Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 448 i Deals On Wheels Australia

In November 2016, a tally of 3,070 tipped the yearly new truck sales figure over the 32,000 mark and annual records for the decade were being set. The comparable numbers three years on are still slightly better, with 3,080 (only a dip of two on October) taking the year to 34,712 deliveries. Context is everything, however, and the enthusiasm of recent times, especially during 2018’s peak (38,173), has eroded. While overall still better than 2017 (33,352), each segment continues to track below that year’s latter months’ figures as this calendar year draws to a close. The results reflect the recent comments by MaxiTrans chair Robert Wylie on the state of the market in his recent address to shareholders. “The Australian [trailer] fleet continues to age. This time last year we…

Welcome everyone to my very first Mills & Boon love story. It’s not going to be one of those trashy Fifty Shades of Grey kind of stories, mainly because the object of affection is just one shade of grey, but also because that would just be a little too creepy for a trucking magazine. In 1977, the same year this planet was graced/cursed with my presence, there was a documentary that came out to worldwide accolades. The documentary really emphasised the close working relationship between the American trucker and law enforcement officers. Yes, it did emphasis the gap between the objectives of both professions, but it also highlighted a sense of companionship that was at the core of the two diametrically opposed forces. The main representative for the law enforcement…

the truly big head-turner was the Quon Concept 202X It happens every two years. The coming together of the weird, the wonderful and the downright wacky, and in 2019 the Tokyo Motor Show lived up to its long tradition of turning technology into comic relief. Don’t believe me? Well, consider Hino’s show theme for this year: ‘Transporting Every Happiness’. What the Donald Duck that means is anybody’s guess. In the hall next door, Hino’s corporate boss Toyota was only mildly less fanciful with a theme of ‘Play the Future’, adding to the Fantasia folly with some bloke riding around a stage on an electric broom (I kid you not), sweeping among robotised micro pallets apparently making parcel deliveries. Back in the truck hall, Daimler’s Fuso was somewhat more subtle with…

Aside from trucks, which accounted for 83 per cent of searches and almost 70 per cent of enquiries, buses were the most-searched and most-enquired-upon product type on the Bauer Media Group classifieds network for the period January 1-November 28, 2019. A record 28,153 stock items – from buses to winches – are currently advertised for sale across the network comprising Fullyloaded.com.au, OwnerDriver.com.au, TradeTrucks.com.au, TradeEarthmovers.com.au, TradeFarmMachinery.com and TradePlantEquipment.com.au – reaching more than 430,000 ‘unique’ in-market buyers in October 2019 alone. Despite accounting for just 2.1 per cent of stock, buses generated 8.6 per cent of searches and 12.62 per cent of enquiries in the period. Powertrains, which make up 11.02 per cent of stock, accounted for 1.58 per cent of searches and an out-sized 8.79 per cent of enquiries; while transportable…

Welcome to my sympathy story. Yes that’s right, a sympathy story. This time I’m not just going to tell you about attending a truck show, because I had to do more than that. This time I had the toughest job in the world. Yes, you’ll get your bomb technicians bleating on about their high-risk work environments and the aircraft controllers waffling on about the stress load they carry. Maybe you think the doctors and nurses that spend 18-hour shifts saving lives or high-rise window cleaners working within millimetres of death are the ones doing it tough. I take nothing away from them, credit where credit’s due. However, how many of them have ever judged a truck show? None, and that’s the job I had to do. I was a truck…

we’ve achieved Kye’s dream Today I’m writing a different kind of story, with a different tone to what I normally do, so I appreciate your patience with this one. As a journalist and, in-particular a trucking journalist, I get to meet some pretty cool people, from ‘old timers’ with stories that you swear couldn’t be true, to young guys with an optimism and passion for polishing I wish I still possessed. And then there’s everyone in between. This story is different though. At the heart of it is someone I wish I had been able to meet – Kye Yates. Kye was only 10 years old when he passed away earlier this year in a tragic accident on his family farm. Under the shadow of a breathtaking black Kenworth T909…

Australia’s largest construction and earthmoving machinery event will be held at Panthers Penrith, in the heart of western Sydney, for its fifth year. Even if you don’t work in the industry, it’s an exciting place to be for anyone interested in getting up close to big machines, powerful trucks and the heavy equipment that is shaping Australia’s residential, commercial and public infrastructure projects. But if you are part of Australia’s earthmoving, construction or public space maintenance industry, it’s an event you just can’t miss. BETTER EVERY YEAR Spread over three days, you can be sure there is plenty of time for everyone to visit at their leisure and enjoy soaking up the great field day atmosphere that the whole family can enjoy. If you are a manufacturer or distributor of…

Prime movers and tippers remain the most-searched and most-enquired upon truck classes on the Bauer Media Group truck and machinery classifieds network, exclusive new data reveals. More than 6,100 trucks – from beavertails to water carriers – are currently advertised for sale across the network. Prime movers, which account for just over 25 per cent of total trucks for sale, generated 30.47 per cent of searches and 32.7 of enquiries in the period January 1-November 28, 2019, ahead of tippers, which were responsible for more than 21 per cent of searches and almost 20 per cent of enquiries, despite comprising a substantially less 16 per cent of stock. Tray trucks, which comprise almost 14 per cent of stock, were the third most-searched and enquired-upon truck type, accounting for 3.82 per…

A few years back at the Tokyo Motor Show, Daimler’s Japanese juggernaut Fuso had heads turning with an electrically-driven concept truck sporting a swag of futuristic features. Fuso called the truck ‘Vision One’ and appropriately perhaps, one of its many technological highlights was a digital mirror system of outboard cameras feeding images onto ‘mirrors’ mounted on the A-pillars inside the cab. While European reports several years earlier had confirmed Daimler’s development of a high-tech alternative to conventional glass mirrors, Fuso’s preview of the system now known simply as ‘MirrorCam’ was the first sight for many people, including a small bunch of Australian truck writers at the 2017 Tokyo show. In just a minute or two inside the cab, it was easy to be impressed with the technology and the potential.…

this update encompasses what Australian truck customers are asking for For those who may remember, Isuzu teased us at the Brisbane Truck Show with a nifty off-the-shelf freight body F-Series as well as some other new medium-duty model updates. Well, we got the first drive of the range of trucks in November and they’re a winning combination. Isuzu Trucks changed the game when it introduced the ‘Ready To Work’ range back in 2003, offering ‘Tradepacks’ as they were coined. Fast forward to 2019 and just about every manufacturer has an equivalent pre-built range, but Isuzu is still market leader in the light end of the game and, with more than 40 options now within its ‘Ready To Work’ range, there’s something for nearly every application. One missing piece of the…