Table of contents for Issue 321 in Owner Driver

LAST MONTH I asked readers to get in touch with their favourite food stops when out on the road, with the hope of putting together a list of decent spots for those sick of taking the gamble on rubbish roadside grub. After mentioning the 12V Truckies Facebook page and the in-cab cook-offs you see on there, a reader got in touch with an even better roadside kitchen setup than the mighty 12V. ‘My Kitchen Truck Rules’, as Jim Marsh calls it, is his very own slice of home cooked heaven, getting him through breakfast, lunch and dinner without having to succumb to a single bit of servo slop. As the photo he sent in shows, life on the road can be both healthy and delicious, but it’s a bit of…

WE’RE BACK. It’s been but a glimpse, but how many people can list an around-the-world cruise in their portfolio? Of course, I accept that a good many of you have no ambition to do such a thing. Now that is totally okay. To a good extent, I have hit the ground running. First week back saw a Mackay trip and it has been turning over steadily ever since. So what did I learn? Firstly, there is a bloody lot of salt water between Brisbane and Brisbane when one continually goes west. Do I like cruising? Can’t say I do, but then again I am pretty antisocial. TOOWOOMBA BYPASS I was, however, lucky enough to road test the new Toowoomba bypass on the day it opened. My impressions are not all…

AN EFFICIENT freight supply chain should be able to operate 24 hours, seven days a week over the most efficient routes. Do we really need the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) spending so much time and effort on processing permits? The answer is a resounding “No”. Yet last year the NHVR processed more than 67,000 permits to access state and local roads across 400 road managers, utility providers and rail authorities. The current access system needs a radical overhaul because it delivers inefficient outcomes where permit processes can be slow and damage productivity. NatRoad believes the key to current and future reform lies with having pre-approvals in place. Currently, NHVR supports pre-approvals because they eliminate the need for individual road manager consents for agreed routes, allowing councils to get low-risk…

I was recently tasked with getting a little Komatsu mini digger out to X-Games gold medallist Jackson Strong’s training facility a few months back, and the D-MAX was my tow rig of choice. The aim here – get that little digger to Strong’s place, and give Mighty Machines viewers a rundown on how to tow safely. I wanted to clear up some of the do’s and don’ts, as well as put some common myths to bed. The D-MAX can tow 3.5 tonnes legally, but what a lot of people that own vehicles like this don’t understand are things like GCM, GVM, towball weight and how the maximum towing capacity really ties in. So I can hook up 3.5 tonnes to this, and off I go, right? Well, kind of. If…

CNH INDUSTRIAL has agreed to lead Nikola Corporation’s Series D investment round with US$250 million (A$369 million) aimed at accelerating the building of electric trucks. Nikola’s zero-emission heavy duty trucks, powered by its own hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology, will be the first-to-production, the partners say. The models include the Nikola One bonneted prime mover, Nikola Two day cab and Nikola Tre Europe-compliant cab-over. Nikola anticipates raising more than US$1 billion in the D round, granting approximately 25 per cent ownership to new investors and business partners, including CNH Industrial. “Nikola has the technology but needs a partner with a European network to achieve it in a timely manner,” Nikola CEO Trevor Milton says. “With CNH Industrial’s investment and partnership, we can now bring zero-emission trucks to Europe. “It…

WINNERS OF THE AUSTRALIAN EVENT AWARDS were announced recently, with the Brisbane Truck Show (BTS) being named Best Corporate Event and Best Exhibition, Trade or Consumer Show in Australia. Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) chief executive Todd Hacking says the calibre of award finalists and other category winners highlighted the scale of the achievement. “To have the show acknowledged alongside such a range of phenomenal national events is a great honour that should be celebrated by the entire heavy vehicle industry,” Hacking says. “The Brisbane Truck Show is your show. It is owned by industry for the benefit of industry, with every cent reinvested in the industry association’s work program.” “I also want to acknowledge our sponsors, particularly BP Australia, Bauer Trader Media and NTI; our venue partner the Brisbane…

AMENDMENTS TO THE Victorian Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors (ODCF) Act have passed Parliament, granting greater payment and conditions protection for contractors who own and drive their own vehicles. Under the reforms, hirers and brokers face significant penalties if they breach their obligations to provide safe and fair conditions for individuals classified as contractors, not legal employees. It comes after a recent review found parties higher in the supply chain were breaching the Act by not providing information about rates and costs to owner-drivers or forestry contractors. “Contractual arrangements were also not being properly recorded, with owner operators left with little recourse to pursue legal action if they wanted to contest issues,” the Victorian government says in a statement. “This led to unreasonably high safety, income and business risks for…

THERE IS AN important survey taking place and Monash University researchers need truck drivers to participate. We all know truck driving isn’t just dangerous but also very unhealthy: long hours sitting down, stress, hazards around yards, bad food at truck stops and long periods spent alone away from family take their toll. Alarm bells are ringing as diabetes, chronic back pain, mental health problems, heart trouble and sleep apnea are high among drivers. But there is not enough data to prove how big the problem is – and without it we can’t address the gaps in healthcare. Monash University in partnership with the TWU, Linfox and the Centre for Work Health and Safety are carrying out the survey in order to find out exactly what state drivers’ health is in.…

THE ROAD FREIGHT INDUSTRY in New South Wales has enjoyed recent wins but still faces significant hurdles into the future around safety and viability, delegates at the Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) conference have heard. The occasion was also marked by a changing of the guard as Formula Chemicals boss Leigh Smart succeeds current chair and Border Express director Jonathan Luff. RFNSW CEO Simon O’Hara hails both and outlines what issues his organisation – and by extension operators in the state – have been dealing with and have enjoyed positive results from in the past 12 months. Of the important developments was the increase of mass limits for the container freight sector, while another was the change of speed limit laws around emergency vehicles were drivers don’t need to slow down…

“THERE IS MORE CREDIT and satisfaction in being a first-rate truck driver than a tenth-rate executive.” – BC Forbes. Bertie Charles Forbes was a Scottish-born American financial journalist and author who founded Forbes magazine and the rich list. To be a first-rate truck driver you must look after your main asset – YOU! Taking medications to manage your diabetes is an investment in your main asset. I am sure you have heard about the possible long-term effects of diabetes. Let’s talk about how you can continue to be a first-rate truck driver by managing your medications while on the road. Here are some tips to assist with remembering to take your medications: • Start by making medication part of your daily routine. For example, if your medication must be taken…

A MELBOURNE DELIVERY driver for Bayswater Mitre 10 has received national recognition and the title of Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian for his role in helping rescue a toddler from a crash site in February. Dave Lynch was travelling on the Warburton Highway when a three-car crash occurred in front of him, forcing him to take evasive action to avoid the collision. After coming to a stop, Lynch noticed one of the cars had a distraught toddler and injured mother in it. He came to their aid immediately, helping free the toddler and keeping him safe until paramedics arrived. The Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian honour was presented to Lynch yesterday by Australian Trucking Association (ATA) safety, health and wellbeing director Melissa Weller, Bridgestone commercial manager – Victoria/Tasmania Steve Gleeson and Bayswater…

G’DAY ALL. With the release of the rest area guidelines, I spoke with Austroads, asking was there any guidelines for stopping bays. I was told no and asked to formally submit a request with my reasons for same and did so that week. My reason for asking was a trip where there were quite a number of unmarked bays, each barely large enough for a truck and certainly not wide enough to get safely off the road. These seem to appear in groups and then there are none for possibly hundreds of kilometres. Whilst even our green reflector bays have guidelines for safe line of site and being suitably sized for a vehicle using that road, these unmarked sites appear west of Hay, north of West Wyalong, north of Jerilderie…

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of a Senate inquiry into road transport is a moment in time for our industry. I’ve been a long-time advocate for government intervention to make transport a fairer, safer industry. This is the first step in making the regulatory changes the industry has been crying out for. It implies the Senate’s agreement that we need to look beyond drivers copping the blame and into the industry as a whole. Sustainability will be a crucial focus for the inquiry, and that’s something we all need to survive. If done right, this inquiry should put the wealthy clients at the top on notice that the squeeze on transport must end. I’d first like to congratulate Senator Glenn Sterle for uniting the industry over our shared belief that things have to…

THE LATE NOEL BRANSDEN OF HEYFIELD, Victoria, was well known in the trucking industry – especially Gippsland – as the owner and driver of Big William, a mighty 1982 W Model Kenworth famous for the massive loads it carried. Noel passed away on June 29, and his trucking mates were among over 400 people at his funeral in Heyfield, Victoria. His partner, Julie Bryer, hopes Noel will be remembered “as the gentle soul he was, and as the achiever that he was”. Photos taken by Noel illustrate some of Big William’s enormous loads. He specialised in moves for power stations and coal mines but enjoyed the challenge of all heavy, oversize, awkward loads. Julie lists a tram, aeroplanes, ‘a massive boat’ and even a locomotive among the memorable objects Noel…

CONVOY FOR KIDS SYDNEY October 27, 2019 – Homebush, Sydney Trucks will assemble at Huntingwood Drive, Huntingwood at 5am and will leave at 8am, proceeding along Jack Brabham Drive, Great Western Highway, Wallgrove Rd, M4 Freeway, Hill Road exit to Homebush Bay Drive, Australia Avenue into Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park. Trucks bobtail please. Raising funds for NETS (Newborn & Paediatric Emergency Transport Service). For further infosee the website at www.convoyforkids.com.auor the Facebook page. WHITE HILL TRUCK DRIVERS MEMORIAL CONVOY November 2, 2019 – Murray Bridge, SA Twin convoys will leave the BP Wingfield and BP Keith at 8:30am, meeting at the White Hill Memorial Service, via White Hill Parking Bay (6km west of Murray Bridge). Memorial at 11am, followed by the family fun day and truck show from 1pm.…