Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 403 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 If the bushfire crisis was a stern test of resilience for many trucking companies in most states, the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic continues to be of a different order of magnitude. And while the fires were a flaming crescendo that years of drought had set up, at least the slow, awful grind of the dry years gave rural trucking a grounding in how to get hay to where it was needed most and others to deliver the rest. Covid-19 plays by different rules and its coming rose without a trace. Rather like a tsunami, where the first hint of trouble comes when the tide goes out in a way…

The federal government’s proposed $130 billion JobKeeper employee payment scheme is greeted very positively by peak transport industry bodies. Both Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) and the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) give support for the subsidy that aims to help employers keep around six million workers in jobs and which is expected to have the support of all parties. Now passed by Parliament, the JobKeeper Payment will consist of a flat payment of $1,500 per fortnight paid through the employer, before tax, and involve companies hit significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic impact. The payment ensures eligible employers remain connected to their workforce and will help businesses restart quickly when the crisis is over. Earlier, HVIA chief executive Todd Hacking urged all sides of the Parliament to come together. "The…

The limits of politicians' fine intentions, confusion engendered by federation and short-sighted actions in closing facilities truck drivers need to operate safely during the pandemic are all coming into focus. Probably the most poignant and recent intervention is from Glen Cameron, founder of the Victorian-headquartered transport company that bears his name, in an open letter. It reads: To our Customers, Firstly, we appreciate your extensive support and engagement of the Cameron Group during this very challenging period. We all acknowledge the importance of logistics and freight during these times and its integral role in supporting Australia and Australians. I wanted to take this opportunity to request your consideration of a specific issue that has become prevalent across the country. Our drivers are experiencing a growing number of access bans and…

Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) has joined pleas from all sides for certain members of the public to stop ‘panic buying’ basic, everyday food and grocery items in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. This is rapidly stripping stock from supermarket shelves and placing further pressure on overwhelmed truck operators. RFNSW points out the constant, unnecessary rush on goods was creating massive ‘choke points’ across local supply chains, with supermarkets struggling to restock their shelves. "Supermarkets and distribution centres (DCs) have now become the major bottlenecks for truck operators," chief executive Simon O’Hara explains. "What used to take 35-50 minutes – and 90 minutes for a B-double – at a DC to load a truck for a supermarket delivery, is now taking up to five-six hours. "And given that most supermarket…

A New South Wales Supreme Court case highlights why an employee should not leave a company only to establish a rival business with a trove of confidential information for competitive gain. Terence O’Sullivan and Kaitlyn Leahey, who departed Smartways Logistics in 2018 to set up a direct competitor, Just-Medical Logistics, must now pay $405,000 plus interest in costs and part ways with such information. The court heard that Smartways, led by CEO Marcus Wyborn, is a medical and healthcare transport and logistics business with 13 staff and a network of 100 owner-drivers. It alleged O’Sullivan and Leahy misused confidential information about its clients, suppliers, contractor drivers, and business method information, including rates and driver fleet management tools. Smartways relied on analyses of phone and email records and digital forensic examination…

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) reports a compliance notice it issued to a New South Wales-based transport company to back-pay three employees $110,359 has been reinforced by the Federal Circuit Court following an appeal. This marks the third publicised action against a transport and logistics firm in as many months in the first quarter of the year by the ombudsman. The compliance notice to Hana Express Group Pty Ltd (Hana Express) applied to three employees who were involved in loading and delivering tyres at various locations in Sydney and Newcastle. Hana Express applied to have the notice, which rules the company must now back pay the employees in full, reviewed by the court. FWO explains the notice was issued in April 2018 after an inspector believed Hana Express had contravened…

Andrew Assimo has been appointed the director of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Australia Pacific. Daimler Truck and Bus president and CEO Daniel Whitehead has no doubts that Assimo is the best person for the role, which covers the Australian and New Zealand markets. “Andrew has played a key role in establishing Mercedes-Benz as the premier heavy duty cab-over brand for smart business operators in Australia and we are confident he can guide the brand to even greater success,” Whitehead says. “He has a close relationship with our Mercedes-Benz customers, having helped them improve their businesses during the last few years, and we know they will be pleased with this appointment.”…

WARREN CLARK is NatRoad’s chief executive officer NatRoad is committed to helping members navigate the uncertainties created by the current economic and social crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). The viability of road transport operations is critical so that essential deliveries throughout society can continue and we want to make sure that our members stay in business. We have been focusing on two fronts. The first is to send the message to Australian governments that reduction of transport operators’ fixed costs must be targeted: temporarily halting toll costs; suspending the fuel-based road user charge; and large state-based registration charges are measures which would assist especially smaller operators to weather the virus-induced economic storm. That is a message we have pressed in our formal and informal representations to governments.…

BRENDAN RICHARDS KPMG national sector leader, transport & logistics Transport and logistics operators must keep delivering food and products throughout the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, however it won’t be business as usual. There are new issues to face now, and considerations to make for the future. As essential services, transport, logistics and supply chain operators must continue to function throughout the Covid-19 crisis. Operators are under pressure to deliver, while also navigating fast-changing consumer demands and new regulatory constraints. Border closures will mean reduced access to international air/shipping freight and potentially delay and bottleneck the flow of goods throughout domestic road/rail networks. There is a real need for industry and government leadership to remove any factors that might slow down or impact on freight moved across the country. There are immediate impacts…

■ Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman’s pointed complaint about council heavy-duty truck curfews hindering restocking of supermarket shelves, in a disjointed story from the Parliament House press gallery, garnered the usual ‘why of why’ and ‘nanny state’ responses. Almost all displayed deep ignorance of transport and logistics and the supply chain, for which we can blame education ministers and those who vote for their parties – all of them. But then, oddly, there was the poster with the moniker ‘Thyucidides’. Obviously an educated type, Greek or both, Thyucidides (look him up) knew the difference between truck sizes and showed a keen eye for alternative propulsion and adding a link to SEA Electric – twice: “3 and 5 tonne trucks don’t have exhaust brakes … these are only referring…

An unlikely alliance of supply chain parties has agreed on a unified approach to the Covid-19 crisis, which would see a deferral of enterprise bargaining in place of additional government measures to protect the road transport industry. A roundtable involving a wide spectrum of employee and employer representatives, including the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO), National Road Freighters Association (NRFA), and retailers, agree on the following wishlist for industry: • designate transport as an essential service • banks adopt a "debt holiday" on mortgages, business loan interest and penalty interest • payroll tax relief such as business activity statement (BAS) and pay as you go (PAYG) deferral • deferral or caps on tolls • deferral on commercial vehicle registration fees • government assistance through Newstart…

Eastern states are gradually allowing a relaxation in emergency measures to allow long-haul truck drivers to use crucial roadhouse amenities without the threat of police action. This was in response to a March 24 National Cabinet coronavirus action agreement to start the next day related to restrictions on restaurants and cafes, with exceptions provided for takeaway services and home delivery. "This captured roadhouse and rest stop facilities that provide meal and hygiene facilities for the trucking industry," the federal government says. "On the 30 March 2020, the National Cabinet agreed to exempt these facilities from the non-essential services restrictions and allow these facilities to continue supplying their services to heavy vehicle drivers." What is seen by stakeholders as a tardy response to a National Cabinet agreement weeks ago is still…

Victorian ports minister Melissa Horne has reacted with irritation to stevedore DP World Australia’s (DPWA) decision to make adjustments and hikes to container access charges and penalties in the midst of the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis. This is Horne’s second intervention on the subject since the release of its contentious Deloitte draft report on port charges and the third by a state ports minister, with New South Wales’ David Constance and Western Australia’s Alannah MacTiernan having vented frustration at actions surrounding container access charging. "This decision is unacceptable – especially at a time when everyone should be pulling together to keep freight moving," Horne says. "We’re working hard to boost landside efficiency at the Port of Melbourne to get goods on and off ships quicker to help drive down costs –…

Following two years as Volvo Bus Australia’s general manager, Lauren Downs is to leave this position as a result of a new truck appointment within the Volvo Group – effective May 1, 2020 – the company has announced. Downs is to assume the position of vice president – UD Trucks sales at this time, Volvo Bus confirms, and will succeed Mark Strambi following his decision to retire. Her extensive experience with Volvo Bus started when still studying at university before spending four years from 2008 as a sales and marketing coordinator. Downs was global sales and competence development manager in Gothenburg at Volvo Bus Headquarters before moving to Volvo Bus East Asia in Singapore as commercial development director. Returning to Volvo Bus Australia in 2017, Downs was a major accounts…

The coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic has demanded much of transport and logistics companies, particularly but not exclusively those with an urban trucking exposure. Some have seen demand for their services dwindle as their customers deal with a lack of business of their own. Others have had to expand their scope in short order as normal social behaviour gave way to something altogether more febrile and unexpected. The latter – infamously manifested in panic-buying and hoarding, thereby putting huge strains on supply chains not designed to cope with them – is being explained as a reaction to uncertainty. And uncertainty was recognised as poison by transport and logistics companies as it became plain that calm and logistically consistent reassurance was a powerful antidote. Indeed, though it is impossible to know for certain,…

Heavy vehicle operators are being urged to ensure their operations remain safe as unprecedented demand puts pressure on freight supply chains. National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) CEO Sal Petroccitto says operators should remain vigilant of their Chain of Responsibility obligations and avoid putting drivers under undue pressure. "We’re concerned by reports that drivers are under increased pressure to meet deadlines," Petroccitto says. "We need to avoid situations where drivers are being forced to exceed their work and rest hours or ignore poor load restraint practices." South Australian Police assistant commissioner Ian Parrott says police had already taken action against some operators caught breaking the law. "While most drivers are doing the right thing, we are still seeing a number of examples where drivers are taking unnecessary risks," Parrott says. "Recent…

Ron Finemore Transport has hailed a landmark fatigue study as a vindication of its truck-driver safety technology policy. The world-first study saw researchers from Monash University’s Accident Research Centre (MUARC), in partnership with Seeing Machines, Ron Finemore Transport (RFT) and Volvo Trucks Australia, test fatigue prevention and driver-monitoring technology. The Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) was particularly vocal on the subject last year and the year before and was involved with testing SmarCap, SkyNet, Seeing Machines and DriveCam technologies with fleets in the state on highways and around the Port of Brisbane. The latests tests were conducted in working trucks and in a new purpose-built truck simulator based at MUARC to measure truck driver performance. MUARC says Monash researchers conducted tests on 74 truck drivers under different conditions, using Big Data…

In a scenario inconceivable just a few months ago, recently departed Toll Group managing director Michael Byrne has been tapped by the federal government to lead its Covid-19 export freight recovery effort. The $110 million International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) aims to help the agricultural sector recoup shortfalls caused by Covid-19 by exporting its produce into key overseas markets, with return flights bringing back medical supplies, medicines and equipment. Byrne has been appointed IFAM’s international freight coordinator general. He is tasked with aiding the federal trade and investment agency Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) establish arrangements with exporters, airlines, freight forwarders and industry bodies plus oversee the mechanism’s operations – including advising the government of destinations, freight selection and prioritisation. IFAM will initially focus on the key markets of…

Penske Transportation Group International has rebranded its Australian operations at an enterprise level, combining the Penske Commercial Vehicles and Penske Power Systems operations under Penske Australia, effective March 1. As part of this rebranding, Penske Power Systems MD Hamish Christie-Johnston has been appointed managing director of Penske Australia. According to the group, aligning Penske’s internal systems and departments will drive operational efficiencies and enhance the product and service offering. “I am excited to lead Penske Australia going forward,” Christie-Johnston says. “We have an outstanding team of people that are focused on delivering innovative solutions and improved service.”…

GEOFF CROUCH chairs the Australian Trucking Association Everything on the supermarket shelves, the fuel in our petrol stations and the medicine in our hospitals and pharmacies are delivered by trucks. Every single person in the community relies on trucks to get their essential goods. The last few weeks have reminded every Australian of this truth. Our truck drivers carry daily life in our country, but they don’t do it alone. They are supported by the schedulers, loaders, forkies, logistics managers, mechanics and all the other people who make up our industry. Our vital role is a key point that the Australian Trucking Association is making to governments. Together with our member associations, we collectively represent the businesses and people of the Australian trucking industry. We are committed to safety, professionalism…

BEN SEWELL is principal at specialist law firm and consultancy Sewell & Kettle Transport companies need to get smart to survive. There is no room for sloppiness. Stress factors in the industry include low barriers to entry, significant financing costs, locked-in contracts, poor strategy and poor financial controls. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) data and anecdotal cases back up these factors as causes of insolvency in the transport industry. So, the message for transport and logistics managers is to avoid focusing too much on the legal test for insolvency, instead focus on warning signs that will show long before insolvency becomes a risk. Smart transport companies must set themselves up right, avoid toxic clients and staff, carefully identify their margins and seek early advice on business support if they are…