Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 401 i Australasian Transport News (ATN)

ROB McKAY has been a journalist for more than three decades, with the last 25 years focused on national and international freight transport In journalism, plagiarism is a sin. Well, Forward Vision will avoid sinning by the application of attribution. The following is Ron Finemore Transport’s position on the issues besetting the industry, as presented by general manager Scott Finemore to the Senate transport committee’s ongoing trucking probe. Why run it, in what is a vanishingly rare occurrence for this column? Because it’s as succinct and incisive a summing up of major challenges to the industry as we’ve seen recently. We fervently hope the powers that be read it. “My list of challenges: to take a next step in improving safety we need to get some broader settings right to…

Early concern that caravanners and other large recreational vehicle drivers would fail to appreciate new rules at northern New South Wales truck stops has been soothed by Transport for NSW (TFNSW). Initial images showed small warnings signs but TFNSW has now provided an image of larger additional signage. It has also opened a page on its website with more details about the northern NSW trial. The web page includes a frequently asked questions section that confirms there is to be four-hour parking restrictions for light and recreational vehicles in the general parking areas, aimed at deterring those camping in rest areas. There is no parking in heavy vehicle spaces for vehicles weighing in at less than 12 tonnes and the current penalty is $114. "Roads are a heavy vehicle driver’s…

A second serious truck roll-away incident in NSW in the past seven months has prompted an alert from the state’s safety watchdog. SafeWork NSW reports a 51-year-old man was crushed by his truck in Marsden Park when it rolled down a slope as he was hitching a dog-trailer to it. Inspectors responded to the incident and began an investigation to determine its circumstances. SafeWork reminds businesses of their duty to identify hazards and manage risks to health and safety in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Act, including implementing ‘reasonably practicable’ control measures to manage the risks associated with uncontrolled movements of vehicles. It advises operators ensure they: • park the vehicle on level ground, or be aware of the limitations of the vehicle and what to do when…

Melbourne’s Smart Freight Partnership – Inner West (SFPIW) likely failed due to timing and the lack of the sort of incentives that would attract affected trucking companies, especially small ones, according to experts. One expert reflects that other emissions-related discrimination between types of truck that are otherwise run legally have failed in the past. It is also pointed out that the plan gave little incentive or financial support to help small operators and owner-drivers to modernise and that this sort of carrot had been the feature of similar initiatives around ports in other countries, particularly Los Angeles in the US. The plan’s rejection was greeted with deep disappointment and suspicion by suburban resident action groups in the city struggling with their own heavy vehicle traffic. Resolve Rosanna Road (RRR), which…

The Victorian government and, by extension, those of other states, are warned they risk cementing a "new normal" of unconstrained supply chain costs if they fail to regulate container access charges. The recent state government and Port of Melbourne-hosted round-table heard that entities such as stevedores and empty container parks will continue to collect significant revenue from the road and rail transport sectors rather than negotiating pricing with their contracted shipping line clients. Paul Zalai, director of Freight & Trade Alliance/Australian Peak Shippers’ Association (FTA/APSA), which is part of an alliance that includes Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) reports the gathering was told that "as correctly identified in the review, these costs cascade down the supply chain with the addition of administrative fees, resulting in further inflated costs ultimately paid…

A company that was able to repay one of its directors a $100,000 personal loan but argued it could not afford to pay two employees under $12,000 in redundancy entitlements has had its application thrown out by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). ‘Company A’, under a confidentiality order, asked to reduce the redundancy entitlements of two former employees to nil on grounds of incapacity to pay. The two respondents were notified on December 6 that their employment was terminated effective December 20. The FWC determined the company was required to pay entitlements as it was not considered a ‘small business employer’, and both respondents were employed for at least 12 continuous months. The first respondent, employed for 18 months, was entitled to four weeks’ redundancy at $3,731.60, while the second…

Specialist transport and logistics insurer NTI Ltd has appointed Jason Chappell as state manager – Victoria/Tasmania. This position follows Chappell’s most recent tenure as regional manager southern states, encompassing all but New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory, for Suncorp Stores and Specialty Bank. He brings 17 years of experience in sales and distribution advisory roles across insurance and banking.. “It has been so refreshing to feel the energy behind the brand and NTI proposition, as I have moved through the operation over my first few weeks,” Chappell says. “Clearly there is a very strong passion for our products and customers, and this is evident in every level of the organisation. “I’m thrilled to be part of the NTI community and really energised to be a key contributor to…

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WARREN CLARK is NatRoad’s chief executive officer Some of the questions employers have around rostered days off (RDOs) are: WHAT ARE THEY? When, how and why should a company provide RDOs? What are the alternatives? In this article, we’ll tackle some of these tricky questions and provide you with what you need to know in making the right decision for providing RDO to your employees. Do we have to provide RDOs to our drivers? If your employees are covered under an Award, then the answer is “yes”. In road transport, there are two main awards that cover work in the road freight industry: the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2010 (Long Distance Award); and the Road Transport and Distribution Award, 2010 (Distribution Award). Apart from criteria such as distance…

Ken Hughes has been running Tas Star Transport, formerly known as Kellara Transport, out of Rocherlea in Tasmania since 1990. Twelve years ago, on July 1, 2008 – the day he returned from a seven-month long caravan trip around Australia with his wife, one of his drivers ran a prime mover with an excavator in tow into a railway overpass, causing damage. The driver and company were sued for damages for negligence by the State of Tasmania, with Hughes subsequently taking up third-party proceedings; claiming an indemnity from National Transport Insurance (NTI). According to Barry Nilsson Lawyers, NTI had relied on three exclusion causes to deny indemnity: conveying an excess load; an unsafe or unroadworthy condition; and reckless non-compliance with regulations. The driver and company admitted the trailer was overloaded…

Did Isuzu Australia chief operating officer Andrew Harbison have any advance notice of what was announced on December 18 last year, that Volvo and Isuzu had formed a strategic alliance which involves the transfer of UD ownership to Isuzu? His answer was immediate: “None at all. It was obviously a very closely guarded secret.” In fact, Harbison even admits to a twinge of annoyance that someone in Japan didn’t at least provide him with a ‘heads up’ that something big was about to break in the hours before the announcement. But any annoyance was soon sedated by thoughts of what it might all mean. “When I stopped and thought about it, I’d never connected the two brands, Volvo and Isuzu, but it makes some sense,” he suggests, inferring that both…

Telematics has been a buzzword in the transport industry for some time. But as pressure mounts from compliance officers and safety regulators to provide improved transport services, companies are turning to telematics as a must-have to bring about broader business success. MANAGING WHAT YOU MEASURE Telematics provides real-time data on specific driver behaviours such as speeding, hard braking, hard acceleration, hard turning and idling. Using this data, managers are able to pinpoint areas where drivers can improve their services. They can then ensure the areas that need improvement are imminently addressed, while also encouraging awareness about the importance of safety. BETTER FUEL EFFICIENCY Improving driver habits has a significant impact on fuel efficiency, as less speeding, braking and acceleration reduces fuel consumption. Smoother rides also increase safety and passenger comfort,…

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is to embark on a thorough investigation into trucking-related safety, starting in the coming weeks. The probe is foreshadowed in a post-draft submission to the Productivity Commission’s (PC’s) heavy vehicle reform review and it is hoped the findings can give an early indication of how recent reforms are performing. "In early 2020 … the NHVR will investigate the implementation of safety duties and culture throughout the transport industry as part of the heavy vehicle industry safety survey," the submission states. An NHVR spokesperson confirms it will begin in the coming weeks and will utilise an external organisation for the survey. Meanwhile, the PC is fielding a rush of post-draft submissions, with 25 lobbing so far this month. The 12 month review was called to…

Following feedback and industry interest, a fact sheet has been developed with information on heavy vehicle speed limiter checks undertaken by Transport for NSW (TFNSW) inspectors, the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) reports. Under NSW road transport law, the maximum speed limit for a vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of more than 4.5 tonnes is 100km/h. Under Australian Design Rule (ADR) 65, certain larger heavy vehicles are limited to a maximum road speed limit of 100km/h, typically controlled by software installed by engine manufacturers. "Transport for NSW’s Compliance Operations inspectors undertake heavy vehicle Engine Control Module (ECM) checks to ensure that heavy vehicles comply with the maximum road speed limit," the document states. "Inspectors use original equipment manufacturer software to analyse the ECM for noncompliance, current settings and…

SafeWork NSW is urging employers to manage the risks associated with truck maintenance, particularly when young or inexperienced workers are involved, after the death of an 18-year-old worker near Dubbo recently. The apprentice auto electrician died in an incident at a workshop in Brocklehurst mid-January. SafeWork says the young worker was found trapped between the cab of the truck and its engine. "SafeWork NSW is investigating an incident on January 15 where an 18-year-old apprentice auto electrician died after becoming trapped between the cab of a truck and its engine, at a workshop in Brocklehurst, north of Dubbo," a spokesperson tells ATN. "SafeWork is preparing a report for the coroner." In its incident report, SafeWork reminds businesses to implement ‘reasonably practicable’ control measures to manage the risks associated with working…

Busy Victorian ports and freight minister Melissa Horne has approved a Port of Melbourne (POM) proposal that aims to develop a new on-dock rail terminal at Swanson Dock East. The move is a key element of the Port Rail Transformation Project (PTRP) and the announcement comes as POM releases its Our Plan for Rail 2020 document. Locating this new rail terminal next to the Swanson Dock East International Container Terminal is expected to provide a lower cost transfer of containers between rail and ships. However, the mechanism has its critics and tensions about how state government is going about this sort of funding was revealed at the ports industry roundtable meeting that also discussed the Deloitte container access and port pricing review draft. While the government representatives extended an opportunity…

The Transport Workers Union of New South Wales (TWU NSW) and the Fairfield City Council (FCC) are at loggerheads over issues surrounding a concrete agitator driver who was fined for unsafe parking. With efforts to contact a representative of the driver’s contractor, Holcim Australia Readymix (Holcim), proving futile, that avenue for clarification is presently closed. What is plain is that FCC is unready to accept it is exposed in any way to TWU NSW charges that it had a responsibility to provide a traffic management plan that would have avoided the outcome where a council ranger fined the driver. "The infringement notice was issued due to the positioning of the truck on the road, which posed a safety risk for the public and traffic," an FCC spokesperson says. "The contractor…

Scan Global Logistics (SGL) acquires smaller Australian rival Pioneer International Logistics (PIL), strengthening its footprint in this country. SGL, which has offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth sees Sydney-headquartered PIL as uniquely positioned in the Australian market with a "strong market presence, proven business model and impressive growth since inception in 2010". The freight services and supply chain management firm underlines that acquisition of PIL, its second acquisition in 18 months, is a "very important step forward, strengthening Scan Global Logistics Australia and the organisation more broadly". "Scan Global Logistics has been present in Australia since 1998, and in 2018 initiated an ambitious expansion into the Australian logistics market with the acquisition of Kestrel Freight and Customs," SGL Pacific Region CEO Søren Madsen says. "With the acquisition of Pioneer International…

Clint Latta has been appointed head of trade and policy at the Freight and Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA). A senior advisory role, Latta will chair the newly created Import Reference Group, providing representation on key government and industry committees, advocating on reform initiatives, and preparing formal submissions, member updates and commentaries. Latta is founder of consultancy service the Compliant Group, and will continue as managing director there. He has previous experience as compliance manager at Austin International Trade Services, along with consultancy roles at Big Four accountancy firms KPMG and Price-WaterhouseCoopers. “Clint is recognised as a leading Australian trade compliance specialist and will add significant experience and skills to the FTA/APSA team,” FTA notes.…

GEOFF CROUCH chairs the Australian Trucking Association The importance of strong safety standards, fair payments for small businesses, improving truck rest areas, driver training and road safety have all been highlighted in the release of new global safety guidelines. In September 2019, I was selected to represent Australian and New Zealand truck and bus businesses at the United Nation’s International Labour Organization’s expert meeting in Geneva, joining experts from around the world to develop the new code of practice and guidelines on best practice in road transport safety. It was an honour to be invited and hosted as a guest of the International Labour Organization, which presented the valuable opportunity to raise important safety issues while gaining insightful input from world safety leaders. Road transport is critical to the economy…

BRENDAN RICHARDS Brendan Richards is KPMG national sector leader, transport & logistics The global population is predicted to hit nine billion by 2050 and two out of every three of these people will be living in cities. The story in Australia is much the same – 40 million people and two-thirds of us in the cities. Little wonder, then, that construction is already one of Australia’s, and the world’s, largest sectors, and it is only going to get bigger. But that presents a massive logistics challenge. On the surface, construction looks simple. Just bring in what you need to the site – trades, materials, local authorities, clients, architects, engineers, geologists… Hang on, this is already getting complicated! Then add to the mix the complexities of the project itself such as…

If Joachim Rosenberg doesn’t play poker, then he probably should. Across a table in a quiet upstairs meeting room at UD headquarters in Japan late last October, he sat confident, considerate and calmly poker-faced as questions were dealt. Simple enough questions at first, but as the interview moved up a few notches and Isuzu came casually into the discussion, his manner and mannerisms didn’t flinch. Not one iota. It was much the same in mid-December, when he visited Australia for a media event at the handover of a big batch of UD Quons to Linfox chairman Peter Fox. Despite the pleasantries and the plaudits, there was absolutely nothing to even remotely hint that little more than a week later, massive moves would be announced. It’s questionable whether even Peter Fox…

If you ask anyone in the earthmoving industry what makes a great Expo, most would agree that it’s seeing equipment innovations and new technologies that are going to save time and money, plenty to entertain the family and a well organised, relaxed environment. Since it was established in 2015, Diesel Dirt & Turf Expo has been improved year-on-year and continues to attract many thousands of people who come with great expectations and are never disappointed. This annual opportunity for the industry to show its best at the great Panthers Penrith venue has fast become a favourite for anyone involved in the earthmoving and construction industry. Visitors enjoy meeting and greeting with everyone from small local suppliers right up to key industry players, distributors, technical and engineering staff, and many representatives…

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) safety and compliance officers are being issued body-worn cameras (BWCs) after a recent trial in South Australia and Tasmania. The BWC is a portable camera worn by NHVR officers to capture audio and video recordings of interactions between officers and those involved in heavy vehicle transport activities. The regulator also points to important safety benefits by encouraging safe and mutually respectful interactions, with the cameras to be worn during intercepts and evidence-gathering activities by all NHVR officers in SA, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania. NHVR officers will notify drivers and operators at the start of the interaction that the camera is capturing audio and video recordings. Footage from BWCs can be used as evidence in court, and for investigative purposes. "BWCs are now commonplace for…

Some of the most distinguished representatives of a sector pivotal to the national economy – transport and logistics – are recognised in this year’s Australia Day honours. Those becoming a member (AM) in the general division include Toll Group’s former senior leader John Mullen, now Telstra chairman. The former boss of Asciano is a one-time global chief executive officer of DHL Express and was CEO of TNT Express Worldwide 1984–1994. Though his background has a strong healthcare component, an AM also goes to George Savvides, who was on the Kings Group board 2016–2018. Vincent Tremaine gains an AM for significant service to shipping infrastructure and freight transport. Tremaine was a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) board member 2012–2018. He was notably Flinders Port Holdings CEO 2002–2018 and Toll Ports and…

Western Roads Federation (WRF) welcomes a funding allocation for a training pilot to tackle Western Australia's transport personnel shortage. Its whole-of-life solution for Western Australia is the recipient of $1.6 million training pilot following an announcement by Senator Michaelia Cash. "Western Roads Federation, in partnership with WA’s Training Course Experts (TCE), developed a pilot program that will provide young people wanting to enter the workforce with real training and real world job experience in WA’s transport and logistics sector," WRF CEO Cam Dumesny says in a statement. "Funding of this program adds yet another stage to Western Roads Federation multi-staged industry training plan … a comprehensive plan that aims that intends to address all stages of a career." WRF notes the plan recognises and adopts initiatives by the other states,…

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) accuses Amazon of safety shortcomings for its Flex initiative, newly launched in Australia. The TWU deplores the advent of AF, now extant in New South Wales and Victoria, and reiterates its call for gig economy regulation, but the global retail and services firm says regulations are already in place. "Australians should not underestimate the very real public safety risk ruthless and exploitative operators like Amazon Flex pose," TWU national secretary Michael Kaine says, pointing to a New York Times investigation that identifies more than 60 accidents and 10 deaths since 2015 involving Amazon delivery contractors. That such contractors use their own vehicles is also criticised. "There are licensing standards for a reason – road transport is the deadliest industry in terms of workplace deaths with…

Heavy vehicle equipment concern SAF Holland Australia has made Mario Colosimo its managing director, effective on February 3. Colosimo, who has more than 35 years’ experience in the sale, supply and manufacturing of road freight transport equipment and componentry, will report to the company’s president for Asia Pacific, India and China, Mike Ginocchio. Vice president of Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA), Colosimo has also been dealer principal at MaxiTrans NSW and GM of Byrne Trailers. An engineering graduate and the 2010 Don Watson Memorial Award winner, Colosimo started in trailers, becoming Tieman Industries’ chief engineer before moving to a broad and multifaceted senior management position at BPW Transpec then the role of general manager of MaxiTrans arm Freighter.in 2013.…

Resources logistics firm Bis has launched a new strategy and development portfolio to be headed by mining technology and operations executive Todd Peate. Peate joins from Orica after 10 years at the commercial explosives company, where he held strategic and operational roles including president director of Indonesia, vice president of global marketing and, most recently, vice president Australia Pacific. Peate’s responsibilities include the delivery of Bis’ innovation pipeline, business development and corporate development activities, and corporate affairs and marketing. CEO Brad Rogers says the appointment comes at an important time for the company. “Todd joining the business will open up even greater opportunities for expansion to new markets and geographies, for step-out innovations as well as building on the existing momentum we’ve generated in the resource logistics space, through proprietary…

ROZ SHAW is Head of Transport at international insurance broker Gallagher, and the former CEO of Hawkins Road Transport Pty Ltd. Road transport dominates Australia’s freight sector and demand is projected to double by 2030, but profit margins are tight and some companies are recording drops in revenue while others have entered insolvency. With average profitability for the industry estimated at around 6 per cent, staying in the black is a balancing act. According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission 2017–18 stats, 379 companies in the transport, warehousing and postal industries entered insolvency, mainly due to inadequate cash flow. Even large companies like Redstar and Toll have been affected. “The transport industry is under intense pressure from retailers and manufacturers at the top of the supply chain, which involves squeezing…