees, contractors and visitors will be bound by new occupational health and safety requirements at the transport operator’s new Perth depot.

TNT has banned smoking at its new $40 million Welshpool facility and installed an automated sorting system to reduce the need to manually lift freight.

Managing Director Bob Black says the company worked closely with its OHS committee to reduce injuries.

“Now we are assessing which initiatives can be rolled out to our other depots around Australia,” he says.

The company’s senior OHS advisor, Darren Wright, says the decision to ban smoking was made after thorough consultation with staff.

“The health benefits achieved by the creation of a smoke-free depot were supported by TNT staff and fully endorsed by the OHS committee,” Wright says.

By Brad Gardner

A subcontractor who walked away from Linfox after it cut his freight rate has returned to work for the transport titan – and he’s named the price.

Owner of Reedmans Retro Roadways Glenn Reedman refused to work for Linfox and publicly criticised the company last year after it reduced rates by up 10 percent under its contract with Carter Holt Harvey.

He feared he would be blacklisted at the time for speaking out, but he says Linfox approached him this year agreeing to pay his going rate. “I managed to broker a deal with Linfox at my price. I’ve been back with them for five or six weeks,” Reedman says.

Linfox faced an angry backlash from owner-drivers last December for reducing rates. Many complained the offer was unsustainable and pursued work elsewhere. Reedman says Linfox struggled to deliver enough trucks to fulfil the contract, prompting it to contact him.

He says it is important transport operators – subcontractors especially – understand their costs and only accept work at sustainable rates. “It’s a high turnover, low leftover business,” Reedman says. “If fuel goes up again I’ll be putting the price up again. If they cut my rate I’m out.”

Despite suffering a short-term financial loss after leaving Linfox, Reedman says he does not regret standing firm on rates. “People don’t realise how much bargaining power they have,” he says.

Under its contract with Carter Holt Harvey, Linfox will manage all transport from the timber company’s mills and distribution centres nationwide until April 2016. Reedman reiterated comments made last year that low pay leads to poor safety because truck drivers will need to work longer and harder to make a living.

If the Federal Government fails to establish its proposed ‘safe rates’ scheme, he says it must educate transporters on how to negotiate contracts.

With operators labouring under notoriously tight margins, Reedman says it is important they maximise profit where possible to remain viable. “I just want to keep doing the job I’ve done for years. It’s what I love. There’s nothing else I would rather do,” he says.

Source: ATN (http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/technical-news/articleid/72847.aspx)

Linfox Logistics, Asia Pacific’s largest privately-owned supply chain solutions company, has purchased 17 T408SAR prime movers – its first Kenworth purchase in more than a decade.

A proven performer in a variety of line haul applications, the new Kenworth trucks join Linfox’s expanding fuel distribution fleet, hauling fuels to 7-Eleven and Caltex depots and service stations along the east coast.

Ray Gamble, Linfox’s President, Fleet and Procurement, says his company is delighted to be working with Kenworth. “Linfox has built its reputation on delivering virtually anything, anywhere and at any time in the region,” Mr Gamble said. “We need trucks that we can depend on; trucks that will work hard – year in, year out – and under the most grueling conditions. That’s why we’re buying Kenworths.

They are highly productive and reliable vehicles that are built in Australia for Australia’s harshest operating environments.” Rated to 70 tonnes, each of Linfox’s T408SARs is configured for 19m fuel tankers and are powered by a Cummins 15-litre ISX engine, producing 500 hp and 1850 lb/ft of torque. The trucks also include an Eaton RoadRanger RTLO20918B 18-speed manual transmission, Dana D46-170 rear axle and Kenworth Airglide 400 suspension.

Mr Gamble says Kenworth’s classic-looking model, which features a set-forward front axle and short bumper-to-back-of-cab length, is a versatile workhorse that’s ideal for Linfox’s fuel business.

“The T408SAR has been intelligently engineered so that it has the maneuverability, visibility and shortened length of a cab-over as well as the improved cab access, serviceability and low-tare weight of a conventional bonneted truck.

“For us, that means a dependable and flexible truck that can handle long, heavy-haulage on interstate freeways just as easily as deliveries on metropolitan streets,” he explained.