Roadtrains Articles

Performance Based Standards (PBS) reform

A review of the national Performance Based Standards (PBS) reform has identified improvements to ensure the scheme realises the Council of Australian Government's (COAG) objective for "continuous productivity gains".

National Transport Commission Chief Executive Nick Dimopoulos said the position paper released today identifies a practical way forward for PBS to meet the needs of regulators, operators and manufacturers.

Download the paper here

Victims to sue Kerang truck driver

Some of the people injured in a 2007 train crash near Kerang, in Victoria's north, are suing the truck driver acquitted of charges in the case.

Eleven people were killed in the crash when 50-year-old Christian Scholl's truck collided with a V-Line passenger train at a level crossing.

A Supreme Court jury in Bendigo yesterday found Mr Scholl not guilty of 11 counts of culpable driving and eight of negligently causing serious injury.

Lawyer Don Maffia says five people are bringing a claim against the Transport Accident Commission, which insures Mr Scholl.

"The accident has profoundly affected their lives as one can imagine," he said.

"It's been an emotional roller coaster for them since it happened and it continues.

"This was probably an added trauma for them.

"It's affected their work, it's affected their livelihoods, it's affected their day-to-day living."

Outside the court yesterday Mr Scholl apologised to the families of the victims killed in the crash two years ago.

"Although this criminal case is now over, I will never forget the impact of that day on the lives of so many," he said.

"My thoughts are with those families. I am so sorry.

"I want to say that I'm relieved at the verdict of the jury and grateful for their attention to the evidence.

"I want to thank my family and friends who have supported me and comforted me over the last two years."

During the trial, the prosecution argued Mr Scholl's driving was grossly negligent because he failed to keep a proper lookout.

His defence team argued Mr Scholl made a tragic mistake at a difficult crossing.

Tax Office to focus on truck drivers this year

This year, the Tax Office will focus on truck drivers who claim deductions for work-related expenses in their tax returns, the Second Commissioner of Taxation, Jennie Granger, warned today.

Ms Granger issued the warning at a CPA Public Practitioners' Conference in the Hunter Valley.

"Deductions for work-related expenses are one of the largest categories of claims made in tax returns," Ms Granger said.

"We are concerned that the difficult times may tempt more people to inflate their claims. Based on our profiling, this year we will be focusing on people employed as truck drivers, sales and marketing managers, sales representatives and electricians."

According to the Tax Office, the mistakes made by truck drivers in their tax returns include:
* claiming motor vehicle expenses associated with transporting bulky tools, including to and from work, when there is alternative storage available at their workplace;
* claiming travel allowances they are not entitled to receive; and
* failing to keep appropriate records to support claims for internet and mobile phone use.
Tax returns for the 2008-09 financial year can be lodged from 1 July 2009. Taxpayers who prepare their own returns must get them in by 31 October 2009.

Extra help for owner drivers, small fleets on tax

The Tax Office has announced new measures to help small businesses who a struggling to pay tax. The measures, which are available to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $2 million, could help owner drivers and some small fleet operators.

The Tax Commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo, announced the extra help in a speech this week.
Under the new measures:
* small businesses with a yearly turnover of less than $2 million who have an activity statement debt can apply for an interest free payment arrangement from now until 30 June 2010. These businesses will have the ATO's General Interest Charge remitted for a maximum period of 12 months, provided they maintain the payment arrangement.
* small businesses with a yearly turnover of less than $2 million can seek to defer paying their next activity statement. The ATO can grant a deferral of up to two months for small businesses that make quarterly and annual payments, and a deferral of up to a month for businesses that pay monthly. Activity statements still have to be lodged on time. No interest will be charged for the period of the deferral.

Trucking industry congratulates Alan Brown OAM

The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) congratulates (Leslie) Alan Brown on being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Alan Brown is the founding chairman and director of the Brown and Hurley Group, Australia's largest dealer of Kenworth trucks.

Together with his partner, Jack Hurley, Alan Brown started Premier Motors (which would later be renamed the Brown and Hurley Group) in Kyogle following their discharge from the Second World War.

Their first business was a bicycle shop with a workshop and petrol bowsers. However, their real love was trucks and in 1948 they obtained their first truck franchise.

The Brown and Hurley Group now consists of nine dealers, stretching from Tamworth to Far North Queensland. The company is still family owned and employs over 300 staff across the country.

Chairman of the ATA, Trevor Martyn, said the Medal of the Order of Australia was a wonderful recognition of Alan Brown's commitment to the Australian trucking industry.

"In over 60 years of business, Alan Brown has been a strong supporter of the Australian trucking industry. That commitment continues today through the Brown and Hurley Group," Mr Martyn said.

"As a long time supplier of Kenworth trucks, the Brown and Hurley Group has made significant contributions to the ATA. That support has allowed the ATA to make sure the industry's voice is heard by lawmakers.

"Alan Brown was previously recognised by the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2000; today his many years of service to the industry is recognised by the people of Australia.

"On behalf of the ATA and the whole trucking industry, I want to offer Alan my warmest congratulations on this most significant honour," Mr Martyn said.

As well as running a successful business, Alan Brown spent many years as a councillor of the New South Wales Motor Traders' Association and Australian Automobile Dealers' Association.

Alan Brown was also recognised for his commitment to his home town of Kyogle, where he still lives today.

He is a life member of the Kyogle Lions Club, a former President of the Kyogle Chamber of Commerce and former Kyogle Shire Councillor and Deputy Shire President.

Volvo dealer develops PBS compliant blueprint

A new truck and trailer design has the potential to lift the productivity of the popular truck and dog combinations used by many operators in parts of Australia.

Developed by Gorski Engineering, CMV Volvo from Laverton and Cartage Australia of Sunshine, the new design has delivered a payload advantage for quarry truck operators through a PBS approved blueprint.

The 19.6 metre SMART tipper and quad dog trailer combination gets a 1.8 tonne payload advantage on Victorian general access limits and a 5.5 tonne advantage at 54 tonne on Level 2 roads.

The design includes a Volvo 6x4 truck with 14.5 cubic metre tipper body and four-axle 24.5 cubic metre tipper trailer.

CMV Volvo's sales manager, Charles Bunker-Smith, said the development of the PBS compliant truck and dog took quite a while.

"Once we worked through the obstacles it probably took about eight months from the first enquiry through to the permits being issued," Mr Bunker-Smith said.

"But now it means that people can buy this combination with the certainty it will meet PBS compliance. That's one of the problems with PBS - usually there isn't any certainty that a combination will meet all the requirements for compliance.

"But this combination has been through all the hoops, and we can sell it on to new customers safe in the knowledge that it will meet all the requirements."

While anyone can buy this PBS combination now, the specifications must be identical to the blueprint and each vehicle must be individually permitted for PBS access.

"The requirements of PBS are very specific. It means when we build additional combinations they must exactly meet the specifications of the blueprint," Mr Bunker-Smith said.

It's a situation that backs calls by the ATA for a 'gazette notice' style approval for proven safe combinations including those developed within PBS, according to ATA Chairman, Trevor Martyn.

"It's fantastic to see industry taking a blueprint approach to PBS compliance. But unless PBS approval moves to automatic access to all relevant roads, operators will still be stuck with the tangled red-tape associated with the current system," Mr Martyn said.

"The ATA has stated in its response to the current review being undertaken on PBS that without an easier network access PBS will continue to be an unattractive option for many trucking operators.

"The ATA believes this move by CMV Volvo, Gorski Engineering and Cartage Australia is a big step to wider acceptance of the system, but without the much needed regulatory changes, the industry is unlikely to see a mass uptake of PBS.

"A step change now in productivity is needed to meet the trend in freight demand within acceptable safety outcomes."

Huon Hauler

At the Southern most tip of the continent, it was cold, bitterly cold and spring rain drizzled down again, soaking the already muddy track. Yet for logging operator Mark Pike and his 4900 Western Star it's all part of the job because that is how it is in this neck of the woods.

Story and Photography by Howard Shanks

Mark Pike wasn't that impressed, after all, he'd spent most of the night before washing and polishing his red Constellation for the photo shoot. He had just arrived at the port in Hobart with his first load for the day with mud from the bush track sitting heavily in the polished alloy rims and dripping down along the chassis.

A little over half an hour after arriving at the port, Mark notched up the control on the heater and started stirring the stick, "swapping cogs", in the 18-speed transmission behind the finely tuned 620-horsepower Signature engine under the hood. This time of day the traffic heading south out of Hobart is relatively light, and a string of green lights made straightforward work getting out of town. Even with the back trailer folded up on the front trailer the steep climb on the Southern-Outlet of the A6 Highway out of Hobart makes the Signature earn its keep.

Way over to the south west, dark clouds swirled low around Mt Wellington. Further to the south a small break in the dark clouds revealed a hint of blue sky, teasing that there might be some relief to this bitterly cold wind and icy rain pounding the south east coastline this morning.

Mark and his father Lindsay share the driving in this Constellation. Mark's been logging the south east of Tasmania for more than a decade, his father for over three. Time and experience in the game has revealed some enduring lessons of what sort of gear is required to get around the steep countryside at the southern most tip of the continent.

Mark does one short trip from the bush to the port in Hobart then returns to the bush and collects a load for his home town of Triabunna another hour or so further north up the East Coast past Hobart. His father then climbs in the cabin in the late afternoon and does a round trip back to Triabunna.

"It's a good combination having a father and son team," Mark revealed. "We work together well and both have the some philosophy of how to care and maintain the truck so there are no arguments."

The 4900 Western Star is owned by logging contractor Richard Terry, yet the responsibility of it rests solely with Mark and his father Lindsay.

"I look after all the servicing and maintenance," Mark explained. "It's more or less like having my own truck. We use to have our own (trucks) a few years back, but they changed the tendering process and we didn't feel it was viable to simply operate the trucking side of it anymore. To be competitive you really need to have all the harvesting equipment as well. So this really suits Dad and I operating this Western Star for the boss who relies and values on our input and experience.

This is the second Western Star Mark's operated in logging and so far he can't fault its performance, citing Western Star's ability to custom build the truck specifically for their needs from the ground up, the rugged construction, the proven performance along with good resale value as attributes that attracted him to the brand. He adds that the performance of the Cummins Signature isn't too bad either, but even so he was sceptical about it at first.

"We're traditionally Caterpillar fans," Mark said. "But this truck came with the Cummins and so far it has been okay but only time will tell if it proves it match the Caterpillars for reliability. The old Caterpillar powered Western Star we traded had over 800,000 kms on the clock and we'd not had one problem with it. We'd only ever changed the oil and filters, it was a really terrific engine.

The number of other Western Stars operating in logging applications in the same area only reiterates Mark and owner Richard Terry's comments about the durability of the product.

From Huonville to Geeveston, the highway follows the banks of the spectacular Huon River, even through the misty rain the view along the foreshore was spectacular and the hour or so that it took to reach Geeveston from Hobart passed quickly. In the middle of town Mark eased off the throttle, dropped a few gears and flicked the indicator to the right. From here the road winds its way further inland up through fertile farming land, and not far out of town the bitumen gives way to a narrow dirt track that winds its way up through the coastal mountain range.

Mark picked up the UHF-radio hand piece and called his position when he poked the Western Star's bonnet up the narrow dirt bush track. A reply came back from an outbound truck leaving the landing. Mark acknowledged the driver and made arrangements to pull off the track at a junction, a few corners up the track.

"It is essential for safety to call your position up here," Mark explained as he looked out the windscreen for his mate. "There's not much room for error on these tracks."

There was the customary wave as the trucks passed and brief conversation about the weather before the radio signal faded.

A short time latter Mark, backed into the landing, and stretched out his trailers.

Outside the cabin, the wind howled and the air chilled through to the bone. Mark climbed into an excavator parked in front of the log stack and began loading the front trailer. This load of pulp was bound for the chip mill at Mark's home town of Triabunna.? On average it takes around forty minutes to load himself then chain up and today was no different.

Mark reckons this is where you really get to see the Cummins engine work to its full potential.

"The engine braking on these Signature's is really magnificent," Mark admitted. "That's pretty important in this country and it makes a considerable saving to the life of your service brakes."

"You only have to see how it holds the load on these steep declines," Mark adds.

Power wise Mark has no complaints with the Signature, but he admits the fuel economy is a little heavy but concedes that steep grades do eat up a lot of horsepower and the only way to get the horsepower is to feed it fuel.

It would take Mark another three or so hours to get to Triabunna to unload, before he'd head home for the night. "Typical", Mark said, with a shrug, as the weather report predicted finer conditions tomorrow.

In terms of driveability the package of smooth ride from the wide cabin of Western Star Constellation, the power of the Cummins engine under hood and rugged durability of the truck's construction make it an all round versatile logging unit."

Ends.

Police told to target 'illegal' B-doubles

There are calls for NSW police officers to increase on-road enforcement activities after allegations surfaced of B-doubles speeding and operating on illegal routes.

Greens spokeswoman on transport Lee Rhiannon has fired a shot at truck drivers carrying grain through the NSW region of Greenthorpe, saying they are putting lives at risk through reckless driving.

Speaking to locals today, Rhiannon called on police to take immediate action in the central-west of NSW, saying "it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident".

"I was shocked to see b-doubles speeding around Greenthorpe. These activities are putting lives at risk," she says.

"The NSW police minister should ensure there is an increase in policing operations to stop b-doubles speeding and operating on illegal routes."

Rhiannon claims truck drivers have forced school buses off the road and are ignoring signals to slow down when children step off buses.

The Greens want the B-doubles banned and for the NSW Government to restore rural rail lines so grain crops are not transported via the road network.

"We will be stepping the Greens rural rail renewal campaign. A priority will be to ensure the $60 million still held by Pacific National and earmarked for rural rail upgrades is spent on branch lines," Rhiannon says.

Rhiannon was in Greenthorpe to garner support for the Greens' campaign. The rural branch lines were suspended following the release of Treasurer Eric Roozendaal's mini-budget.

The Greens says more than 80 people attended the public meeting in support of reinstating the rail lines.

Rhiannon's comments follow please from the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) for truck drivers to set a high standard for safe driving over the Easter long weekend.

ATA Chairman Trevor Martyn says there will be rise in the number of trucks on the road, prompting him to issue tips on how motorists can deal with the increase.

He has urged motorists against cutting in front of trucks and acting impatiently if a heavy vehicle is driving slowly.

"If you want to overtake, make sure you can see enough clear road ahead," Martyn says.

Fuelled for Sucess

Half a continent from its home base, the vibrant red Mack Superliner LT and Homewood B-Double tanker set of Peter Champion Mining stood out from the crowd. Howard Shanks reports.

Words and Photography by Howard Shanks.

Most of Alice Springs was still sleeping, as Peter Champion and his long time mate Gary Millewski arrived with the Superliner-LT on the southern outskirts of town. It is an impressive unit by anyone's standard. Yet it is the attention to detail that stems far deeper than the polishing rag that really impresses. And, given that this unit's home base is the harsh black coalfields of Central Queensland, then it is even more so.

Peter's company, Peter Champion Mining, is contracted to the Coppabella open-cut mine, some 25 kilometers southwest of Nebo. His company is responsible for mining PCI coal and Ultra LV coal, which is delivered to the stockpile for processing and not surprising the Mack Superliner-LT shares a stable with some pretty large stable mates which include 200 tonne dump-trucks, bulldozers and excavators.

"We roughly burn a B-Double load of Diesel per day," Peter admitted. "So in some respects the Superliner-LT is the backbone of the operation.

"My father told me once that if you buy, Caterpillar tractors, Mack trucks, Holden cars, and Honda motorbikes you won't go wrong, and I've pretty much stuck to his advice," Peter admitted when asked why he specified a Mack Superliner-LT.

"We've a couple of other Mack trucks in the fleet, in various roles from a mobile workshop through to the heavier applications like roadtrain and float work." Peter added. "They all do their respective jobs admirably, so I can see no reason why the Superliner-LT won't perform equally as well, after all it has the best of everything."

The new LT is built around the well-proven CH chassis and Mack claims this contributes to not only the newcomer's significant tare weight reduction over the existing Superliner built on the heavier R-series chassis, but also improved turning circle and lower chassis height while still permitting a gross combination mass (GCM) rating of 70,tonnes. Mack states, however, that a double skin chassis is mandatory with wheelbases exceeding 5537mm (228 inches) and with GCM ratings over 70 tonnes. Currently the highest rating on the LT is 105 tonnes.

Incidentally, a range of axles are available with a spread of ratios between 4.10:1 and 5.02:1, with various rear suspensions including air and steel spring. Add to this a total of six wheelbase options starting at 4.6 meters (182 inches) stretching to 6.0 meters (236 inches), delivering a versatile range of options to meet wide variety of applications.

However, when it comes time to specify which axle and ratio with which wheelbase and suspension combined with what engine and horsepower that will deliver the most tangible efficiencies in a mining operation then you need more than someone with expertise in trucking.

Peter's longtime mate, Gary Millewski, has a lifetime's experience setting up trucks to operate efficiently in mining operations, that stems right from the design process of trucks and trailers to the construction of haul roads.

"The Superliner-LT formed the perfect platform for Peter's application," Gary explained. "By this I mean we had a vehicle that could achieve the GCM Peter required, had a considerably light tare weight considering it's heavy duty specification and afforded us the flexibility to tailor the unit specifically to suit the role Peter required."

"For the running gear we specified a Caterpillar C-15 set at 550 horsepower, an Eaton 18-speed with Rockwell rear axles on a Neway air-suspension," Gary added.

"Also like most of the equipment at the mine, we fitted a Grovenveld auto greasing system. I really can't speak highly enough about these Grovenveld auto greasers, Gary volunteered. "They deliver the right amount of grease to each grease point and do it all while the vehicle is working. This means there is less downtime in the workshop. Why pull a truck off the road to have greased when it can be done during its daily operation?"

"The Grovenveld auto greaser also has a unique feature, which alerts the driver if there is low pressure in a grease line, which means there may be a broken line or problem at that grease point. When you think about it grease is virtually free compared to replacing parts that are prematurely worn out due to a lack of lubrication." Gary clarified.

The Holmwood tanker units were also custom built to meet Peter's unique application and the harsh conditions of a mining operation. Unlike many tankers of this size, which are primarily set up to deliver bulk fuel to service stations, this unit is basically a mobile service station for the mining equipment.

Gary worked closely with Michael Beeby, Holmwood's project coordinator for the PCM unit, who also co-ordinated the fitting out of the Mack prime mover

"Holmwood designed and manufactured the hydraulic driven high flow "special purpose" pumping system with electronic metering and fittings that enable the Superliner-LT to pull alongside any of the mining machines and fill them with fuel," Gary revealed.

"In most cases we can fill a 200 dump truck quicker than the average person will fill their family car," Gary added.

"The heavy duty barrels are constructed with a 6mm shell and 8mm ends and bulkheads. The tankers have full vapour recovery, bottom loading and overfill protection system. In addition Holmwood designed stainless steel pneumatic operated walkway handrails," Gary explained.

Running gear on the trailers includes BPW - OM/OT suspension with BPW - SHZA 9010 -15DA disc braked axles and Michelin 295/80R225 XZE/2+ tyres.

"Peter had the rear end of the unit changed from the standard format to make it more "flashey" even to the extent of having the letters "PCM" cut into a sheet of stainless steel and illuminated in red so it was visible at night," Holmwood's Michael Beeby added.

"To finished the unit off, Peter requested we make the ladders & toolboxes from polished stainless steel and chrome plate the stand-leg handles," Michael explained. "Some nuts were also changed over and replaced with polished stainless steel dome nuts so the threads of the bolts could not be seen."

There's an age old saying that goes something like "when the clutch drops the bullshit stops", and as Gary eased out the clutch the bright red Holmwood tankers began following the Superliner-LT obediently it was apparent that all the hard work had paid off.

"The torque of these Cat engine's reminds me of the old Maxidyne's," Gary smiled. Back in their day, there wasn't much that got around a Maxidyne and their power was so smooth."

In terms of creature comforts for the driver, Mack has left nothing out. The traditional Mack sleeper is spacious and comfortable. Behind the wheel the driver is treated to a full range of gauges set in a luxury car like wood grain dash.

In terms of road manners, the Superliner-LT is very obedient, with an extremely smooth ride.

"Even though it's early days this is probably one of the best Mack's I've driven," Gary concluded. "Time will tell if we've all done it right though."

END.

The Actros 2660 - Beautiful in Black

Mercedes Benz recently revealed their new 2008 V8 variant of their Actros model range with all the bells and whistles. Which, the maker claim is a truck that can meet the future EURO-5 emissions today if required, Howard Shanks reports.

Words by Howard Shanks. Photos by Howard Shanks and Mercedes Benz

It was a little after midday when Peter Barker turned the key in the shimmering black Actros 2660 at Mercedes Benz' Huntingwood dealership and the OM 502LA 15.9 litre engine leapt into life. Peter is one of Mercedes Benz's Regional Sales managers and had been on the road for more than a week, demonstrating the Actros 2660 B-Double to various customers and press.

While the compressor on the new V8 engine built up air, Peter ran through some of the specs and changes to the new model.

"One of the most significant changes we've made to the Actros is the new PowerShift transmission and the addition of the higher horsepower V8 engines," Peter commenced. "In addition with the new Euro-4 engines we've gained up to 60 horsepower with the 600 variant compared to the older Euro-3 engines they replace. Meantime gearshift times have been reduced 15 percent compared to the older transmission."

"The standard Telligent braking system includes the ABS and ASR traction control that you'd have experienced in the past but now includes a roll-back prevention for moving off in inclines, which has improved safety."

"This is our highroof sleeper cab," Peter continued. It has been designed to improve efficiency with a focus on reducing fatigue for drivers. As you can see the bunk is generous in size and comes complete with privacy curtains to ensure a good nights rest for long haul drivers. There is also a choice of a lower roof height sleeper as well as the Mega Space cab where an additional bunk can be specified for two up driving operations and it also features a flat floor."

A quick glance in the mirrors revealed the airbags in the trailers had charged with air and it was time for the run in the new V8 Benz to begin.

Actros 2660 models use what they (Mercedes Benz) call in their brochures the Mercedes Benz-PowerShift automated 12-speed overdrive transmission. This transmission is rated for applications up to 70 tonne. Meanwhile the G280 PowerShift transmission is a 16-speed and rated for applications up to 90 tonne.

"The non-synchromesh Mercedes PowerShift transmissions offer important advantages in terms of optimised shift times and high shifting comfort," Peter said. "They also have a higher torque and power capacity than comparable synchromeshed transmissions. A choice of different modes, and smoother gear changes, help to enhance safety, cost-effectiveness and comfort."

Meantime back at the wheel of the Actros 2660 with full a charge of air it was time to toggle the little gearlever to select second gear then depress the accelerator and the Actros 2660 began to roll. At a touch after one, the early afternoon traffic westbound on the Great Western Highway was light as the Actros 2660 entered the motorway. Our route out of Sydney to Bathurst was to take us up over Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains past Katoomba, and Lithgow before meandering into the infamous home "V8" at Bathurst.

The Actros 2660 uses Telligent wiring system, which along with full communication with engine and transmission allows an accumulation of data from the engine, transmission and other equipment making it possible to transfer information to a fleet management system.

In the city that Benz PowerShift box worked a treat, with the single trailer behind, in auto mode it shifted up and down gears extremely smoothly. We were scheduled to couple up to the B-Double lead trailer just out of Lithgow.

"The marriage of the Mercedes Benz OM 502LA 15.9 litre engine and PowerShift transmission is really great," Peter explained. "It allows the driver the flexibility to interact with the system to operate with complete freedom."

"For instance," Peter continued. If you require a little more engine braking while the transmission is in 'auto-mode' you simply toggle the small lever at the front of the gear selector backwards and it will drop a gear. Conversely when you are climbing a steep grade like the one up Mt Victoria then you can press the button at the rear of the gear selector to engage manual mode and it will hold the gear. On really long steep climbs if you leave it in auto-mode then the transmission will constantly be changing up and down gears which is just burning fuel unnecessarily."

"Another feature of the Actros 2660 is the kick-down function," Peter added. "If you depress the accelerator all the way down you'll feel an indent, that's how you activate the kick-down function. The best way to operate it is when you are approaching a steep climb you press the accelerator passed the indent which part of the interaction the driver has with the truck by telling the engine that truck is approaching a steep climb. It will then drop down a gear and increase the revs so minimal road speed is lost on the climb.

The OM 502LA 15.9 litre engine can best be summed up as a little engine with a big heart. In this test vehicle it was set at 598 horsepower (440kW) and developed 2065 lbs ft (2800Nm) torque at 1000 rpm.

Rear axles were Mercedes Benz H7 planetary hub reduction with a ratio of 3.43:1 and driver controlled diff locks, this has the 2660 Actros cruising at 1390 rpm at 100kph. Rear suspension was Mercedes Benz 8-bag air suspension with stabilisers. Front suspension is three leaf parabolic with sway bar, coupled to an 8 tonne I-beam axle. Fuel tank capacity is up to 1200 litres of Diesel with a 95litre adblue tank.

A couple of noteworthy standard features on the Actros 2660 include, the 400 mm self adjusting clutch, which adjusts itself each time the ignition is switched on. The air system includes a desiccant type air dryer. Meanwhile this Actros also came equipped with the $14,500 safety package which includes the Voith transmission retarder, Telligent proximity control and active brake assist and the Telligent lane assist.

From a driver's point of view the cabin environment is adequately appointed with ample room for additional switches which maybe required operating auxiliary equipment such as hydraulics. Everything is within easy reach and visibility is very good both fore and aft with wide mirrors. There a few switches mounted behind the steering wheel which are somewhat awkward to actuate when required.

The standard air ride Grammer seat combined with the fully adjustable steering wheel ensures a driver can set the cockpit to their optimum driving position.

The Actros 2660's road manners are very good, the ride is very smooth and steering extremely positive which is an area Peter pointed out is something that new chassis additions have assisted with. Cabin entry and entry is very easy and what you'd expect in a cabover truck.

Peter has a passion that stems from the workshop floor about the Benz product and he is very zealous about the significant improvements that have been made under the cabin. The engine installation is one of the better and cleanest we've seen for some time. Unlike most trucks the turbo is mounted at the rear of the engine truck and the route for the exhaust is straight out to the rear of the cabin. The plumbing on this Actros 2660 is very neat and clean as well. The Actros 2660 would be one of the easiest, of the modern breed, of trucks to perform scheduled servicing as access to the engine bay is very open.

With the addition of the B-Double lead trailer, the tenacious Benz V8 showed little hesitation when it was asked to perform. Most noticeable was the quicker down change from 12^th to 11^th in the hills. The difference in fuel economy was negligible between the single and double configuration albeit a short run test run.

Long warranty is something that Mercedes Benz are pushing too, four-years, 800,000 kilometres. While it sounds great, it is not the longest warranty available in the market places, However it is significant and covers the majority of the driveline. Meantime if you're stuck at the airport waiting for a late plane home you'll have ample time to read the warranty brochure and it's well worth reading to see what it covers and doesn't.

The strengths of the Actros 2660 include the ride and comfort. The Benz V8 engine may well be a new kid on the block but Mercedes Benz are mature engine builders with a strong reliable reputation in the field which can only instil confidence in the product. Mercedes Benz's clean neat build of this model is also commendable and there nation wide dealer support is another comforting feature of the Mercedes Benz product.

ENDS.

1833 Axor Super Spreader

Traversing undulating paddocks at speeds of up to 30 kph, one can be forgiven when they enquire, "Is it a tractor or a truck?" Howard Shanks travelled to one of Australia?s southern most regions to find out.

When Noel Quinn started spreading fertilizer over three decades ago with a second hand ex-army truck he never envisaged that the business would have grown to its current volume or that the spreading equipment would have advanced so far. Today Noel's son Darren wheels their latest spreader, a Mercedes Benz 4x4 1833 Axor.

To an outsider the wind swept coastal town of Sorell in southern Tasmania is probably the most unlikely spot you'd expect to find the latest Mercedes Benz 4x4, but then again the undulating landscape provides the ideal conditions for a vehicle in this class.

Even though Sorell is located only 26 kilometres from the capital of the state Hobart, the area has long history in the agricultural industry predominantly as a service town for the surrounding farming communities. It lies in the heart of the area which was once the grain capital of "Van Diemen's Land" although now the majority of agriculture production is more diversified, from sheep, mixed farming to dairy produce.

Like all forms of transport services, the end user is always looking at cost reductions and conversely operators are looking for the most efficient systems to deliver their services. Such was the case with Noel Quinn and his quest to update his fertilizer spreader. Along with the spreading side of his operation his company also transports bulk fertilizer products with more conventional truck and dog configurations.

"This is the first Mercedes Benz truck we've had in our fleet," Noel explained. "We've traditionally had Volvo trucks and as you can see all our highway trucks are still Volvos in one form or another."

"Mind you they're a good truck too," Noel added. (Pointing in the direction of the Volvo FM12-420)

"But with the new spreader we were after a robust vehicle in a 4x4 configuration," Noel continued. And, there are really only two companies that produce serious 4x4 trucks in this country, that's MAN and Mercedes Benz. Both are equally good vehicles and have notable features but we felt the 1833 Axor had the edge at the end of the day.

"And," Noel added, "Mercedes Benz was willing to fit the Mashall Multispread body which we believe is the best for our application. The Mashall Multispread is more a system than merely a body, which gives us flexibility to spread a variety of products with various feed rates which we can control from inside the cabin."

The Marshall spreader on the Quinn's 1833 Axor has a 10-tonne bin, which give them the flexibility of loading it fully when spreading lighter materials such as chicken manure to the legal 5-tonne load with heavier fertilizer products when doing road runs.

A unique feature of the Marshall spreader is the ground speed controlled belt feed, which is simple enough in operation. The benefit is the vehicle can travel at various speeds without altering the desired application rate.

How it works is a small pneumatic wheel is lowered onto the Axor's drive wheel via a cabin controlled air ram. The revolutions per minute of this small wheel are transferred to the feed belt via a high grade chain system. Hence when the Axor is stationary so to is the feed belt. During the spreading operation if the Axor slows down for a large hole in the field the feed belt also slows with the ground speed of the truck.

Alos fitted to this unit is set of Elphinestone Easy Weigh scales which allow the Quinns to accurately load the spreader to suit the desired spreading job. Another aspect of the Elphinestone Easyweigh system is the radio remote readout which the operator can take in the loader and view the weight of the truck while it is being loaded. As well the Quinns also have an on board printer which can print out the details of each load including the weight.

In addition to the fertilizer side of the operation, the Quinn are also called upon by the Main Roads department during cold winters to grit the roads when they become icy.

"We've also had a door fitted to the right hand side of the bin which can be lowered for when we're working in paddocks," Darren explained. "This allows us to load the truck with a smaller loader which we take on a trailer behind the Axor to the various job sites."

Darren sites the 1833 as a real drivers truck. "It is just like a big car to drive," Darren added. "The roads down here are very rough and narrow and the paddocks are more often than not very rough, some paddocks haven't seen a plough in decades so there is lot of large holes. But comfort wise the Axor is brilliant and the power is superb."

The Quinn's 1833 Axor boasts the 7.2 litre OM 926 LA engine delivering 326 hp and 1300 Nm of torque. The OM 926 LA has been developed on the basis of the familiar OM 906 LA turbo diesel. Increasing the cylinder bore from 102 to 106 mm and fitting a new crankshaft with a stroke of 136 instead of 130 mm produces a swept volume of 7.2 litres. The new power plant attains its rated output at 2200 rpm and maintains its maximum torque right across the range from 1200 to 1600 rpm.

The Quinn's chose the standard nine-speed synchromesh transmission and their Axor rides on steel springs.

According to Mercedes Benz with the new Axor models, fixed maintenance intervals are now a thing of the past. The Telligent maintenance system isstandard equipment with the OM 906 LA - continuously monitors all the key operating parameters and automatically calculates maintenance intervals based on the vehicle's work profile.

Safety and manoeuvrability have been enhanced with the two main mirrors and two spotter mirrors positioned further out from the vehicle to improve rear visibility significantly.

Drivers will find the new Axor range offers cabin interiors which lift their working environment far ahead of the competition. Everything is new, from the instrument panel and instrument cluster to the switches, buttons, trim elements and materials.

Darren is quick to add the cabin interior is first class. "The controls are situated in easy to reach positions and it is very easy to keep clean. You can appreciate that in our operating conditions we're up to our knees in mud or dust, there is no in between.

One feature which Darren said impressed both himself and his father Noel is way the Mercedes Benz 1833 Axor delivers the power to the ground. The standard drive configuration we use for most small blocks is "60-40" where 60 per cent of the power is supplied to the rear axle and 40 per cent to the front axle.

"When conditions get a little softer, such mud or sand much like you'd get at Bruny Island down south of Hobart, then we'd typically shift to 50-50 where the power is distributed equally between both the front and rear axles."

"Then when we can select to lock up just the rear axle and for extreme conditions we can then lock up the front axle as well."

The tractor type tyres fitted to the 1833 Axor, give the unit very sure footing in the steep conditions and provide excellent traction in both sandy and muddy environments.

"The Axor is very stable and sure footed," Darren volunteered. "So much so that it gets around very steep and rugged conditions with relative ease, and farmers are often amazed when they see where it can go."

"The standard Axor air cleaner was set down really low behind the right hand front wheel," Darren explained. "We felt that in really rough terrain this could get damaged so we opted to replace it with a heavy duty dual element Donaldson air cleaner mounted higher up on the chassis behind the cabin. Now it is out of harms way and easy to service."

A spare wheel carrier and frame with winch was also fitted behind the cabin on the left hand side. Understandably the large tractor style tyre and steel rims are quite heavy and this addition makes light work when it comes to tyre replacement.

Even though it is early days, Noel and Darren are both impressed with the fuel economy of the 1833 Axor and its ease of operation. "So far we haven't had any problems with the Axor," Darren nodded.

The Mercedes Benz 1833 Axor maybe the odd truck in the fleet but if its current performance continues both Noel and Darren concede they may well be looking at more vehicles in their fleet brandishing the three pointed star.

ENDS.

Crusin' the Corrugations!

In the wet season the track is impassable. In the dry season it's a long dusty corrugated track, 800 odd kilometres or so. Yet this is where one Kenworth T650 travels each week delivering much needed supplies to remote centres inhabitiants.

Story and Photography by Howard Shanks

It is a little before 4am in Mareeba one Saturday morning late in October, although it could have been any Saturday morning. The main street is quiet and desolate, apart that is, from a young couple staggering away from a pub along the right hand footpath and a dog's solitary bark off in the distance.

Out on the northern outskirts of town at Bowyer's Transport yard a yellowish brownish glow from the dust stained headlights of an old Holden ute, that'd seen more than its fair share of dusty trails and pot holes, lit the Kenworth T650 connected to a 45 foot fridge van parked off to the right of the yard. Dust gingerly stirred as the eight foot high chain wire gates with their bent bottom rails were dragged open through the red gravel.

This was the start of Jim Miles, weekly supply run to cattle stations, roadhouses and the remote mining centre of Weipa in the top of the Australia's gulf country. It is a vital run that everybody relies on.

Jim was born and bred in the nearby coastal town of Cooktown and in two and half decades of trucking has been up and down just about every track in the Gulf that you'd expect a truck to go, and few you wouldn't at least once. Jim, like most folks in the Gulf Country is of an easy going good humored pleasant nature. Even so, he has little time of idle chatter and doesn't mince his words.

The night before Jim had taken his two dog trailers, (they're the two back trailers in the roadtrain combination), out to a parking bay at Mt Molloy 43 kilometers further north. This morning there was little to do except to top up the fridge van's fuel tank and head north. Luckily, the fuel depot is only around the corner and on the way out, and in no time at all Jim had topped up the fridge van's fuel tank and added a few litres to the Kenworth T650's tanks as well.

Jim turned the key, flicked down the headlight switch, pushed in the park brake button and eased out the clutch, he and his Kenworth T650 were heading northward, about as far north as you can drive a truck in Australia.

The road is bitumen as far north as Lakeland a 186 kilometers away after that it is all dirt. The track has some of the roughest most corrugated stretches of dirt in the country and it is cruel on both man and machine. Even so, in recent times Queensland Main Roads have been adding small sections of bitumen which provide small and welcomed relief from the bone jarring dirt.

Fifty or so minutes later Jim eased off the throttle, the Jake Brake resonated from a nearby batter as Jim eased the Kenworth T650 down through the gears and into the parking bay with the two dog trailers. He switched on the mirror mounted loading lamps and reversed the fridge van and dolly back onto the waiting trailer.

Jim stopped a little short of the dog trailer, climbed from the cabin before grabbing a grease cartridge and torch from the bunk's locker. He then liberally coated the trailer's skid plate and dolly's turntable with the contents of the grease cartridge. To give you an idea of how rough and dusty this track is I took a photo of that same dolly in Weipa the next afternoon and you'd swear that the turntable hadn't seen a drop of grease in years. Did we mention it was rough and dusty.

There where a couple of load binders to tighten, on the middle trailer and the customary wander around the trailers tapping tyres and thankfully they were all still up.

Now the C15 Caterpillar under the hood growled in earnest as the three trailers began to roll out onto the black top and there was time for a chat as the road wound its way up and over the range.

Jim reckons he's lost count of how long he's been driving for owner Darcy Bowyer. "Well," Jim says, pausing to wipe his brow. "I've been and worked for a few other outfits over the years, but somehow Darcy always gets me to come back."

You see when the wet season arrives the road north is closed to all traffic and this could be anywhere from late November to the following March or April. This year it was unusually wet and the road did not re-open till mid June. During the wet Jim like many of the other workers in the north find work further south where ever they can.

When it comes to understanding the challenge of finding skilled drivers, then you need only to ask Darcy how hard that is. Especially, that is, when you are sending roadtrains up into the top of the Gulf country where drivers require more than just a steady hand at the wheel. That's why when Darcy and Jim negotiated his (Jim's) new driving contract and Jim requested his new truck be a Kenworth T650 with some specific heavy duty specifications Darcy was more than willing to oblige just keep Jim's experienced services in his company.

Firstly Jim was adamant that the T650 was to be powered by a Caterpillar C-15.

"There is no question in these remote areas of Australia Caterpillar engines are so much more reliable and they have the most comprehensive service network, because they service all the mines all over the place, you're never stuck for a part with a Cat. I'd originally specified the 550 HP C-15 but Darcy only wanted one exhaust stack which limited us to 500 HP."

"At least they're big horses," Jim smiled.

Transmission is as you'd expect an Eaton 18-speed. While the final drive is Meritor RT50-160GP, with a 4.46:1 ratio, set on a Heavy Duty Neway air suspension.

"The air-suspension gives us a great ride," Jim informs. "But you really have to watch it traction wise or you'll be left sitting spinning half way up a jump up. That's where the DCDL (driver controlled diff locks) come in handy in the rear axles; once they're locked up the T650 is like a mountain goat even with these three trailers.

Back at his Mareeba depot, owner Darcy Bowyer leaned back in his office chair and admitted that good blokes like Jim are hard to find. "These blokes have years and years of experience driving through some pretty inhospitable country, and the important thing is they get there and back in one piece."

"Our operation is purely serviced based," Darcy explained. "All along the track, the roadhouses, cattle stations and communities rely on Jim arriving with their weekly supplies. There are two major contributing factors to providing this essential service reliably, which is Jim's skills and the durability of the Kenworth T650 truck. You'd need to go a mighty long way to find a tougher truck than these Kenworth T650s, they're just so well put together."

"We've had a number of different brands of trucks over the years and there a few things that make these Kenworth T650s stand out from the crowd. Firstly you can sleep at night because you know that they'll get there and back in one piece. Secondly even though they might cost a little more when you purchase them than some of the cheaper imitations at the end of the day they are by far cheaper to operate.

Jim recalls that when he started running to Weipa many years ago, the trucks were only body trucks, Leylands in fact.

"After a while a few operators started towing small dog trailers," Jim mused. "The old track was far too narrow and twisty for semi-trailers."

"Back then on some of the bigger jump ups, (hills) like 'Mt Herman' and 'The Brothers'," Jim reminisces. "We'd unhook the trailer and drive the body truck over the jump up, unload the freight by hand then come back and load all the freight from the trailer onto the body truck. Then we'd tow the empty dog trailer over the jump up before reloading both the body truck and trailer and continuing on."

"It's only been in the last decade or so that the road has improved enough to bring these larger roadtrains through," Jim continued. "If you've ever seen some of the articles or the film on Toots Holzheimer you'd know how rough and challenging the run up here was back in the early days."

"Rough!" Darcy explained. "I don't think you really understand or appreciate the meaning of the word until you have done a trip or two up here. But that is how it has been for years and there are not too many trucks around that can handle conditions like these, day in day out other than a Kenworth T650. What makes Kenworth trucks stand out in the crowd is the service they provide, not just from an after-sales point of view, but the serviceability of the truck itself. That to us is vitally important, we are in the service industry and at the end of the day we are only as good as the equipment we use, and that is why Jim and I like the Kenworth product so we can provide the best service to our customers."

On the northern side of Lakeland the purring of the Cat under the hood was smothered as the tyres hit the dirt track. Dust literally bellowed from the trailers and that's how it was to be for the next 700 hundred odd bone chattering kilometers. But thankfully Jim had some deliveries along the way and the first stop was tiny community of Laura, where a well deserved feed of bacon and eggs washed down with a strong coffee was more than welcomed.

Another an hour or so up the track, and Jim slowed up again, this time it was the Hann River roadhouse's turn and it was to be like this the rest of the way to Weipa. At each stop Jim was greeted with a friendly welcome and a hodge-podge of forklifts-come-tractors trundled out to his roadtrain to collect their order, a pallet or two from the back trailer then up to the front for some frozen goods. All the while there was friendly chatter about the weather, the road and how a mate was going up the track.

By late afternoon Jim had made it to Coen, and probably the largest of the towns up the track. He stopped near a cattle grid on the outskirts of town and went around tapping each wheel with a bar to remove the dust. Coen is a quiet place, a three dog town, which lay unassuming and peaceful in the middle of the road enjoying the late afternoon sun oblivious to Jim bustling about on a rickety forklift unloading the freight.

Jim would camp up for the night a few kilometers south of the Archer River Roadhouse so his fridge motor would not disturb the campers in the roadhouse's campsite and unload in the morning. It would be the middle of the day when he'd pull in the Weipa depot and begin to unload. By six thirty, with the help from the local yard staff the two dog trailers were loaded ready for their southbound journey, Jim would reload the fridge van with 22 tonne of fresh fish for the Cairns market in the morning.

ENDS.

ATA Technical Council warns on spring brake valves

Transport operators should carry out regular checks of the control valve for trailer spring brakes, following an incident where the spring brake did not operate, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) Industry Technical Council says.

Trevor Martyn, chairman of the ATA, says the technical group held its first meeting of 2009 recently, and discussed the control valve failure, which was caused by foreign matter entering the valve when the air lines were disconnected.

"As a safety feature, trailer spring brakes are designed to come on when the trailer is disconnected from its air supply or the air supply fails," Martyn says.

"In this case, the operator disconnected the trailer but the spring brakes did not work, even though they are designed to fail in the on position."

The unnamed foreign matter entered the air line and was pushed through to the control valve, where it lodged and jammed the valve in the 'off' position.

"Some tipper dog trailers would be more vulnerable to this sort of brake failure, because their air supply lines are disconnected and reconnected frequently. The risk could also be higher in extremely dusty conditions.

"Brake valve suppliers typically recommend that companies should test the operation of their spring brake control valves on a regular basis."
Although unusual, Martyn says the technical council is taking the failure seriously, with parent body the ATA asking suppliers if more detailed recommendations about checking, servicing and replacing spring brake control valves can be supplied.

"In the meantime, operators should regularly check the functionality of their spring brake control valves. They should also consider installing filters in their trailer air supply lines to stop contamination reaching the valves. Some new trailers are already fitted with in-line filters."

75-Years of Freightliner in Pictures

Leland James (1892- 1964) founder of Freightliner Corporation whose philosophy was the corner stone of Freightliner`s success. "If you do enough things right, you`ll make a profit- but you have to do things right first. So let`s do things right."

This 1930`s Fagol, the first COE reshaped in the Freightways maintenance shop in Portland, Oregon, was the predecessor of the Freightliner COE.

A late 1930s conventional, reshaped by Consolidated in Portland. Such trucks were specially designed to operate on the rugged, unpaved open roads of the West.

Early 1940s Freightways prototype COE, built in the corner of the Consolidated Freightways maintenance shop in Portland.

Early Freightliner "Shovelnose" COE model, from 1941. The straight truck was designed to meet North Dakota`s 50-foot overall length requirements.

Forerunner to the Freightliner Conventional was this tractor, modified in 1941 at the Consolidated Freightways shop in Portland. These conventionals bore no nameplate and were dubbed the ?no-name conventionals?.

The first Aluminium Freightliner cab, developed in 1948 and purchased by Vince Graziano, represented the first sale outside the company to a consolidated Freightways lessor.

Seen ready for delivery, these four trucks were built at the N.W. Quimby Street plant in 1950 and included both integral sleeper and non-sleeper cab models.

The first Freightliner truck sold to an unaffiliated customer- in 1949 went to this Oregon lumber hauler who simply walked in and paid cash.

This Cantly and Tanzola tanker truck, built in 1951, was the first White-Freightliner designed for petroleum transport.

This single-drive "Bubblenose" non-sleeper COE, purchased by the Mayflower Milk Company of Portland in late 1951, was the first truck manufactured under the new White-Freightliner marketing agreement.

Aluminium nose sections were assembled on a special jig near the start of the U-shaped assembly line of the Swan Island plant.

Ken Self, Left and "Jake" Jacobson, assistant superintendent, examine a detail of Freightliner`s cab construction. Jacobson originally hammered the cab skins by hand.

Introduced in March 1953 was the first 48 inch cab, dubbed the "Spacemaker", representing the first new cab style. Incorporating a Cummins engine mounted horizontally under the frame, this truck, a model WF-4864 tandem axle was purchased by Lee & Eastes Inc.

Evolved from basic sketches drawn by Ken Self and Norm Chew, the WF-5844T tractor was unveiled in 1953. It provided maximum all-wheel drive traction on an extremely short wheelbase, and was designed to pull two trailers over the rugged mountain passes of the Pacific Northwest.

In 1965, the experimental TurboLiner became the first Freightliner with a gas turbine engine. Although it weighed 2,400 pounds less than comparable piston driven rigs, the rising cost of petrol doomed the project.

In 1968, Freightliner built this 104-inch COE, naming it the "Vanliner" in honour of its owners, a driving team that worked for Greyhound VanLines.

The name stuck.

A prototype model of the first completely Freightliner designed conventional was built in late 1973. Full production began in the spring of 1974. (Note the non-standard name plate- sign of things to come as Freightliner started to wind up their dealings with White the following year.)

Freightliner unveiled its new 96-inch cab-over at the International Truck Show in Anaheim, CA in 1973.

In its 1976 advertising literature, Freightliner proudly displayed an early conventional model bearing the new nameplate. The Western scene emphasized the company`s Western Heritage and clearly identified it as one of the desirable Western truck brands.

Colour coordinated COE and Conventional models were the first Freightliner trucks to be displayed in a major trucking show- the Mid America Trucking Show of March 1977. The painting of both trucks in the same design and colours established a format for stylish presentation that continues today.

On May 17, 1979 the first Freightliner vehicle was built at the company`s new Mt Holly, NC truck plant. Freightliner executives, left to right: Bill Criter, president; Joe Harth, vice president of manufacturing; Martin Snowey, plant manager; and Jim O`Connel, general manager of truck manufacturing.

1942 Freightliner Conventional and COE, restored by employees of Freightliner Corporation and Portland Freightliner dealership to commemorate Freightliner`s 50th anniversary in 1992.

Information and Photos Courtesy of Freightliner Trucks

The Old Sheila

Back in 1982 two trucks quietly rolled into the Mulgrave headquarters of Mercedes Benz (Australia). Not well known at the time, only a handful of truck fanatics and industry commentators recognised them for what they were; the first Right Hand Drive Freightliners ever built. Australian Roadtrains in Action Editor, Howard Shanks recently took one for a run. It was an invitation that an eccentric truck fanatic like myself couldn`t pass up, a test drive in a very rare Freightliner FLC120 affectionately dubbed, the Old Sheila. While some enthusiasts may argue that these trucks are a little young to deemed Classic or historic trucks, they are truly classic vehicles in their own right. Especially considering that they covered over 3.5 million kilometres from 1982 to 1998 in various test roles and survived. For any truck manufacturer the introduction of a new model is a major exercise culminating from years of development, proving and manufacture. For the MBA organization, as they were then known, the introduction of an entire new brand of vehicle signalled a mammoth task and the ease at which this happened may well be attributed in part to the success these two test trucks enjoyed in the development stages of the launch. Imported under a special agreement, the two units can never be sold and are of little use back in their home country because of their right hand drive configuration. So the decision was made to restore the machines to showroom condition as a testament to the tenacious ability of the Freightliner product. One unit is specced with an NTC400 Cummins, 15-speed Roadranger and Rockwell SSHDs at 4.11:1 on a 4-bag Freightliner Airliner suspension. The second unit is specced with an NTC350 Cummins 15-speed Roadranger and Rockwell QR40s at 3.54:1 on a Freightliner 4-Spring rear end. They arrived originally without sleepers, these were added at a later stage when they entered the MBA delivery fleet. How do you tell the two units apart? The lavishly restored red FLC120 is the 400HP model. It was originally white and fitted with a fibreglass bonnet. The light blue unit is the 350HP model and has the alloy bonnet with alloy rims while the red unit originally came with spider hubs. Flick through some old US Freightliner brochures and one quickly learns that this basic cabin shape was introduced in late 1973, with full production ramped up during the spring of 1974 (translated that`s our Autumn). This model was the first completely designed Freightliner conventional. Incidentally, the first run of these models displayed a non-standard `Freightliner` badge on the grill only. Prior to the introduction of this conventional, Freightliner`s core market was in the manufacture of cabovers. At the time these were built by Freightliner and sold and marketed by the White Motor Corporation and badged as `White Freightliner` in the coat hanger frame. As the US market was, and still is, a predominantly bonneted truck market, how did Freightliner ever succeed by specialising in COE vehicles? The answer is found in the humble beginnings of a company that has since risen to become market leaders in heavy vehicle manufacture. Leland James was an innovative transport operator; a truck driver since the age of 19, he founded a carrying company known as Consolidated Freightways Inc in 1929. Consolidated Freightways was based in Portland, Oregon and serviced ten western states in a cooperative deal with five other carriers. James never wanted to become a truck manufacturer. He simply wanted a lightweight, more durable truck with better ride that could legally haul more freight to boost his trucking company`s revenue. He approached established truck manufacturers but they showed little interest in his lightweight cab-over-engine concept. So the Oregon based business maverick decided to tackle the project himself. From the very beginning his fleet`s mechanics had customised parts and rebuilt rolling stock to lower operating costs and boost efficiencies. Besides, back then it was impossible to buy trucks to a customer`s specifications and replacement parts were not often easy to come by during the Depression. So his mechanics were ready when James decided to pursue his own design for a COE truck. James was intrigued with the potential of aluminium, a new comer to the metal scene. He encouraged the use of aluminium parts to save weight. The first experiments were with brake shoes and suspension hanger brackets on his refrigerated trailers. By the mid 1930s mechanics in his Portland shop were experimenting with a hodgepodge of used trucks and cab-over-engine designs. A search through truck history books will reveal what appear to be many COE style vehicles prior to the introduction of James` COEs. These are not COEs however, they are in fact what were known as a forward-control; the cabin was actually in front of the engine rather than on top of it as is the case with a true COE. Of the prototypes built, the first successful one was installed on a 1937 Fagol chassis with a six-cylinder Cummins diesel. These early COEs consisted of mainly sheet metal cabs mounted on the chassis of old conventionals. While they were around four feet shorter than the conventionals they replaced, according to James, they were still too heavy. In 1939 James hired a group of engineers, sketched out what he wanted and sent them to work in a house owned by Consolidated Freightways in Northwest Portland. Construction of two prototypes began in the back of the Portland workshop in 1940 and the very first aluminium COE slipped in at 2,000 pounds lighter than anything else on the road and performed admirably, according to Tom Taylor who headed the design team. In 1941 the trucks were badged as `Freightways`, with the common spec being a rigid pulling a dog trailer to maximise benefits of the current length laws. At the same time work on conventional models also began. The first of these models were dubbed the `No-Name` conventional due to the fact they had no badging. The first trucks to bear the `Freightliner` name were released in the middle of 1941, a COE Model-600 which became known as the `Shovelnose`. Then the war came and development was wound down as the company contributed to the war effort by taking on the role of manufacturing aeroplane components. So it wasn`t until after the war in 1948 that the first Freightliner was sold. The buyer was Vince Graziano, a Portland produce hauler who subbied for Consolidated Freightways during his slow season. In 1950, the Hyster Company of Portland became the first private carrier to order a Freightliner outside the Consolidated Freightways group. This truck was dubbed number one and was a Model-900, or `Bubblenose`. It came with a built in sleeper, quite a luxury for the times. This truck was purchased again in 1976 by the Freightliner Corporation, restored to its original condition and is now on display in the Smithsonian Institute. In 1951 Freightliner signed an agreement with the White Motor Corporation to market, sell and service Freightliner trucks. This enabled Freightliner to concentrate on the design and development of new models. The slogan at the time was ?Lightweight ? More Freight? The introduction of the mandatory anti-skid braking system by the US government in 1975 saw orders for trucks skyrocket towards the end of 1974. However, in 1975 the Class-8 market bottomed and consequently Freightliner production dropped 67 per cent from the previous year. It was the first time in their history that they did not make a profit. A decision was taken to sever the arrangement with White at the end of the contract in December 1977. During this interim period Freightliner began to ramp up their own distribution system. In 1975 Freightliner advertised their recently released conventional bearing the new nameplate against a western scene. This was to emphasise the company`s western heritage and to clearly identify it as one of the desirable western truck brands. It was to be another seven years before we`d see the bonneted Freightliner on Aussie soil. When they arrived they were taken west to strut their stuff on the outback tracks of northwestern NSW. This testing was their shake down run. ?We tried to determine what would rattle off, crack, break or literally fall apart,? John Grosser Head of Daimler Chrysler Australia`s testing team recalled. ?We weren`t concerned about cooling as the radiator size was already a known quantity. The components were standard items already proven both here and in the US in both competitor vehicles and our own. It was mainly the suspension, chassis, all the different brackets and mounts, the cabins and fittings that we needed to test for durability. ?I can tell you that when a little bracket snaps out in the scrub it`s a special contract all on it own just to get new bits sent out. Thankfully we didn`t need many. The trucks also did a lot of accelerated wear testing at Monegeetta Military proving ground. When we finished our testing program they were moved into the haulage division of Daimler Chrysler for long term everyday haulage evaluation.? The FLC120 test trucks more than proved the durability of their aluminium cabins and components during rigorous testing programs and working in Daimler Chrysler`s haulage division. Yet this model range was never marketed here as sceptics doubted the long-term viability of the aluminium cabin design. Instead, the new steel cabin model developed in the US, known as the FLC112 became the first production Freightliner released in Australia. It would take almost two more decades before aluminium cabins became available in production models, those being the newly released Argosy and Century Class models. Twenty two people working under the guidance of workshop foreman Andrew Varitisiotis did the major restoration of the FLC120 at Daimler Chrysler`s Somerton branch. Andrew described the restoration as a labour of love. ?We enjoyed dealing with such a significant vehicle in Freightliner`s Australian history,? Andrew continued. ?We were able to clearly see what 3.5 million kilometres means in terms of wear and tear. ?Overall the `Old Sheila` was in pretty reasonable shape. We checked the airlines for leaks, serviced the radiator, relined the brakes and checked the Airliner rear suspension system. The engine`s bottom end main and big end bearings were replaced and a set of standard changeover cylinder heads fitted. Beyond that there was just a little bit of minor electrical work required. There was no reason to work on the turbocharger or fuel pump or any other vital areas.? As for the FLC120`s test drive? The old Cummins ticked over nicely, the long throw clutch is typical of a US truck of that era; very light compared to some of today`s high engagement clutches. The dash is a wraparound style with most things easy to see and touch. Visibility is surprisingly good over the long straight bonnet? Ah, to heck with the in depth report, the old girl rode well and drove well. I wouldn`t have any hesitation greasing the turntable, backing under a trailer and heading north to the Territory for a couple of weeks. She`s still got what it takes! ENDS. Words by Howard Shanks: Photos courtesy of Freightliner Trucks.