Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 465 i Deals On Wheels Australia

Key trailers makes led by Northstar, CIMC, Steelbro, Kreuger and Maxitrans resisted the overall decline in buyer interest on used trailers for sale on Australia’s leading truck and machinery classifieds network in the first quarter of the New Year, new data reveals. Against the backdrop of a 25.4 per cent drop in enquiries on all trailer makes in the period, Hamelex White (+300 per cent), Northstar (+300 per cent), CIMC (+200 per cent), Steelbro (+200 per cent), Kreuger (+175 per cent), Maxitrans (+140 per cent), Maxi-Cube (+100 per cent), Freighter (+66.67 per cent), Barker (+50 per cent), Hercules (+33.33 per cent) and Moore Trailers (+25 per cent) all attracted more enquiries. Conversely, key brands to experience a decline in buyer interest in the period include Tieman (-100 per cent), Shephard…

Dandenong’s Whitehorse Truck Centre has become the 10th Elite Support certified dealer in the Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific network. Daimler says Elite Support is a joint initiative by the Daimler Truck and Bus and the Daimler Truck dealer network that delivers a new level of service for Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Fuso customers. A key feature of the Elite Support is what Daimler calls express assessment, a service that ensures that within two hours of a service write-up, the dealer will communicate primary diagnosis, check parts availability, and provide an estimate of cost and repair time. Daimler says that in order to gain the certification, dealerships must satisfy 129 criteria, including everything from customer amenities to workplace storage, all with the aim of boosting the experience of the customer.…

The purchase of a new truck can be a torturous ordeal. There can be 101 different reasons to choose a particular truck and 102 reasons to choose a different truck. It can come down to so many little things. However, sometimes you just buy a truck because, well, quite frankly, you just want it. I completely get that. I’m exactly the same when I hit the KFC drive-through. I don’t really need it, it’s not doing anything for me, there are other smarter options but god damn if the Tower Burger isn’t exactly what I want. So when Garry Leeson from Leeson’s Logging & Cartage piped up and informed his team “I want a Peterbilt”, I could fully empathise. In Garry’s case though, the Pete has been a lot better…

See the video @ TradeTrucks.com.au I just enjoyed being with dad What you read here is an indulgence and I make no apology for it. It is the story of a close friend who is totally blind and his only son, and their abiding passion for trucks and family heritage. Nonetheless, it is a difficult story to tell because it mixes the inherently opposing loyalties of a strong personal relationship with the responsibility to report the challenges and pressures of an enterprising family business. But it is, above all else, a story of human spirit and the strength of family. My hope, and only hope, is to do it justice. On my office wall hangs a large framed photo of two little boys under broadbrimmed hats, their backs to the…

See the video @ TradeTrucks.com.au brilliantly direct steering and road handling I’ll be blunt. The perception in some minds has long been that Paccar’s MX-13 engine is fundamentally a DAF product and, therefore, not worthy of a Kenworth. The reality, however, is that in either a Kenworth or a DAF, the MX-13 is a gutsy, respectably efficient engine at least the equal of any similarly-powered 13-litre in the business. But don’t just take my word for it. There are now a sizeable number of Kenworth owners and drivers with a highly positive view of the MX-13, driven in large part by a steadily expanding reputation for strong performance, staunch reliability and entirely acceptable fuel economy. Take, for instance, the view of Lance Fisher, the long-serving fleet manager of Sydney-based fuel…

Deals on Wheels’ digital platform, TradeTrucks.com.au, experienced a 48 per cent surge in average sessions (or visits) per day in March compared with the same month of 2019, new data reveals. The strong March result follows a robust performance in February (+13.1 per cent) and was driven by renewed investment in search engine marketing (SEM) as well as growth in social media and email traffic. Off the back of significant audience growth average enquiries per day on the 23,000+ trucks, trailers, and parts and accessories for sale were up an extraordinary 66 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in March and 5 per cent month-on-month (MoM). Year-to-date enquiries are up 27 per cent on TradeTrucks.com.au YoY – and an even more impressive 34 per cent on the wider transport network also comprising…

Paccar Parts Australia has announced Graham Thomson Motors Kenworth DAF Shepparton as the 2020 Paccar Parts Dealer of the Year. Paccar says the award recognises dealers over a range of areas, including sales growth, parts availability, participation in retail marketing activities, training and the support the dealer provides customers. Paccar Parts Australia senior regional sales manager David Stow presented the dealer of the year award to GTM Shepparton, handing over the prized award to the dealer principal Gerard Michel and the parts manager Corey Turvey. Paccar Parts Australia GM Damian Smethurst congratulates the dealership. “GTM Shepparton continues to offer its customers an outstanding aftermarket parts service,” he says. “The dealership showroom and warehouse is always well stocked with a huge range of Kenworth and DAF genuine parts as well as…

A new Iveco Australia dealership facility in Brisbane is open for business. Located at 20 Westgate Street, Wacol, within the city’s new truck hub corridor, Iveco Brisbane sits on a 22,000-squaremetre site and features approximately 7,000 square metres of warehousing, office and service facilities. The site grows the level of sales, service and parts support the company can provide truck, van and bus owners in the region, the truckmaker says. With a view to the importance of minimising service downtime for customers, the facility includes a 20-bay workshop with two drive-through B-double service pits, which allows ‘no unhitch’ truck and trailer servicing of larger combination trucks. The workshop features the latest servicing equipment and diagnostic tools as well as a brake roller tester with shaker, allowing Iveco’s factory-trained technicians to…

South Bank is Brisbane's premier dining, lifestyle and cultural destination, with world-class eateries, 17 acres of lush parklands, and the stunning river and city views. The locals are rolling out the red carpet in preparation for the Brisbane Truck Show, and it is up to all of us to show the Brisbane community how much we appreciate their hospitality. So, our truck display will honour our connection with the community and tell stories of the different roles we play. We will explain to them how proud we are of our industry’s innovation, skilful engineering and world-class local manufacturing. You can’t look at a line-up of trucks like this and not be a little proud of the fruits of your labour. Immensely proud, actually. So, BTS organiser Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia…

The onset of COVID-19 has no doubt driven a surge in the already booming historical truck movement over the past couple of years. The preference for staying at home and limiting social interactions on any sort of scale has undoubtedly led to much more ‘shed time’ for those mid-projects and resulted in some others previously relegated to the back burner for some time slowly but surely rolling their spider web-covered cabs out from their dusty caverns of ‘blokedom’. Even so, with so many projects on the go, I really don’t know where Charlie Borg, current custodian of this 1958 Kenworth, finds the time. Among Borg’s other toys and projects are a White Road Commander named ‘Lizzy’, a Kenworth SAR, a Kenworth S2 in the build, a restored 1956 Austin that…

Buyer enquiries on used trailers for sale on Australia’s leading truck and machinery classifieds network dipped 25.3 per cent in the first quarter of the New Year compared with the same period of 2020, new data reveals. Almost 1,900 trailers – from A-trailers to water tankers – 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. The decline was fuelled by less interest in key trailer types, including extendable (-100 per cent), pig (-80 per cent), dolly (-75 per cent), drop deck (-70.97 per cent), low loader (-64.29 per cent), pantech (-62.5 per cent), tanker (-55.56 per cent), flat deck (-40 per cent), B-double (-25 per cent), side tipper (-20 per cent), and tipper (-16.67 per cent) trailers. Bucking the downward trend, B-double…

Eastern Creek to become eighth company-owned sales and service centre Scania Australia is adding a second company-owned sales and service location in Sydney. The Swedish firm owns and operates its own sales and service locations in capital cities around the country and has just turned the first sod on its latest development in Wonderland Drive, Eastern Creek. Set to be operational later this year, Scania says the facility is to cope with the increasing demand for products and services in NSW over the past five-to-eight years, and to be able to accommodate the future growth. “The growing appeal of our New Truck Generation, the significant expansion of our contracted repair and maintenance agreements, and ever-increasing customer loyalty requires us to develop additional capacity to service a much larger number of…

I can’t believe it, I never thought ours could win! Welcome to April and, finally, the announcement of Deals on Wheels’ sister title Owner//Driver’s 2020 Truck of the Year award – sponsored by Valvoline. With the high calibre of Valvoline Truck of the Month winners it was a pretty tight race to the flag but, in the end, much like The Highlander, there can be only one. Owner//Driver magazine, along with Valvoline, are proud as punch to award the trophy to the entire Inverno family and their stunning Kenworth 900 Legend. With 2020 being such a strange, screwed-the-pooch kind of year, it seems almost poetic that it has taken us so long to be able to get down to surprise the Inverno family and hand over the Valvoline Owner//Driver Truck…

Service agreements can help business avoid lengthy downtime Isuzu Australia rolled out its latest aftersales product, Isuzu Essentials, which complements a refresh of its comprehensive suite of service agreement products. In addition to the launch of Isuzu Essentials, the remaining service agreement structure has been reimagined, with new naming conventions replacing the former Isuzu Priority framework. Isuzu service agreements are now available in four plans: three levels of monthly payment plans and the new upfront payment option, Isuzu Essentials: • Isuzu Essentials (new product)• Isuzu Essentials Plus (formerly Isuzu Priority One)• Isuzu Total (formerly Isuzu Priority Total)• Isuzu Heritage (name unchanged) No fuss Isuzu Australia national service manager Brett Stewart says the new product strengthens Isuzu’s existing suite, offering customers more options for a stress-free ownership experience. “We recently completed…

Short A-cab Righthand-steer. It’s hard to believe that from such an obscure engineering preface – later interpreted as ‘Short Australian Righthand-drive’ – came a truck absolutely revered in the history and psychology of Australian road transport. SAR! A true legend. And a uniquely Aussie legend at that. Originally launched in 1975, it was the first Kenworth actually conceptualised in Australia, for Australia, with its short bumper to back-of-cab length, high-standing cab and sloping hood setting it apart from anything else in the business. Make no mistake, the original W900SAR’s release all those years ago marked the first steps toward greater independence of Australian design in Kenworth trucks. It was a milestone model like no other. And we can now reveal the SAR is coming back in all its former glory…