Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 467 i Deals On Wheels Australia

Cabs and cab parts, tanks, engines and engine parts, and bullbars and bumpers were the key truck parts to experience growth in buyer interest on Australia’s leading transport classifieds network in the first four months of the New Year, new data reveals. Some 8,881 truck parts – from air cleaners and filters to wheel ends – are listed for sale across the network comprising TradeTrucks.com.au, Fullyloaded.com.au, OwnerDriver.com.au and BusNews.com.au – and syndicated across TradeEarthmovers.com.au, TradeFarmMachinery.com.au and TradePlantEquipment.com.au. In the period January 1–April 30, 2021 cabs and cab parts registered a 55 per cent jump in enquiries compared with the same period of 2020, ahead of tanks (+50 per cent) engines and engine parts (+18.87 per cent), and bullbars and bumpers (+15.15 per cent). Tool boxes (+300 per cent), air cleaners…

This was a completely new way of doing business Loadmass Pty Ltd has been quietly developing its own range of rigid truck and light commercial on-board scale systems. This requirement came about when, in December 2019, the UK manufacturer and supplier of Red Forge on-board scale systems closed its doors due to the ill health of its founder. Loadmass was the largest international distributor for Red Forge and this event took Loadmass by surprise. While Australia was in the midst of its worst bush fire crisis in many years and COVID-19 was just emerging as the next humanitarian crisis, Loadmass was on the hunt for a replacement product to avoid its own crisis. Loadmass scoured the world for a suitable quality product as well as a reliable supplier to replace,…

Seemingly insignificant chapters in one’s life can, unknowingly at that particular juncture, leave a lasting imprint on your soul. A road trip holiday, a significant birthday celebration or even something as mundane as weekends tinkering in the shed. These are all the little things that make us who we are, these fragments of time get tattooed firmly on our minds as real as if they happened yesterday. It stands to reason that the more time we spend experiencing these chapters, the more vivid the tattoo. For those of us that call the open road our workplace, the memories are etched deeply. Different loads, roadhouses, loading facilities and the people that we shared them with, remembered fondly, albeit, sometimes through ‘rose-coloured glasses’. Let’s face it, time spent on the road in…

While neither Cummins nor Mack attended the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show, Followmont Transport’s display of a Cummins-powered Mack Trident was a magnanimous and highly fitting tribute to a true stalwart of the trucking industry, the late Col Baker. A Cummins man to the core and immensely proud Queenslander despite a move to Cummins HQ in Melbourne, Col passed away only days before the Brisbane show after a fiercely fought battle with cancer. He was just 52-years-old and is survived by his wife Jenny and three daughters. In what was something of a secret project between Cummins and the Brisbane-based transport company, Col worked closely with Followmont Transport principal Mark Tobin to slot an X15 engine under the Trident snout for an extensive trial, with the trust and respect between the…

Orders pickers, walkie stackers, electric counterbalanced forklifts, and container handlers registered the biggest growth in buyer enquiries on Australia’s leading transport classifieds network in the first four months of the New Year, new data reveals. More than 1,000 forklifts – from all-terrain to walkie stackers – are listed for sale across the network comprising TradeTrucks.com.au, Fullyloaded.com.au, OwnerDriver.com.au and BusNews.com.au – and syndicated across TradeEarthmovers.com.au, TradeFarmMachinery.com.au and TradePlantEquipment.com.au. Off the back of a 21 per cent lift in overall enquiries, orders pickers experienced the greatest growth in both searches (+810.5 per cent) and enquiries (+800 per cent), followed by walkie stackers (searches +74.3 per cent; enquiries +150 per cent), electric counterbalanced forklifts (searches +47 per cent; enquiries +66.7 per cent), container handlers (searches +24.7 per cent; enquiries +59.1 per cent), and…

all the axles steer The Drake Group stepped up its Brisbane Truck Show display yet again, this year opting to outdo its usual two-up trailer installation, by stacking three trailers on top of each other! The aim of this, beyond of course showing how tough its trailers are, was to show off the latest Drake and O’Phee innovations – a result of the combined 100 years of trailer building experience the two brands share. There were plenty of firsts at the show for the Drake Group, as well as some of its tried and tested staples – with Drake continuing to push the envelope in the heavy haulage space. Deck widener evolution Drake Trailers has successfully merged cutting-edge technology with its rugged, robust range of trailers. A first for Drake,…

Everyone’s heard the old adage ‘a picture paints a 1,000 words’, right? Well, as a journalist, I supply the picture as well as 1,000 words to go with it; some of it is an attempt to be informative, some of it is an attempt to be entertaining, but most of it is just to get paid. Every now and then I get to photograph some trucks where there is no number of words that will ever entertain as well as the photos. Take Gavin Sutton’s Mack Superliner, for example. A photo of this Mack is worth more than 1,000 words, easily. Unfortunately, though, my editor won’t let me invoice him for 1,000 words per photo! So in order to buy new memory cards after using them up in Sutton’s yard,…

Not only increasing the operating life but its whole of life value as well With one in every four trucks on Australian roads sporting the Isuzu badge, Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) has a storied track record supporting thousands of customers with dedicated parts supply and servicing. “Our focus is always on ensuring the needs of Australian businesses are provided for beyond the initial truck purchase, with comprehensive aftercare, service and parts support,” IAL national parts manager, John Plunkett, says. “Using genuine OEM parts for truck repairs comes with the added assurance of manufacturer warranties and eliminating compatibility issues, not only increasing the operating life of a truck, but it’s whole-of-life value as well.” While small savings may be found on the purchase price of after-market parts, long-term risks to non-compliance…

April commercial vehicle sales see the accelerator pressure lift a tiny bit but they remain in record territory for the month and year. March’s scorching total of 3,558 gives way to last month’s 3,215 but that is still ahead of the best April in the past five years, beating out 2017’s 3,151, according to Tuck Industry Council (TIC) T-Mark statistics. Where this April falls short against 2017 is in the year-to-date (YTD) figure, 11,540 to 11,826. Of course, it remains to be seen how sustainable this year’s growth is, given March’s YTD comparison with March 2017 – 8,325 against 7,158 – was so much further in front. Still, the market-leading Japanese brands are making a lot of hay in this sunny market, despite a slight slip. Isuzu’s 788 is down…

We have released a limited edition Freighter 75th year Diamond Pack The origins of Freighter hark all the way back to before World War II, and its influence has been growing ever since. Truly national before any other manufacturer dreamed it was possible, the company didn’t limit itself to being the best in truck trailers. It also made boats, buoys, buses, forklifts, caravans, starting gates for racing tracks, wood heaters and even had a crack at building its own 4WD vehicle. It’s said that, during the 1970s, nine out of every 10 heavy-duty trailers on the road were Freighter. Its influence on the industry remains undeniable. Freighter was officially created in 1945 with the first products rolling onto Australian roads in February 1946. However, its origins reach back even further,…

By the time you guys get to read this the cat will already be out of the bag, or should I say the dog is off the leash. The latter analogy seems more fitting, as the news is out that Drake Collectibles has branched out from its stunning Kenworth replicas and started producing diecast Mack trucks and its first release is the quintessential Aussie bulldog – the Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner. What started out as a PR project has turned into a worldwide phenomenon for Bruce Hay and the small team of dedicated workers at Drake Collectibles. Back in 2007, when Bruce was a special projects manager for Drake Trailers, he got into a discussion with the man in the big chair, John Drake, about a different way to market their…