Issue 338

Owner Driver

Owner/Driver is the biggest circulation truck publication in Australia.

Owner Driver3 min readCrime & Violence
Aiming At Soft Targets
IT’S MORE often than not that truck drivers, especially those doing long-haul, feel they have a target on their heads when it comes to the long arm of the law. One slight slip-up, such as a few minutes over in the logbook, and there goes a week’s wag
Owner Driver1 min readPolitical Ideologies
ATA Council Reps Announced
DARREN JOHNSON and Angela Welsh are the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA’s) 2021 General Council industry representatives. Johnson, from Goulburn, NSW, becomes the newest owner-driver representative while Angela Welsh, from Blaxland East, NSW,
Owner Driver1 min read
Owner Driver
Editor: Greg Bush Ph: 07 3101 6602 Fax: 07 3101 6619 E-mail: Greg.Bush@aremedia.com.au Senior Journalist: Ben Dillon Ph: 0429 009 852 E-mail: Ben.Dillon@aremedia.com.au Technical Editor: Steve Brooks E-mail: sbrooks.trucktalk@gmail.com Contributors:
Owner Driver1 min read
New Option To Calculate Fuel Tax Credits
THE AUSTRALIAN Taxation Office (ATO) is highlighting a heavy vehicle fuel tax solution for those with modest claims to make. The ATO has recently released a simpler way to calculate fuel tax credits for diesel used in heavy vehicles. Truck owners tha
Owner Driver2 min readCrime & Violence
SA Police Drop Freeway Fines
A NEW BOUT in South Australia’s South Eastern Freeway fines wrangle sees the state’s police drop outstanding speed camera offences at Leawood Gardens over flawed record-keeping. From February 1, SA Police (Sapol) advises it has discontinued 153 matte
Owner Driver2 min read
Route Change Proves Life Saver
WHEN TRUCK DRIVER Michael Thompson made a decision last December to alter his route due to approaching rain from the east, it proved to be a life-saving move for Sydney grandfather Terry Stewart. Thompson, a driver for Lowes Petroleum, was delivering
Owner Driver9 min readAutomotive
Loving The New 909
WHEN IT COMES to truck drivers there seems to be very distinct categories they can be divided into. There are those who drive trucks purely as a job like any other, viewing their profession as quite simply a job to which they attend in return for a w
Owner Driver4 min read
Loose Lips Sink Driver
FATIGUE AND ELECTRONIC work diaries (EWDs) – haven’t any of these techno wizards ever studied logic? Headlines in another industry paper: ‘Now’s the time to make fatigue management electronic’. Every time I see this sort of rubbish I feel like doing
Owner Driver4 min read
Deadliest By Far
BEING AUSTRALIA’S deadliest industry, there has been a tendency to overlook the chronic health implications that also come with being a driver. Not anymore. We now have the data that shows just how unhealthy driving trucks is. The statistics are not
Owner Driver3 min readCrime & Violence
Injured Truckie Payout Errors Reversed
A TRUCK DRIVER will receive nearly $1 million in injury compensation after successfully appealing the original calculation. Daniel Peebles was awarded $764,345.12 by the Brisbane Supreme Court in early 2020 but the final figure becomes $967,052.92 af
Owner Driver2 min read
Drivers Denied Access To Facilities
THE AUSTRALIAN Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) has called for agribusiness GrainCorp to extend access to amenities, including shower facilities, for heavy vehicle drivers at its sites. It notes ALRTA members have reported that dr
Owner Driver2 min read
COVID And Congestion
AUSTRALIAN CITIES are key centres of demand, supply and processing of freight. Lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly affected shopping behaviour, with consumer expectations of fast, safe delivery arising from e-commerce now bec
Owner Driver4 min read
Light And Heavy Tones
RCA/Sony www.foofighters.com After releasing what was arguably their heaviest record to date in 2017 – Concrete And Gold – Foo Fighters returned to the studio in 2019 to record Medicine At Midnight, its released delayed by COVID. With producer Greg K
Owner Driver4 min readCrime & Violence
Fined For The Sake Of It
IN THE NEAR future I will be fighting another fine in court after being charged with driving for six and a quarter hours without a break from 8pm to 2.15am. The fact I had marked the book at midnight on both pages with location and kilometres, but no
Owner Driver1 min read
Country Corner
Sony Music www.adamharvey.com.au Australia’s Adam Harvey has clocked up many miles, especially along the east coast, hence the title of his 15th studio album, Songs From Highway One. He reflects on both his father and the north Queensland centre of M
Owner Driver3 min read
WA Entices New Blood To Industry
AN INDUSTRY-LED initiative that aims to train 1,000 new skilled transport workers has gained $6.1 million in Western Australian government funding. The job-ready Heavy Vehicle Driving Operations Skill Set and driver training aims to tackle skills sho
Owner Driver1 min read
Wridgways Subsidiaries Placed In Liquidation
Two WridgWays Australia subsidiary businesses are going into liquidation over a month after being placed in voluntary administration. The decision comes after meetings between administrators, SV Partners’ Timothy Brace and Peter Gountzos, and credito
Owner Driver9 min readAutomotive
High And Mighty
Let us begin today’s lesson by breaking down the variations in truck class. Many of you are aware of the different truck classes, however allow me to remind you. You have your MR class, medium rigid. You have your HR class, heavy rigid. You then move
Owner Driver5 min readAutomotive
Fabulous Flops
IN TIME, some trucks become classics. Others don’t, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were duds. No, the real duds are those shockers that take on a heritage all their own. Remembered, you might say, for all the wrong reasons. So now, with the p
Owner Driver3 min readAutomotive
SEE THE LATEST AT DIESEL DIRT & TURF
The National Diesel Dirt & Turf Expo has become the premier event for the earthmoving, construction and public space management industry to announce its new releases. This year, the upgraded facilities at the Sydney Dragway is the venue from Friday,
Owner Driver3 min read
Brisbane Truck Show - The Event Extravaganza
Don’t think for a moment that anything is being taken for granted with preparations for the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show. No stone is being left unturned to ensure that visitors to the Sunshine State have a healthy and safe experience. But if there’s any
Owner Driver8 min readAutomotive
Anthem Struts Its Stuff
NOT SO LONG AGO, three Anthems, a Super-Liner and a Trident left Brisbane early one morning, heading south on the first leg of what Mack is promoting as a national ‘Evolution Tour’. Over several months, the trucks will travel many of the country’s ma
Owner Driver13 min readAutomotive
Kenworth’s Real Deal
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, respectab
Owner Driver2 min read
Sar: The Legend Lives
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. SA
Owner Driver4 min readAutomotive
Jac’s Electric Return
A NEW JAC TRUCKS tilt at the Australian market is to take place this year. It is being led by former local JAC CEO Jason Pecotic, in a move that may yet indicate the state of the Chinese truck challenge and where commercial electric vehicle (EV) comp
Owner Driver3 min readAutomotive
Hyundai’s Mid-sized Appeal
HYUNDAI TRUCKS is back in the country, boasting a new range of light-duty, medium-duty and expanding into the heavy-duty segment this year. Among these is the mid-size Hyundai Pavise, which will shortly be launched onto the Australian market. Hyundai
Owner Driver1 min readAutomotive
Scania 540 Engine Tops In Euro Test
SCANIA’S 540HP (403kW) engine, which the truckmaker’s Australia’s arm points out is available here, has excelled in international comparison tests. The Scania 540 S triumphed in the 1000 Punkte Test (1000 Point Test) and European Truck Challenge (ETC
Owner Driver2 min read
Vibrator Claims More Drops Per Day
THE ISSUE OF BULK material clinging to the inside of a tipper and slowing down the unloading process is something common to many operators carting bulk products like soil, fertiliser, stock feed, grains and sands. In many cases the only way to get ma
Owner Driver2 min readAutomotive
Merc-Benz Econic Gets Cool Upgrade
MERCEDES-BENZ has upgraded its Australian Econic model that it says came following local customer consultation. The city-friendly truck has been improved with beefed-up air conditioning, better driver access and a new advanced safety feature called S
Owner Driver2 min readChemistry
Isuzu Australia’s Fresh Formula For Next Gen Engine Oil
ISUZU AUSTRALIA (IAL) has announced the rollout of a new formula of the Next Gen Plus 10W-40 engine oil. Isuzu’s national parts manager, John Plunkett, says the latest formula has been carefully crafted to offer the market an all-new product, develop
Owner Driver3 min read
Constantly Drowned Out
MY TIME on the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) General Council has come to an end. I refuse to waste any more time or effort in a one-sided system that will never represent truck drivers’ interests, pay or safety. On and off for 18 years I have
Owner Driver2 min read
Freighter Marks Milestone With Diamond Pack
MAXITRANS IS CELEBRATING a major milestone for its trailer brand Freighter – 75 not out. The trailer and parts maker deems the effort as creating a legacy that “is clearly as long as it is rich”. “Freighter’s long and successful history is owed to ou
Owner Driver2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Hyzon Enters Fleet Deal With NZ’s Hiringa
HYZON MOTORS and Hiringa Energy are advancing their partnership with an electric heavy-duty fleet deal for New Zealand. The pair reveals Hyzon has agreed to supply 1,500 Dutch-built hydrogen fuelcell-powered ‘heavy goods vehicles’ to the NZ company b

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