Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 358 i Australasian Transport News (ATN)

“Neither case shows our legal and regulatory systems in their finest light” One might call it Dirty Harry Syndrome, where the ‘good guys’, frustrated by a system that allows too many of the ‘bad guys’ off the hook, resort to questionable measures to get their man, woman, company, you name it. Conditioned in part by unending US-based cultural reinforcement, to the delight of many an audience, the anti-hero becomes the hero and is vindicated because, well, that’s what the script-writer wrote. And so, something akin to a vigilante culture emerges, even in Australia, tinged with a competitive streak that treats anything that gets in the way of a win as enemy action. Make no mistake, allowing the ‘bad guys’ even a loose rein, especially in trucking, is not just bad…

There are minor changes at the top of the transport and logistics national political tree, with the re-appointments of infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester and the appointment of Paul Fletcher as the Minister for Urban Infrastructure. Chester gets the added responsibility of being deputy leader of the House of Representatives, while Fletcher gets a portfolio alteration from major projects, territories, and local government. Meanwhile, fresh from having led the push to abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT), employment minister Michaelia Cash has also had more added to her plate, becoming Minister for Women and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service. Michael McCormack replaces Kelly O’Dwyer as the new small business minister, while O’Dwyer has been appointed the new revenue and financial services minister.…

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR’s) handling of national heavy vehicle access reforms is the target of heavy Queensland Audit Office (QAO) flack in its report on the matter. While accepting that the NHVR has improved its stakeholder engagement, improved project management and undertaken a staged release of system changes, the Heavy vehicle road access reforms Report 20: 2015–16 notes that the industry faces “inconsistent processes and decisions for getting a heavy vehicle permit, and the industry has yet to obtain any substantial benefit from the new law with regard to access permit management”. The report also points to something of a Catch 22, whereby urgency to get the new system underway led in part to its failings when going live in early 2014, but the pace of system rectification…

“This is the first criminal charge laid against a corporation under the criminal cartel provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act” ONGOING GLOBAL action against international vehicle transport operators for price fixing has surfaced here. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reports Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) pleaded guilty in the Federal Court to criminal cartel conduct. Roll-on roll-off ship operators have fallen foul of competition authorities since 2012, when the European Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) tackled NYK, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and its subsidiary, Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co (NMCC), along with Norwegian firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) for price fixing between 2008-2012. US class action claimants opened proceedings in the following year. Since then, Compania Sud Americana de Vapores…

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THE TOLL GROUP has announced Françoise Russo as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO) after an extensive international search. Russo has an impressive record working globally in information technology for some of the world’s largest companies. Her global experience has included time working across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America, and she recently relocated to Melbourne before accepting the role. Toll Group managing director Brian Kruger said Russo would bring a global viewpoint as the business embraces new technologies. “We were conscious of the need to find someone who could bring global experience in digital technologies, business transformation, technology innovation and cost controls. We also wanted someone with a proven track record with business stakeholders and leading large technology teams to drive business success,” Kruger…

The Commission handed down the determination after a series of conciliated hearings between the TWU’s NSW branch and representatives from nine industry and employer groups and companies, including: Australian Federation of Employers and Industries (AFEI); Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation’s NSW branch (ARTIO NSW); Australian Industrial Group (AiG’s) NSW branch; Linfox; Mainfreight Distribution; Master Builders’ Association (MBA) of NSW; NSW Business Chamber (NSWBC); TNT Australia; Toll. New rules: The variation not only widened the ambit of coverage, but included changes that affect the obligations of principal contractors and the owner-drivers they engage. The determination sets out stricter rules of record-keeping, with the principal contractor obligated to keep written or electronic records of: • cartage rate schedule • start and finish places and times • hours worked and distance travelled per day…

The other bombshell from the conference to this reporter’s ears was ANZ Bank forecasting the number of trucking operators will drop from 41,000 to 33,000 in the next two decades. ANZ expects most of those operators to be single driver owner-operators. The forecast is regardless of whether any RSRT or something similar exists. With an industry characterised by “fierce competition”, ANZ says its analysis of a sample of nearly 50 private and public companies indicates the bottom quarter of them are running at a loss. “This is not sustainable,” associate director, client insights and solutions with ANZ Tim Suffield says. “This is another reason why there will be more consolidation in the industry. “Forecasts suggest – and it’s not just the ANZ – that there could be up…

“As with CWD figures, SOLAS figures will only state gross mass” With talk of the new Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) changes requiring outbound export shippers to verify a gross mass, it is timely to consider compliance with mass requirements under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and whether SOLAS gross mass or container weight declaration (CWD) figures will provide a defence in all instances. COMPANY PROSECUTED In RMS v Troy Heavy Haulage (2013), the operator of a heavy vehicle, Troy Heavy Haulage, was charged with three offences for breach of mass, dimension and load restraint requirements. The offences arose on September 21, 2012, when Troy’s heavy vehicle collected a shipping container at Port Botany. The container was packed with a load of five forklifts, forks and masts. Among…

There was a time, many years ago, when all I wanted in life was to paint pictures of naked women and starve in a bohemian garret. Apparently the best way to do this is to hang around art gallery openings for the free cask wine and talk about art in breathless hushed tones, (this tends to sound like a couple of giggling five-year-olds trying to blow up a whoopee cushion behind a sofa). Or, alternatively, elaborate expansively on the exhibition with a plastic wine glass in hand while trying not to douse other people with lukewarm moselle. As I found, it’s actually possible to do both. The only bit of that ambition that I had any real success with, however, was the starving bit. One thing I did learn, though,…

“Transport operators will most likely find themselves engaging with telematics in some way” Remember a few years back when those fixed speed cameras gave you a speed reading from the overpass? Apart from highlighting just how inaccurate your car’s speedometer was, they were also one of the first examples of intelligent transport systems or ITS technology on Australian roads. Fast-forward a decade or so and ITS is all around us, from toll points that automatically charge your credit card, to GPS mapping that provides a driver with live traffic conditions. Encompassing telecommunications, sensors and wireless communications, telematics is the next chapter in the Australian road transport story, but keeping pace with fast-moving developments from a governance and regulatory standpoint is an ongoing challenge. INTEGRATION Regulators and road authorities are increasingly…

“Those that acknowledged their involvement have agreed to settle the case. The deals related to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles” THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) has slapped the region’s top European truckmakers with record fines of €2,926,499,000 (A$4.3 billion) for cartel activity over 14 years related to truck pricing and coordinating emissions costs. The EC found that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF broke European Union antitrust rules, however the collusion was not aimed at avoiding or manipulating emission standards. The breakdown includes: Daimler – €1,008,766,000; DAF – €752,679,000; Volvo/ Renault – €670,448,000; Iveco – €494,606,000. The companies are said to have already made financial provisions for the finding. The decision “follows the sending of a Statement of Objections to the trucks producers in November 2014,” the EC says in a statement.…

Australian Container Freight Services (ACFS) has implemented new e-Gate technology across all its empty container facilities. The new Driver@Containerchain application aims at promoting efficiency and reducing time spent manually hiring and releasing containers. Drivers of trucks using the new technology will be able to enter the ACFS container facilities via designated green lanes and without having to exit the vehicles to process paperwork, unlike those not using the e-Gate application. Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) says the initiative will shave significant time off the physical process of hiring and de-hiring containers, and encourages other shipping lines to implement full EDI [electronic data interchange] technology.…

Road transport equipment supplier Bruce Rock Engineering (BRE) has unveiled its new east-coast management to handle its national expansion. Following a move to open offices on the east coast and supply equipment to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania – BRE has now unveiled the appointments of Brenton Deane as east coast general manager and Jason Maxworthy as east coast sales manager. Both bring 20 years of experience; Deane as a senior executive in charge of bus, coach, and road transport businesses and Maxworthy as a heavy vehicle mechanic and salesperson. They will oversee BRE’s growth strategies in the wake of becoming the national distributor for North American OEM Wabash National. “BRE has a solid reputation for designing and building road transport equipment in-house – and following our partnership,…

Australia has become complacent about the road toll, the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport fears. Darren Chester says there needs to be more emphasis on light vehicle driver education, newer trucks and regional roads. Chester, the Member for Gippsland in Victoria, was delivering a keynote address at the Australian Trucking Association’s 2016 conference the Gold Coast which wrapped up on the weekend. “I’m worried that we have become a little bit too complacent about the road toll,” Chester says. “I am worried that we have almost become accepting of the fact that there is a price to pay for a modern transport system and that we’re prepared to pay that price in the order of about 1,200 lives per year. “We don’t talk about it enough at the federal…

‘‘APT now has the most qualified driver workforce in Australia” The National Trucking Industry Awards were presented at the ATA Foundation Sponsors 25th anniversary Gala Awards Dinner on the Gold Coast, part of Trucking Australia 2016. The winners were: Don Watson Memorial Award for conspicuous achievement in furthering the industry’s objectives: Doug McMillan (Wodonga, VIC). Among many achievements, McMillan led the campaign against a Hume Highway bypass of Albury in favour of the four lane freeway through the city, and the construction of the Spirit of Progress bridge across the Murray River. Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Trucking Industry: Bryan Smith, Rocky’s Own Transport (Rockhampton, QLD) Under Smith, Rocky’s Own has been seen a wide range of safety initiatives, including piloting the fatigue management standards that became Advanced Fatigue Management,…

The Takeovers Panel has declined to conduct proceedings in relation to McAleese’s recapitalisation deal. Queensland-based businessman Gilberto Maggiolo’s Havenfresh, a shareholder, applied to the federal peer review body to order a general meeting vote before the proposed rescue deal was finalised. Havenfresh claims that the proposed deal favoured McAleese MD Mark Rowsthorn, while the timing would exert “unacceptable” pressure on existing shareholders to approve the deal. The group also called for the senior debt deal to be delayed until after the shareholders’ meeting and dismissal of Rowsthorn and chairman Don Telford, to be replaced by two new directors. Rejecting the Havenfresh appeal, the panel says the circumstances of the proposed senior debt acquisition were not central to the issues affecting the proposed recapitalisation, adding it was “premature” to conduct the…

THE AUSTRALIAN Trucking Association (ATA) has come down hard on the Transport Workers Union (TWU) after the latter lambasted the national trucking body for siding with the National Transport Commission (NTC) on its speed limit enforcement proposal. While ATA has backed the proposal to immediately ground heavy vehicles if they are caught driving 15km/h or more above the speed limit, the union has been critical of the approach, calling it a “band-aid solution” to underlying problems that force drivers to speed. TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon had earlier attacked ATA and NatRoad for their “conspicuous silence” on issues faced by truck drivers. ATA CEO Christopher Melham clarifies the trucking body’s position on safety, speed enforcement and grounding of heavy vehicles. Melham reiterates that ATA’s submission to the NTC on its…

THE SOUTH Australian government is working to lift Heavy Vehicle National Law roadworthy compliance rates to at least 94 per cent in metropolitan areas. According to figures in the Budget, compliance of heavy vehicles randomly directed into weigh stations was 94 per cent, which will remain the target for the next 12 months. However, the rate for “heavy vehicles inspected at targeted roadside inspections for compliance with the requirements of the Heavy Vehicle National Law” was 67 per cent. According to the SA Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), targeted inspections take place in “areas of known non-compliance”. “We are tackling this two ways, greater on-road enforcement in the metro area specifically focused on roadworthy and the introduction of a heavy vehicle inspection scheme,” a spokesperson tells ATN. The…

Mersey II will have two crews, each of 14 people that will be led by experienced Bass Strait masters, who alternate on board in four-weekly cycles. The SeaRoad Group has approximately 400 employees The cargo capacity of Mersey II is 6750 tonnes – up from 2700 tonnes from the old ship. It can travel at 20.5 knots, whereas Mersey – which has been running since April 1991 – uses heavy fuel oil at 16 knots. SeaRoad Tamar has also been operating since 1991 at 16 knots, with a cargo capacity of 3750 tonnes. The ship’s construction was formally recognised at the laying of the keel on February 29, with Kelly placing newly-minted coins under the keelblock to bless the ship and as a symbol of good fortune. Liquefied natural gas…

Trucking Australia 2016 had sessions on a wide range of issues, including road user charges, contracts, industry training, driverless vehicles, chain of responsibility, and the Trucksafe accreditation scheme. We will bring you more on these topics in future issues. However, in terms of hard news, it’s hard to go past the presentation by tax services giant Deloitte, which announced it is challenging the Australian Tax Office in court over the fuel tax being charged on trucks and buses when they drive on toll roads. Deloitte says if successful, the case could set a huge precedent for far more than just the heavy vehicle industry. The argument is likely to turn on whether a toll road is deemed to be a “public road” or not. All vehicles currently pay…

There’s sure to be the opinion in some minds, including this one, that the Actros tag would do the new range no favours. None at all. To put it bluntly, it is not a name that carries any great affection or iconic status with the vast bulk of Australian truck operators. And for good reason. No sooner had the original Actros been launched on the Australian market in 1998 – barely two years after its European debut and with minimal local testing –problems started to emerge. Big problems. One after the other. In a brazenly ambitious move to take the trucking world by storm, Benz had packed Actros with a glut of new technology, and when that technology started to suffer teething problems, the snowball effect was overpowering.…

No matter how deep you dig, it’d be hard to find a truck model that has copped more competitive assaults than the seemingly ageless ACCO. The iconic ACCO has endured like no other, first under the International banner and now Iveco. Still, despite decades of resilience and, likewise, its vital and ongoing role in the viability of Iveco’s local manufacturing operation, ACCO’s place in the market is today a shadow of what it once was. Back in the days of International, for instance, it was a mainstay of the medium-duty single-drive rigid market. The Japanese, however, ultimately killed ACCO’s vast volumes with trucks that were better specified and, in most cases, more durable. Consequently, for many years it seemed the only place where the battle-hardened workhorse would retain its historic…

“While the need to tackle driver fatigue within the... industry seems obvious, it’s difficult to enforce” Managing driver fatigue is a crucial safety aspect in the transport industry and this has been reflected by an increase in legislative pressure. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 indicates that everybody from business owners to drivers is part of the Chain of Responsibility. So, how can transport operators ensure drivers are taking adequate breaks? While the need to tackle driver fatigue within the road transport industry seems obvious, it’s difficult to enforce. This is where data and technology can provide the solution. The latest message coming from the National Transport Commission (NTC) is that regulation of driver fatigue is a complex policy issue and more research needs to be done on its…

Renault Kangoo Engine: 1.6-litre, four-cylinder, petrol, 1.5-litre diesel Power & Torque: 79kW (106hp), 148Nm Transmission: Auto, five-speed manual Payload: 800kg Our view: Value, great to drive but a tad difficult to look at Citroen Berlingo Engine: 1.6-litre, four-cylinder, petrol Power & Torque: 80kW (107hp), 147Nm Transmission: five-speed manual Payload: 850kg Our view: Also value, but dealer network and drivetrain need work Fiat Doblo Engine: 1.6-litre diesel auto Power & Torque: 66kW (89hp), 200Nm Transmission: Auto, six-speed manual Payload: 659kg Our view: Grunty engine, though handling and automated gearbox lag some what Suzuki APV Engine: 1.6-litre, four-cylinder, petrol, multi-point…