Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 460 i Deals On Wheels Australia

Specialist vehicles – including vacuum tankers, beavertails, fire trucks, cherry pickers and hooklifts – registered the biggest year-on-year (YoY) increases in enquiries on Australia’s leading transport and machinery classifieds network in the period January 1–October 31, new data reveals. Almost 4,000 trucks – from beavertails to water carriers – are advertised for sale across the network comprising BusNews.com.au, Fullyloaded.com.au, OwnerDriver.com.au, TradeTrucks.com.au, TradeEarthmovers.com.au, TradeFarmMachinery.com.au and TradePlantEquipment.com.au – reaching some 450,000 ‘unique’ buyers in September. Off the back of a 13.75 per cent increase in enquiries and 12.82 per cent lift in searches across all truck types, enquiries on vacuum tankers jumped 500 per cent (and searches +30.75 per cent) in the period compared to the same time last year; ahead of beavertails (+182.35 per cent in enquiries; +21.38 per cent in…

In racing terms, October might represent the start of the last lap, with Truck Industry Council (TIC) T-Mark commercial vehicle sales figures confirming likely placings. Some, such as Isuzu’s perennial front-running form, leads to a foregone conclusion in total numbers and medium- and light-duty segments, with the battle for minor placings perhaps pointing to where momentum might lie. Elsewhere, makes are looking for something akin to personal bests in the struggle for higher ground. And then there is the big picture for the whole sector, with hope that a return to some sort of normality will come when an economic rebound starts, well, now. So, 10 months down the track, the numbers show a mixed bag. Total year-to-date (YTD) sales are at 27,842 after October’s 3,011. Of the most relevant…

hotel rooms are booking fast The last show to feature heavy equipment and machinery was also the last show at the RNA Brisbane Showgrounds – back in 2009. The show’s hand was forced by the redevelopment of the showgrounds, however the move to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre has been well rewarded. Exhibitors have been able to really step it up with the quality of their displays in one of the world’s great venues. The Brisbane Truck Show is the only event that takes over the whole centre, with fantastic displays filling all three floors. The proximity to South Bank and the CBD has opened up new opportunities for truck displays, networking, dining and entertainment. If there was one, the only downside was that there was nowhere for the…

ScotPac aims to improve cash flow to generate funds that all transport operators rely on Freight transport operators, particularly those in the road transport sector, have a large number of commitments that strain their cash flow and face varying levels of daily challenges – uncertainty of long payment terms and debt turnaround, fluctuating cash flow that can cause stress in managing day-to-day finance and fixed costs. For smaller operators the road can be more challenging as they might not have a huge buffer between operational costs and revenue generation; and if they are reliant on customers who take longer to pay, it really hurts their bottom line. In such cases, useful cash flow solutions such as invoice finance can assist, allowing businesses to draw down the value of invoices they…

The confidence, excitement and passion for the ProStar project simply slipped into space It is a brutally long way from Uluru to Dandenong, especially via Chicago and the big Cat-house in Peoria. That, however, is the decade-long mental excursion that needs to be made to gain any sense of the circumstances leading to the recent announcement that International ProStar will soon join Cat trucks on the scrapheap of arguably the most poorly conceived and overtly cynical corporate attempt to become part of the Australian trucking landscape. It all starts at Uluru in the ageless expanse of Central Australia with the big budget debut of Cat trucks in late 2010. As far as new truck introductions go in our part of the world, they don’t come much grander than this. And…

Despite the downside of these COVID-19 times, there can be some positives. Like discovering fascinating stories closer to Deals on Wheels’ Brisbane base while interstate restrictions remained in place. As it turns out I’d heard about the Fletcher family and their loyalty to UD Trucks. A bit of a hike as the Fletchers lived in the Central Queensland town of Duaringa on the Capricorn Highway between Rockhampton and Blackwater. According to the 2016 Census, Duaringa boasts a population of less than 300. Since the collapse of the mining boom, the town has quietened down a little and house prices have plummeted. Zane Fletcher jokingly says his late father Geoffrey was the last person actually born in Duaringa. Zane and his two sons, Nathan and Brodie, operate Fletcher’s Earthmoving, a successful…

Powertrains, light commercial vehicles and buses experienced the biggest year-on-year (YOY) increases in enquiries on Australia’s leading transport and machinery classifieds network in the period January 1–October 31, new data reveals. Almost 24,000 stock items – from buses to winches – are advertised for sale across the network comprising BusNews.com. au, Fullyloaded.com.au, OwnerDriver.com.au, TradeTrucks.com. au, TradeEarthmovers.com.au, TradeFarmMachinery.com.au and TradePlantEquipment.com.au – reaching some 450,000 ‘unique’ in-market buyers in September alone. Off the back of an almost 20 per cent increase in enquiries and 11 per cent lift in searches across all product types, powertrains (+65.64 per cent in enquiries; +26.67 per cent in searches), light commercial vehicles (+59.09 per cent in enquiries; +32.82 per cent in searches) and buses (+19.4 per cent in enquiries; -0.88 per cent in searches) garnered the…

Everybody has heard the old motivational quote, ‘it’s not the destination, it’s the journey’. It’s one of those sayings rolled out to get you to stop and smell the roses along this hectic trail of life. Well, I’m all for motivational quotes and photos of cute cats with cheesy slogans but today’s story is the opposite of that. Today ‘it’s definitely the destination, not the journey’. Let me illustrate my point. The journey involved a 45-minute drive to the airport, a one-and-a-half-hour wait for a delayed departure, a five-hour ride in the big tin taxi, a 30-minute wait for my luggage and then another 40-minute drive to the tiny Western Australian town of Cardup. The destination: Colli Timber and Hardware’s old sawmill. It was here I got to see one…

It’s more than a year since Hino announced a plan to launch its new 500-series GT 1528 4x4 model in the first half of 2020. Like its single-drive 500-series siblings, Hino emphasised that the new off-roader would be equipped with a wide range of beneficial features. Ironically, Hino’s plan was announced at the August 2019 Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC) exhibition. Within a month, the Australian fire season ignited with catastrophic impact. Years of drought, furnace-like winds and searing temperatures would, however, conspire to ravage much of Australia before the new Hino could lend a hand. In the interim, the superseded GT 1322 model and the vastly upgraded 300-series 4x4 light truck would do their parts with fire and emergency services operations to eventually douse the flames…