Get That Truck Loan

5 things you need to know about weigh bridge accuracy

Get That Truck Loan — Sat, 06 May 2017 11:58:37 +0000

Weight measurement firm AccuWeigh has offered advice on effective handling of weighbridges.
Weighbridges are an important tool to help transport operators and drivers ensure they are compliant with mass regulations to avoid damage to their vehicles and incurring penalties, the company says.
In Australia and New Zealand, weighbridges used for trade purposes are subjected to regular performance checks.
Earlier this year, VicRoads modified many of the self-serving weighbridges along some of the key rural freight corridors including Western Highway, Murray Valley Highway and Sturt Highway to feature external digital displays.
VicRoads says it encourages drivers to “proactively” check the weight of the vehicle and the load because it can be difficult to estimate the combined weight when carrying an unfamiliar load.
However, the accuracy of the weighbridge installation is as important as an operator’s need to follow the process.
Here, AccuWeigh outlines some of the key factors that affect the accuracy of weight measurement.
It highlights the fact that weight and mass information helps businesses across many operational aspects such as resourcing, invoicing and cost control.
According to AccuWeigh, these are the five most important factors to consider when considering investing in a weighbridge or understanding more about your existing installation:
Mechanics
Since all weighbridges operate with load cells, the quality of the equipment is as important as regular checks and recalibration to prevent mechanical variation errors and to ensure precision measurements and testing repeatability.
Environment
Temperature changes alter the sensitivity of the load cells and this can affect outputs.
If your weighbridge is to be installed in an area where there are significant variations in temperature, you should discuss how you can mitigate the effects of this with your weighbridge supplier.
Other environmental factors that can affect weighbridge accuracy include high and cross winds, humidity, vibration, a build-up of dirt, moisture and corrosion.
Vehicle
If the weighbridge uses stored data on empty vehicles to calculate the payload, then the readings will be affected by variables such as the fuel level of the truck, spare tyres, accessories (for example chains and tool boxes), the length of the truck and the weight of the driver.
Accuracy can also be compromised if the weighing system is subjected to a sudden, heavy load, such as when a load is dropped onto it or if the platform is knocked or disturbed. Recalibration may then be necessary.
Human error
It can arise through supply of incorrect information by the driver of the vehicle or input by the bridge operator.
System errors
These can occur if there is interference with the electronic signal transmission (which can be caused by radio frequency interference, electromechanical interference, moisture and temperature) or if there are problems with the actual instrumentation and control devices.
“For optimum accuracy, it is imperative to take into consideration all factors that can affect the weighing system,” AccuWeigh suggests.
“The effect of these variables can be minimised by choosing a well-designed and high quality weighing system that is suited to your specific application and then ensuring that it is operated and maintained to the highest standards.”

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A Journey Down the Old Hume

Get That Truck Loan — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 11:34:45 +0000

The post A Journey Down the Old Hume appeared first on Get That Truck Loan.

Mack Super-Liner 685 with 60-inch Sleeper review

Get That Truck Loan — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 10:55:42 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB8dnbUmQ0o&t=306s

ate in 2011, an invitation arrived to travel to Port Augusta to drive a couple of Macks up a stretch of the Stuart Highway. One a Super-Liner pulling roadtrain doubles, the other a Titan towing triples.
With the Super-Liner grossing around 80 tonnes and the Titan triple at a modest 110 tonnes or thereabouts, the performance of both trucks was nothing less than outstanding at the time.
Since then, I’ve driven a number of Super-Liners but the Port Augusta exercise was the last time at the helm of a Super-Liner in roadtrain configuration.
Until now!
New 60-inch bunk
The reason for this drive is the new bunk and there’s no question that even at first glance, Mack’s new 60-inch sleeper is quick to impress.
Sure, you still have the issue of no standing room between the seats but, with this bunk, it’s only one stooped step from the driver’s pew to a place where even big blokes have the space to stand bolt upright, stretch out, get changed, lay down, hang clothes, get something cool out of the fridge, and generally unwind after hours in the chair.
A word of warning though: take care when moving from the bunk to the cab. There’s a huge height difference and in the middle of the night when Nature calls, it’s easy to forget and knock the noggin; and knock it hard if you’re in a hurry.
Still, it’s bigger and better appointed than any bulldog bunk ever offered in this country and it’s no great surprise to learn that it’s actually derived from a premium Mack linehaul sleeper in the US.
Mack’s local team, however, was not about to take any chances with durability and build quality.
After all, it’s a sprawling bunk targeting the big end of the business where many long and often dusty days away from home are the norm, namely roadtrain, livestock and heavy haulage.
Consequently, it’s a sleeper which was subjected to two years of real world work and engineering evaluation before Mack ticked the ‘go’ box.
But more on the bunk in a little bit.

Engine and Transmission
While the 600hp MP10 has from the outset offered the choice of manual 18-speed and automated 12-speed shifters, the 685 comes with mDrive only.
Why? Well, there’s a big heap of torque coming out of the 685 and the automated shifter provides a higher, more consistent degree of driveline protection than a stick shift, particularly if the stick’s in heavy hands and the clutch pedal sits under an insensitive left foot.
A manual version is now totally out of the question.
For starters, word has it that neither Eaton nor Mack have an 18-speed manual able to cope with the prodigious 2,300lb/ft torque output of the 685.
More significantly, however, is the recent release by Volvo of an extremely low geared crawler function for its I-shift transmission.
Right now, Mack isn’t saying when or even if the crawler option will become available on mDrive but with the Mack shifter based almost entirely on I-shift hardware, it’s easy to speculate that before too much longer the dog will be digging deeper than ever before.
Put simply, Mack would be crazy not to.

Super-Liner Performance
It’s early morning, mid-week at the new BP Westbound truck stop on the outskirts of Toowoomba.
The night before, an exceptional young man named Clinton Bridge from Nolan’s Transport in Gatton had hauled a dolly and pair of nicely detailed fridge trailers to a quiet corner of the truck park, coupled up and ready for the spanking new Super-Liner to slide under.
Taking the task upon himself, Bridge soon had hoses connected, landing legs up, checked all lights and confirmed that all clearances between truck and trailer were good to go. Top bloke!
With breakfast on board and the sun cracking the horizon, it was time to head 600km west to Charleville to overnight in the new ‘kennel’ before driving back again.
Standing on a 5.8 metre wheelbase and with a specification limiting gross weight to just 90 tonnes, the Super-Liner was on its maiden voyage and with two trailers in tow, performance and fuel consumption obviously weren’t expected to be at their best. Or so it seemed.
From the outset, however, the 685 made a mockery of two trailers and a gross weight estimated between 75 and 80 tonnes. Sure, it’s fair to suggest that’s exactly what a big bore engine dispensing 685hp and 2,300lb/ft of torque should do.
Yet even so, with mDrive’s tall 0.78 overdrive ratio feeding into a reasonably quick 3.73:1 rear axle – notching 100 km/h at a touch over 1450 rpm – the Mack’s tenacity and willingness to hold onto top gear was nothing short of awesome.

In fact, there were numerous times when the truck’s traits could be quite astonishing. Even disconcerting.
For instance, under light throttle at lift-off, it was not uncommon for mDrive to skip two or three gears in succession and haul away from as low as 900 and even 800rpm, well into the top half of the box.
Still, the outfit’s ability to simply grunt ‘n’ go at such low engine speeds was extraordinary and with the knowledge that the combination is programmed to perform in just such a manner, initial concerns soon dissolved.
Another plus is what Mack calls ‘Grade Gripper’. It’s dog talk for a hill start function and standard on mDrive, it makes uphill lift-offs immeasurably easier than using the trailer brake handpiece.
It wasn’t long before it simply became a pleasure to sit back, steer, let the electronic wizardry do its thing, and be impressed. And, as the kilometres kept clicking away, reflect on the reasons for Super-Liner’s evolution to top place on Mack sales charts.
There was still an hour or so of daylight left by the time the Mack strolled into Charleville.
It certainly hadn’t been a hard day. The big dog just bowled along without raising even the hint of a sweat and according to the on-board trip computer, hadn’t drunk much either with a consumption rate of 1.7 km/litre, or 4.8 mpg.
By comparison, the return leg drew a bigger thirst of 1.5 km/litre (4.24 mpg) but much of that increase can be attributed to a few more hills, lots of stops and starts for video and photography purposes and an extraordinary amount of roadwork stoppages.
To my mind, both fuel figures are acceptable given that the truck was on its maiden voyage.

Bunk Performance
For starters, the mattress is 890mm (35 inches) wide and certainly comfortable enough for this body to enjoy a good night.
The only distraction was a hard head bang on the rear edge of the cab roof when I didn’t duck low enough during the ‘wee’ hours of the morning.
The Mack cab is, in fact, starting to show its age, with the complete absence of a stand-up option to complement the several tall sleepers already offered by the brand. Meanwhile, with air intake pipes impeding cab door opening angle, entry and exit are well short of ideal.
However, relief is on the way.
Word is slowly seeping out that an entirely new Mack cab which will tackle all current issues is now under development in the US.
It won’t arrive this year and maybe not next, but it is coming. On that, we’re certain.
Back in the big bunk, there’s plenty to like with a tall wardrobe cabinet between the bed and the back of the driver’s seat while on the other side there’s a 44 litre upright fridge with a slide-out work tray and drawer on the top. A TV was fixed to the wall above the fridge.
There are swing-out vents on each side and higher up on each side are sliding windows with mosquito-proof mesh and sliding curtains for privacy or just keeping the sun out.
Full-length curtains separate the bunk from the cab.
A single large hatch is on the driver’s side and personally, I think it’d be a good idea if this also had a mesh screen door for those balmy nights when it’s just nice to have a heap of fresh air. But without the bugs.
Another worthwhile inclusion would be a rack for a wet towel. It’s the little things that count.

Storage is plentiful with a large area under the bed, accessible from the inside by lifting the bunk and from the outside through wide locker doors on each side.
And while we’re on the outside, it’s worth mentioning the AdBlue tank.
Adapted from a locally developed Volvo design, it’s a 200-litre moulded container that sits inside the chassis rails and curves over the prop shaft with the fill nozzle tucked neatly under a swing-up access grate on top of the driver’s side rear fuel tank.
Whether it’s on Mack or Volvo, it is without doubt the smartest and most efficient AdBlue tank design in the business, leaving chassis space free to house emissions hardware and maximise fuel capacity.
What didn’t impress, however, was the position of the twin exhaust stacks behind the 60 inch bunk, particularly for livestock or fridge work.
In their present position, exhaust would be fed straight into the faces of top-deck livestock or the fascia of the lead fridge unit.
Mack is apparently well aware of the issue and says repositioning the stacks is not a major hurdle.

Verdict
All up, the 685hp Super-Liner in this exercise was an absolute delight, delivering a superbly smooth mix of manners and muscle.
Yes, the cab’s showing its age with some aspects that aren’t up to scratch when compared with other premium brands.
Time and an entirely new cab will fix that in due course but when it comes to performance and technological harmony, Super-Liner sits at the top of the conventional tree.
As for the 60 inch bunk, its sheer size obviously precludes it from length-sensitive configurations such as B-doubles.
But then, it’s not meant for B-doubles and is unashamedly aimed at the biggest, heaviest end of the business.
For those roles it adds an entirely new and welcome dimension to Mack. Literally and physically.

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Clem Hill : Clem Hill Carriers Port Augusta

Get That Truck Loan — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 10:41:00 +0000

Clem Hill was born in 1920 in Port Augusta. He enlisted in the army in 1941 and was drafted to Alice Springs as a transport driver. He worked driving Chevrolets, Bedfords and International trucks. There were no bitumen roads. He recalls, after the bombing of Darwin, assisting with the evacuation of women and children south. He was discharged in November 1945.

Returning to Port Augusta he worked for the railways. With family commitments and the dream of his own business he started a taxi truck business in 1948. The business expanded to include general freight and furniture removals and in 1950 Clem Hill Carrying Service began initially doing three trips weekly between Port Augusta and Adelaide. The long hours away certainly made a depot in Adelaide very welcome.

As demand grew so did the business requiring the employment of drivers and the purchase of more motor vehicles. Long before typewriters and calculators, without mobile phones or computers, he says it was hard work and that it took commitment to quality service to be successful. Not having a car in the early 1950s holiday trips were taken in the LC3 Morris truck. He would enclose the tray and rope a bench seat on the back for the girls. John would travel in the front with him and Alma. A length of hose was their communication to the front; they reckon this was the first mobile phone.

Clem and Alma had four children: Kay, Dianne, Sandra and John. At some stage they all, along with their respective partners, worked for him. He was a pioneer in transport witnessing many changes over the decades. The heavy manual labour involved meant that he certainly welcomed progress in vehicles and equipment such as forklifts. In 1970 John joined the business taking over when Clem retired in 1980. John later sold the business moving to haulage of gas and fuel.

After 60 years the business lem founded still operates under the same name with different owners; something Clem is very proud of. Between Clem, John and Matthew they have given over 90 years combined service to road transport.

Travel with him is never dull.

Retirement hasn’t slowed Clem down. Though in his eighties he has done a couple of road trips with John. He keeps active with various hobbies and volunteering in the community. In this, his 90th year, Clem and Alma will celebrate 66 years of marriage in August 2010. His passion for his business, life, sport, adventure and family is an inspiration to all who know him.

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Good Times and Great Memories – Alan Lever

Get That Truck Loan — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 10:35:50 +0000

Talk to any of the older and wiser gentlemen of the trucking industry, and at some stage you’ll hear a reference to the “good old days”. It’s not until you dig a little deeper that you find the days referred to, while highly memorable, were full of hard work, long hours and a considerable amount of financial and physical discomfort.
These days we take reliability as pretty much guaranteed. And for anyone living in the city there’s always the telephone to call for help or to find out how to fix a problem. But just 50 years ago, life on the highway was fraught with all sorts of problems for anyone trying to get their load from the east to the west coast.
It’s been my privilege to know Alan Lever of the Wollongong area for at least some of the more recent years, during which he piloted his Peterbilt 379 as an owner operator. But it was only this year that I was able to learn more about the history that he has experienced at first hand, driving to the West on roads that didn’t really exist.
Many of the trips to the West Coast were at the time of great construction projects, such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme. But in Alan’s case, one of his tasks was to supply the teams of Italian workers brought to Western Australia for specific projects.

Alan started his truck-driving career back in 1964, when at the age of 19 (some even say perhaps 17 years) he climbed behind the wheel of his first truck, a Mack B61 B-model.
“A year later in 1965 I bought the first C-Motor Mack in Australia. In those days Mack Australia didn’t exist and the brand was brought in by the Anderson family in Toowoomba.
“The C-Motor was fitted in a Flintstone model and it took me eight days to do the first trip to Adelaide as it just kept breaking down. Bernie Carroll was flown out to meet me and the truck in Overland Corner in South Australia, and his plane landed on the roadway. He put another pump on the Flintstone and then headed home.
“Bernie never got as far as Hay, and I never got to Adelaide, as it broke down again. This went on for seven months, and the truck never completed the trip without breaking down – seizing the gearbox on one trip and the engine on another.
“Max Evans was the engineer for the Anderson’s and nobody in the company could tell me why the truck was so unreliable. It had them stuffed. I told them they could repossess it because it was costing me too much. The only way I kept going financially was because I was still able to run my B-Model. That was the best model I ever owned. The B61 put money in the bank and it carried the other one during these problems and it kept me going.
“Curly Anderson told me to get the Flintstone with the C-Motor back from Adelaide at his expense and he could replace it with a red R-Model 600 Flintstone he had available without anyone’s name on it. This was a long time before they started making them in Brisbane.
“I told Curly that I didn’t care what colour it was as long as it went. It had reached the stage that the fruit packers wouldn’t even load me as the truck never made it to the market.
“In 1967 Curly Anderson went guarantor for me as I was the youngest buyer they had sold a truck to. He arranged at the bank for no payment for three months and no penalties.
“We collected the red truck and from that point on it never stopped. My brother Doug and I drove it, and through its life we put some big loads on it but it never missed a beat.
“The size of the engine was 240 hp and originally it came with a five-speed gearbox. In those days nothing had enough power to get up Mount Victoria without hooking onto another vehicle for a tow. The same applied to going down the other side as you often needed to couple up again to avoid running away down the hill.
“Alan Doherty was doing the trip for me on one occasion and we had to chain the truck to my B-Model just to get over the hill. This was embarrassing for me so we set about finding a quad box for it.
“Although people said at the time you couldn’t put a quad box in it, Curly Anderson reckoned you could as long as you were careful when changing gears.
“I ordered a quad box and two trips later I was able to fit it. By then my brother Doug had bought a Kenworth S2, and until we got the quad box fitted he had to tow me up Mt. Victoria.
“We got a contract to carry high-tension power cables from Port Kembla to Port Augusta as part of the building programme to put electricity through to all the towns. Until that point all the towns were powered by generator up as far as Oodnadatta.
“These were interesting times as there weren’t any roads where we went. We just followed a bulldozer track until we came to a work camp where they were erecting the stanchions. All the workers were Italians and they worked tremendously hard in very poor conditions. In some cases their camp was just a ruined shed or house with a tarp thrown over what had once been a roof.
“Unloading the cables was also interesting as there wasn’t a crane in sight. They used to turn up with a 6×6, dig a hole and we’d back the trailer in. Then the dozer would chain up to the coils and just pull them off the trailer and then drag them away across the paddock to the stanchion.
“There was certainly no air conditioning in any of the camps. You had to be there before 6:00 a.m., because after that the workers had left to go to the next stanchion.
“I remember the Italians saying that when they signed on for the work, Transfield had shown them photographs of Bondi Beach and good-looking women and paid for their fares out here. It was certainly different when they arrived in SA,” said Alan.
Through the period from 1967 until 1972 Alan ran the R-Model 600 Flintstone until selling it to Ray Hutchison. The intervening years have seen Alan own a variety of makes and models, from a Mack F-Model, the first Coolpower version brought into Australia and fitted with a twin turbocharged Mack 340 hp engine and six-speed transmission, through to Kenworths, and his last on-highway truck the Peterbilt 379.
Having lost track of the whereabouts of his 1967 R-Model Flintstone, you can imagine his amazement when his wife Joy presented it to him as a surprise Christmas present.
For years, unbeknown to Alan, his Flintstone had been stored in a local shed at Albion Park Rail owned by the Robb family, who ran an earthmoving business.
“As soon as I saw it I knew it was my old R-Model. When you’ve driven something for a million miles you know it instantly. It had been sitting in the shed for 15 years and I had been driving past without ever knowing it was there,” said Alan.
“When we picked it up, every time we changed gear it blew a tyre. It has a huge history with my family. My son was brought up in it as a baby. We put a cot mattress on top of the seat and that’s where he went for many miles.
“The truck underwent a major refurbish during which we put a Mack engine back in it, but we have kept it very original, including the company logos on the doors. We added a trailer that we acquired from Robb Earthmoving, and now it is able to take part in the annual Nowra Convoy for Kids as well as the Hauling the Hume event each year.

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MAXIMUM VISIBILITY

Get That Truck Loan — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 10:21:28 +0000

It’s been two years since the merger of Central Quarry Materials and The Good Soil created the new business entity of Select Quarry Materials. But for joint managing directors Mark Allen and Michael Sultana, it’s been an exciting journey as they establish the brand on the basis of customer service excellence.

“Michael and I have known each other through working together in the earthmoving and quarry products business for around eight years. We realised that in order to take the next step in growing our individual businesses our best option would be to pool our resources and invest together in the future growth. That’s basically how Select Quarry Materials came into being. We could both see the synergies of working together.
“Together we have been able to invest in substantial growth that has seen us increase our fleet to 35 vehicles. We are not purely a cartage business, we supply and deliver raw materials, which is over 50 percent of what we do,” said Mark.
The decision to adopt a new, highly distinctive corporate identity by duplicating the Select Quarry Materials logo across each entire side of the truck and tipper bodies creates a significant impact on all those that see the vehicles on the highway. The appearance is so distinctive that a casual onlooker could easily be convinced that the fleet comprises at least double the number of vehicles, as each truck and trailer stands out from the crowd.
“Our fleet ranges from three-tonne tippers and single-axle and bogie-drive rigid trucks used in the retail distribution of soil and landscaping products, right up to 6×4 rigid tippers with four-axle and five-axle dog trailers,” said Mark.
Kenworth is the predominant truck brand, and of the total 35 vehicles in the fleet they make up around 60 percent, compared to the other 40 percent, which is based on Mack with two Volvo FMs and one Western Star.
Recent purchases include ten Kenworth T409s, each powered by the Cummins ISXe5 engine rated at 550 hp and using SCR and AdBlue. These join a couple of earlier T409 models powered by the Cummins ISX EGR engines with DPFs. The MACK Tritons are running at 535 hp with the Super-Liners rated at 600 hp.
“We also have 10×4 rigid tippers and these enable us to capitalise on their effectiveness for maximum payload where access into a work site may be limited, precluding the use of five-axle dog trailers,” Mark added.
“There are additional payload benefits when moving from an eight-wheeler to a ten-wheeler, and not towing a trailer means the speed of turnaround is better.
“We are putting the 10×4 Metro-Liner on shorter distance work where we would traditionally use a rigid and dog trailer, especially when we are very busy. It’s a quicker unload time. We find that because we have a varied customer base, a tight job that asks for bogies can take a 10×4, which increases payload operation from 13-14 tonnes payload on a 6×4 to a 20 tonnes payload on the 10×4.
“When I first started working in this industry the standard type of vehicle was a 6×4 rigid tipper with a three-axled dog trailer. With the formation of Select Quarry Materials the company was one of the first to run a truck and five-axle dog trailer in Sydney, and we currently operate four of these combinations in the fleet.
“In our type of work we don’t find a great differences in fuel consumption between the engines because of traffic conditions and even driver variations.
“The Cummins product, and the after-hours service we get from them, is pretty much unbelievable. Both the Kenworths and the Macks are doing the job well. One thing that stands out is that with the technology in the Mack product there can be niggly things that come up that you can only identify by plugging in to the appropriate computer link, so they have to be sent back to Mack.
“We are increasing our intake of automated manual transmissions and currently around 70 percent of the Kenworth fleet is fitted with the UltraShift PLUS Eaton transmission, with earlier units using the AutoShift. A couple of the Super-Liners are fitted with manual Eaton gearboxes.

“Having a combination of rigid vehicles and trucks and dogs, we have found it advantageous for us to initiate our own driver training programmes in order to encourage younger drivers to join the industry. As we encourage a new employee to drive, we train them from the car licence or light rigid category to progress through to a medium and heavy rigid licence.
“Once they progress to their HR licence they spend an average of six months gaining experience with the support of an older driver as a trainer and mentor before they can then progress to their MC licence.
“It’s vital to make sure the right training is provided together with the encouragement to enable a driver to move perhaps from a general freight background to become proficient in rigid and dog trailer work.
“There’s no reason these days why female drivers could not progress along the same career path as with rigid tipper and dog trailer work. There are no requirements for a person to be of a particular size or possess specific physical strength. We don’t get too many applying, approximately one in fifty, but we would certainly not dissuade any female employee from working as a driver.
“Our driver training programme means that a new trainee can work with an experienced operator that has been with us for ten plus years and learn from them.
“If female drivers want to contact us we would be very open to employing them. We have a brand-new, modern facility with spotless amenities and an employment culture that focuses on the abilities of all employees. We have started drivers with MR licences and new employees can start with the small three-tonne tippers delivering sand and soil to landscape and building projects. If they show an interest, we would encourage that.
“Compared to line haul driving there are obvious advantages of working in a local transport operation through being home each evening. We also operate a two-shift system where we can balance our allocations to suit a driver that may not want to work maximum hours. We have about three trucks on night shift at the moment, and it’s all about meeting the demand with workload and managing fatigue. This enables some drivers to do an 8 or 10-hour shift rather than working a 14-hour day.
“We recently became accredited with NHVAS for maintenance and mass requirement and we run a night-shift workshop. Certainly in our industry you need to be attracting the right people and have the right equipment with the experience behind you to go for those bigger contracts. It takes a lot to get from the 15-truck level to the 35-truck level that we are today.
“Prior to the merger, The Good Soil company had five truck and dogs that were all on contract maintenance with service requirements being taken care of overnight at our local Mack dealership at Huntingwood. This worked well, and to simplify dropping off vehicles and their collection we stationed a company ute at the Mack dealership so that a driver could drop off their truck, travel home in the ute, and then return to collect the truck at the start of their next shift.
“With a fleet of that size, contract maintenance works really well. Now the fleet is larger, the management of service and maintenance requirements becomes easier if we complete everything in-house.
“There are not many dealerships apart from Mack and Volvo that run a full night shift. Other dealerships have a time line where they finish. Having our own mechanics mean that if something needs fixing we can cope with that and ensure the truck is ready for work in the morning.

“The headquarters of Select Quarry Materials has undergone a complete refurbishment and the result would be the envy of many transport operators. The workshop is fitted out with a full-length in-ground service pit long enough to accommodate full truck and trailer combinations. Oil and grease supplies are piped along one side of the service pit area and a brand-new rolling road brake tester has also been installed.
“With the maintenance team working on a night shift, each vehicle is rotated through on a regular service schedule that includes regular brake efficiency testing every two weeks. This is endorsed by the printout from the brake tester that is attached to each individual maintenance record. All vehicles undergo either an A-service, a B-service or a C-service each two weeks.
“The diversity of the fleet requires the Kenworths to undergo oil drain intervals of 20-30,000 km, whereas on the recommendation of Mack the oil drain intervals can be extended to 40,000 km, dependent on engine idle time and PTO operation.
“We have incorporated everything we think we might need within the refurbishment plan for the depot, including installing a wash bay with all the hoses held captive off the ground and mounted so they can travel on a rail attached to the wall of the wash bay and not run the risk of being damaged. Our aim is to have vehicles washed at night through the week in order to keep the fleet as clean as possible.
“We have continued to invest in the growth of the business with the purchase of additional land adjacent to our headquarters that will be developed for truck parking and also for fuel bunkering.
As Michael Sultana explained, “A good relationship with suppliers and customers is how we expand our business.”
“We have satellite tracking on own fleet, but with subcontractors we can look at the introduction of compatible systems in the future together with an automated allocation system. It’s something we are in the process of doing now, with devices in our trucks and those of our permanent subcontractors,” said Michael.
“One important thing we are doing in the future is that on each truck we are installing a four-camera set-up with front view, side view, and rear views. It can be hard to determine who is at fault after an accident, and we see that as being an important way to support our drivers.
“In line with our growth we are also for the first time employing a permanent compliance specialist to support our operation. That moves us into a new level by being able to benchmark our operation from the ground up. Some of our competitors simply don’t have the level of compliance that we deem necessary,” added Michael.

Maximum flexibility for maximum efficiency
The composition of the Select Quarry Materials fleet reflects the considerable knowledge of both Mark Allen and Michael Sultana, and their pooling of experience has resulted in different truck and trailer applications to suit varying requirements.
“When I started Central Quarry Materials back in 2006, Sloanebuilt Trailers was my preferred supplier for all truck bodywork and trailer requirements.
“At that time, the relationship with Sloanebuilt was particularly important to us because of its expertise and involvement in our PBS-compliant trailers. It went without saying that, as we created Select Quarry Materials, we would be working with Sloanebuilt.
“We have continued a very solid long-term business relationship for over ten years, starting with truck and three-axle dogs, then to four-axle dogs, and it continued as we became one of the first operators of five-axle dog trailers and 10×4 rigid tippers in Sydney,” said Mark.
“For those interested in payload and efficiency comparisons, the standard 6×4 rigid tipper and quad-dog trailers are running under HML and PBS requirements at 57.5 tonnes.
“The use of quad-dog trailers provides a high degreeof flexibility as they can operate at 57.5 tonnes one way on a PBS approved route, but then still operate on a non-PBS approved route at the lower gross weight of 50.5 tonnes.
“The four-axle trailers are more advantageous for us than a five-axle. Running a five-axle you need to have the work that can accommodate those vehicles for access into worksites on a daily basis. Depending on what product they are used for depends on whether we can supply that with a truck with five axles. Moving to a six-axle trailer would give us far too many access problems,” said Mark.
“There’s no advantage to consider other designs such as moving to a rear-discharge trailer when compared to four or five-axle dog trailers. You can’t go past them from an application point of view, but you do need specific types of work for the functionality of using a five-axle trailer,” Mark added.
A typical specification for a 6×4 rigid Sloanebuilt aluminium tipper body that is NHVR approved and PBS compliant includes the mandatory fitment of ABS anti-lock braking systems.
The body length of 4650 mm with a height of 1670 mm, when manufactured from 5.0 mm single piece aluminium side panels with 6.3 mm thick front sheet and a 5.0 mm thick tailgate, combines with an 8.0 mm floor to produce a 17.6 cubic metres capacity.
With an EDBRO CS13 24T hoist fitted with an additional anti-burst valve, the PTO equipment is by Powauto operated through in-cab controls. Hella lighting is used throughout the body. Automatic onboard weighing systems include three cab-mounted, SBT digital air gauges, and the tailgate is fitted with a single grain chute.
In similar fashion, the typical Sloanebuilt specification for a matching aluminium four-axle dog trailer includes body dimensions of 8230 mm in length and 1670 mm in height, with identical material thickness to that of the rigid tipper body.
Because of the larger 31.5-cubic-metre capacity, a higher rated EDBRO CS 17 hoist is fitted featuring a capacity of 40 tonnes. The tailgate also contains a single grain chute.
Fitted with Hendrickson INTRAAX air suspension, with auto slack adjusters operating with the electronic braking system, the tare weight is approximately 7200 kg.
“We keep to drum brakes rather than disc brakes because we find it more viable to stay with drum braking, but we are running 7HXL Hendrickson suspension with bigger brake drum and lining dimensions, plus we include bearing indicators on each axle,” said Mark Allen.

“Having our in-house service and maintenance facilities give us the resources to make sure that all our equipment is regularly maintained and that checks and balances are in place to ensure everything is operating efficiently and safely.
“Sloanebuilt Trailers continues to work closely with our workshop, and as part of its customer support programme it maintains a consignment stock of OEM parts located at the SQM workshop to cater for regular service requirements.
“The inventory is monitored and replenished by Sloanebuilt direct, to ensure that stocks are on hand, such as brake shoes, brake boosters, slack adjusters etc., complementing the tyre stock of new tyres already mounted on alloy rims and other parts such as filters and lights.
“In quieter times, our service team is also able to work with Sloanebuilt to undertake refurbishment programmes for older trailers, making sure that all our equipment incorporates the latest in technology upgrades. The overhaul gives even an older trailer the ability to remain in service behind a new truck and bin with good reliability as well as maintaining the very high level of fleet presentation we require,” added Mark.

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DON’T BE FOOLED BY ZERO PERCENT

Get That Truck Loan — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 02:48:06 +0000

Many deals sound too good to be true – generally because they are. Most zero percent truck finance offers certainly fall into that category. They are definitely a good marketing strategy – because they increase inquiry rates at dealerships – but they are seldom a good deal for customers.
Zero percent finance is actually a form of ‘sub-vented finance’ – where the interest is actually paid indirectly to the financier. In practise, how this works is the dealer pays the interest to the financier from the profit out of the sale of the new truck. This is why, when a purchase is completed using a zero percent offer, there is little room, if any, to negotiate on the price of the vehicle.
When choosing finance it is essential to look at the overall deal rather than do what the marketers want – which is to see you focus exclusively on the zero.
Generally, it is almost always cheaper to negotiate a significant discount on the price of a new truck, and arrange the most affordable independent finance available.
If you have any questions call us on 1300 799225

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