WORkSHOP - Diesel news

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T
r
a
sm
workshop
from Toll
A new workshop,
developed as part of a
major warehousing and
distribution centre on
the outskirts of Brisbane,
brings state-of-theart, smart workshop
practices to the Toll
fleet. Tim Giles finds
they do things a little
differently in Queensland.
66
DIESEL September-October 2014
T
oll has always had a pragmatic
approach to running many parts
of the business, using innovative
thinking and new technology to
improve safety and productivity. Its newly
built truck workshop in Karawatha, just off
the Logan Motorway as it cuts around the
south of Brisbane, is yet another example of
a different way to tackle the task of running
a fleet.
For the casual visitor, the workshop looks
like any other. It is probably bigger than
most in the industry and comparable with
the kind of workshop facility found in the
big city truck dealerships.
The entire Karawatha site is an enormous
complex including a new home for Toll
NQX as well as the new truck workshop.
The 13-hectare site includes a 43,600
square metre depot complex, 2,000 square
metres of which is the new Toll workshop
for Brisbane. Previously located at Eagle
Farm, the Toll NQX operation has decamped
out to the South-Eastern suburbs of
Brisbane where many new transport related
warehousing and distribution facilities are
now situated.
The new workshop is set up purely
as a service centre, as opposed to a full
repair workshop. The fleets the workshop
is looking after are relatively new, mainly
requiring regular servicing and some minor
profile
“WE ARE SELF
REGuLATED, WITH THE
vEHIcLES THEy WORK ON,
SO WE NEED TO ENSuRE,
WITH THE TRucKS THEy
ARE cOvERING, ALL THE
cHEcKS ARE DONE. WE
ARE cONFIDENT THEy
ARE DOING THAT.”
On any day the workshop will often handle
around 20 services, but has the capacity to
cope with 35 services per day.
repairs, as and when required. Any major
work needed on trucks or trailers will be
sent back to the manufacturer, with much of
the work being covered by vehicle warranty.
However, what sets this particular
workshop apart from many others is the
way the tasks are handled. Toll employees
run and administer the facility, but all
of the hands-on tasks are handled by
sub-contractors based within the facility,
working to safety plans, standards and
service schedules set out by the Toll Group.
This method of working has developed
from the existing situation, when the
operation was based in Eagle Farm. A
workshop was contracted to handle repairs
and maintenance. What has changed is
Toll having built a new warehousing and
workshop area a from the ground up, then
putting the sub-contracting work out to
tender. As it happens, the previous suppliers
won the tender in the lead-up to the
opening of the facility.
“They are a good crew out there and
they do a good job,” says Troy Wynter, Toll
Linehaul and Fleet Services Workshop
Manager Brisbane. “We are self regulated
with the vehicles they work on, so we need
to ensure, with the trucks they are covering,
all the checks are done. We are confident
they are doing that.”
16 people work on the shop floor, overall
Marjack Transport Repairs employ 20
on site. Two tyre fitters work on the site,
employed by Bridgestone, who manage all
of the tyre maintenance requirements of
the fleet in the yard. There is also a wash
bay, run by Wash It, with a truck washing
contractor employing four people.
On the same site, there are just six Toll
employees. Most of these are not involved
directly in the workshop activities, but
work on the fleet side of things, managing
maintenance for the broader fleet and other
divisions of Toll and dealing with external
service providers around the South East
Queensland area. Troy’s task is involved in
the organisation, monitoring the smooth
running of the Karawatha workshop itself.
Toll themselves work out the schedule
of which vehicles need to come through
the workshop for which type of service and
Marjack are simply handed the schedule.
The scheduling is set up to enable the
profile
The entire Karawatha site is enormous, with
Toll building a complex including a new home for
Toll NQX as well as the new truck workshop.
workshop to keep on top of tasks. Early
in the week is the busiest period, with the
majority of the trucks and trailers required
to be on the road later in the week. On any
day the workshop will often handle around
20 services, but has the capacity to cope
with 35 services per day.
The workshop is open from 6 am on
Monday until 2 pm on Saturday. Troy’s main
task is to ensure the flow through the facility
is as smooth as possible, scheduling trucks,
as and when required, to avoid bottlenecks.
Troy Wynter, Toll Linehaul and Fleet
Services Workshop Manager Brisbane.
68
DIESEL September-October 2014
The other part of Troy’s task is to police
compliance and safety in the workshop,
ensuring the area is a safe workplace for all
involved.
Every piece of equipment within the
Toll Group system is registered and
maintenance parameters are automatically
set. These are monitored carefully and when
any work is due, the person responsible
schedules tasks needing to be done.
The actual piece of equipment could be
anywhere in Australia, so it
is picked up at whichever
location and serviced. If
the business unit doesn’t
receive notification of
a service task being
completed within a week
of notification, the issue
is escalated to ensure the
equipment is found, pulled
off the road and serviced.
“We’ve got arrival and
departure sheets from all
of the different depots so
we can track things like
trailers and dollies,” says
Troy. “Each combination
is reported on departure
and arrival, but also at
the gate house, as the
vehicles come in and out,
they take a log of the fleet
numbers.”
The service schedule
for trucks is a pretty typical one with an ‘A’
service at 10,000 km, a ‘B’ at 20,000 km and
‘c’ servicing at 100,000 km. The schedule
sees most trailers serviced on a monthly
basis, but those doing the Perth run come in
every fortnight.
Every other Toll workshop around
Australia works in a more conventional
way, employing its own technicians. The
Toll strategy is to move towards a service
workshop model where the focus is on
A and B services, with other major work
handled by the manufacturer. currently,
most Toll workshops (over 80 per cent) are
service-only facilities and new workshops
will follow this strategy, as they are
developed.
Toll NQX being involved in Trucksafe
and NHvAS is a given for a large fleet
like Toll. Subcontractors involved in
servicing vehicles have to pass compliance
information back into the Toll system
on things like vehicle defects to ensure
compliance. The maintenance accreditation
is run from within Toll and Toll NQX using
data from the suppliers of services rendered
on each vehicle. Reports on outstanding
work also go back into the system to be
fulfilled later.
“The Trucksafe disciplines were a
starting point for us,” says John King,
National Linehaul Manager for Toll NQX.
“We were one of the early members and
we have introduced our standards to gain
accreditation. They are sensible and it’s
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profile
good practice. For example, our driver’s
checklist which is completed before every
single linehaul trip has been developed
based on Trucksafe guidelines.”
Training matrices within the contract
agreement with the workshop operators set
guidelines for a regular training regime for
all of those working on the shop floor. These
are specific to the tasks required; the day
before Diesel’s visit, BPW had been in the
workshop giving technicians a refresher in
some aspects of maintenance.
There isn’t a great deal of variation
within the fleet trucks which come through
the workshop. There are a few main brands
regularly seen on site, Kenworth, Western
Star and Isuzu predominate, with most of
“NOT TOO MANy
MEcHANIcS WILL GET A
cHANcE TO WORK IN A
BRAND NEW WORKSHOP,
IN THEIR TIME. THEy’RE
PRETTy LucKy TO GET
THE OPPORTuNITy AND
ENJOy IT. IT’S A GOOD
WORKSPAcE WITH A
DOuBLE PIT AND THREE
GOOD-SIzED WORK BAyS.”
the trailers fitted with BPW running gear.
Keeping the number of different brands in
the fleet low makes life simple in terms of
holding parts and technician expertise for
the workshop.
Troy has been within the Toll tent for a
number of years, serving his apprenticeship
in the Toll workshop in chullora in New
South Wales. He worked his way up to being
service supervisor in the workshop before
trying his hand at truck driving for a while,
and then seeing sense and returning to the
truck maintenance fold.
Troy is one of many in the Toll
organisation who have had a long
relationship with the company. In an
atmosphere of problems of employee
retention for trucking as a whole, and in
workshops in particular, Toll seems to have
found the formula to get good people
and then hang on to them. For many,
the opportunity to work in a large, wellequipped and well-run workshop like the
one Toll have set up at Karawatha is a far cry
70
DIESEL September-October 2014
from conditions in the past and in smaller,
more cramped, facilities.
“The guys on the floor are excited to be
working in a new workshop,” says Troy. “Not
too many mechanics will get a chance to
work in a brand new workshop, in their time.
They’re pretty lucky to get the opportunity
and enjoy it. It’s a good workspace with a
double pit and three good-sized work bays.
you’ve got a clean environment with good
equipment around them. We are looking to
offer good work and service the vehicles to
the best standards, so we are looking for an
environment where they can do that.”
Troy’s return to a truck workshop saw
him starting the all new workshop at
Karawatha, working with a clean sheet
of paper and setting up a facility from
scratch. The operation moved into the new
workshop in March this year.
“Walking around the workshop it’s part
of my job to identify the high risk areas,”
says Troy. “In our workshop, I think the pit is
a high risk area. So we have fencing around
the whole section and we have a special
induction just for people who work in that
area. They always need to understand it
better. Obviously, no unauthorised people
are allowed in there.”
What Toll have found is that instilling a
safety culture in the employees is the most
important safety feature. A simple item like
the magnetic photo frame which people
can put inside their lockers with a photo of
their loved ones simply says, ‘My reason
for going home safely’. Employees will see
the image every day and it just hits home
the point of why they are working and how
important personal safety is to the family.
It seems with an average age in their late
twenties, the workforce are less fixed in
their ways and willing to take on the culture
the company tries to nurture.
“My responsibility is to Toll, to make sure
this is a safe place to work, our vehicles
are being serviced in the correct way and
making sure we are compliant,” says Troy.
“I also deal with the invoicing, monitoring
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profile
times etc. We are always looking for a
safer way of doing things. We have regular
toolbox talks and I spend time talking to
the mechanics, looking for ideas we can
incorporate within the system.”
Recently, the whole of the Toll Group
stopped for 40 minutes, for everyone to talk
about safety in their particular work area.
Bringing home the safety culture message
and reinforcing employee participation in
the process by giving them time to chat
about the issues.
“I think it’s a lot about how you treat
people,” says Troy. “you explain our idea of
where we want this workshop to go. Show
we want the best for the workshop and we
want you to be part of the team. People are
willing to jump on board, they have bought
into it. I also think the fact we have moved
into a brand new workshop and started a
72
DIESEL September-October 2014
new journey, they understand we are trying
to make this the best workshop we can.”
Apart from the regular servicing of
the trucks, handling trailers involves
working on suspensions, wheel bearings
“WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR IS TO SERvIcE
THE vEHIcLE, DO ANy
MINOR REPAIRS LIKE
BRAKE RELINES, BEARING
REPLAcEMENTS, GATE
REPAIRS, cuRTAIN
REPAIRS AND TyRE
cHANGES.”
check and replacements, brake relines
and other regular servicing. With major
fabrication work, the trailer will be sent to
the specialists who supplied the trailer. The
facility is simply not set up for this kind of
work, any jobs handled involve the truck or
trailer getting in and out in a day.
“What we are looking for is to service
the vehicle, do any minor repairs like brake
relines, bearing replacements, gate repairs,
curtain repairs and tyre changes,” says Troy.
“Anything major, where it might be sitting
in a workshop for two or three days, will be
sent back to the manufacturer. It’s a fast flow
through workshop.”
The Bridgestone team do a yard check
every morning, going through every vehicle
in the yard, trucks and trailers. If tyres need
replacing, they contact the division for
authorisation and get them changed out.
The afternoon is spent going through the
yard doing pressure checks on everything
possible, making note of fleet numbers in
the process.
Feedback from Bridgestone to the
Linehaul and Toll NQX management gives
them an on-going snapshot of how tyre
performance is playing out in different
tasks within the fleet. New tyres are often
introduced on a trial basis and will be
monitored for performance to assess their
effectiveness or otherwise. Data gained
can then be shared around other divisions
of Toll.
Wash It, who run the truck and trailer
cleaning facility, also do work during the
week, but most of their task is concentrated
on the weekend, when more vehicles are off
the road. Toll NQX vehicles all go through
the system, while the Toll linehaul fleet will
get washed when it is available at whichever
location it ends up. Trucks coming in from
Perth will get a bath before being sent back
over the Nullarbor.
Into the future, the Toll NQX facility still
has spare capacity to grow further as the
freight task increases. The workshop itself
has room in its schedule to handle a bigger
throughput as the fleet it is servicing grows.
As a visitor, the atmosphere around
the facility is one of calm and the sense
of space, both within the workshop and
in the apron around it, is refreshing when
compared to many workshops. Setting
up a system where everyone involved
is clear on their tasks and duties within
a well structured system seems to be
working for Toll in this major new site in
Brisbane.
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360 degree blInd
spot system
VDO’s new 360 degree surround
view system has been designed to be
fitted on a broad range of vehicle, to
provide a bird’s eye view of a truck on
a display in the truck cabin. The VDO
ProViu uses real time images from four
specialised cameras with 187 degree
fisheye lenses to give the driver or
operator 360 degree all-round vision
and an “unprecedented view” of the
vehicle’s surroundings.
The system integrates all the
individual images into one bird’seye view image with the use of four
cameras located at strategic positions
around the vehicle.
An electronic Control Unit (ECU)
then merges these four images and
displays them on the screen located
in the cab. The transmitted images
are adjusted perspectively and
consolidated to create a preview in one
bird’s-eye view.
The view shown can be configured
to individual operator requirements to
provide a view tailored to the driver’s
needs. This all-round visibility for the
operator, reduces blind spots and
displays pedestrians, obstacles and
dangerous situations which may not
appear in direct rear vision mirrors.
Formerly produced by VDO
for original equipment fitment at
the factory, the new system is now
customisable and available for retrofit
for commercial, industrial and special
74
DIESEL September-October 2014
Internal tyre pressure monItor
Continental has introduced a new
tyre pressure monitoring system,
ContiPressureCheck, providing precise
data on tyre pressure and temperature.
It can also act as an indicator for
efficient fuel and tyre management
in the fleet and is expected to be
available in Australia later this year.
The system is, essentially, a 2cm
long transmitter weighing under 20
grams, including the sensors, and a
processor, which is affixed to the inside
of the tyre tread in a rubber bracket.
When the tyre is changed, it can be
removed from the bracket and reused
in a new tyre. Continental says the
battery lasts six years. The system
also includes a receiver installed in
the vehicle frame and a display in the
truck cab.
Incorrect tyre pressure can be
costly, as a slightly under-inflated
tyre flexes significantly, shortening
purpose vehicles. Unlike CCTV and other
mostly re-active monitoring systems, the
VDO ProViu is a pro-active system. VDO
says image merging, ‘alpha’ blending and
grading are a standard feature.
Light/dark balance is achieved by the
automatic balancing of the whole image
on the screen, reducing the differential
between the images.
“Blind spots can become a serious and
life threatening problem in the trucking
game. Usually the bigger the vehicle, the
its lifespan. Continental reckons the
average commercial vehicle on the
road is approximately 12 per cent
under-inflated, and this is the cause of
more than 90 per cent of all punctures.
Increased rolling resistance due
to under-inflated tyres results in
additional fuels costs, and if the
pressure in the tyre is too high, this
increases wear or makes the tyre wear
unevenly, which also results in the tyre
having to be replaced prematurely.
Optimal tyre pressure also ensures
that casings retain their retreadability,
and therefore their value.
“With ContiPressureCheck, hauliers
can save hard cash because the
service life of the tyre is maximised
while fuel consumption is minimised,”
said Herbert Mensching, Continental
Director of Marketing and Sales for
Truck Tyres for Europe, Middle East,
and Africa.
bigger the hidden area with blind spots
hiding pedestrians, cyclists or even entire
cars,” said Phil Crosbie, VDO Commercial
Vehicle and Aftermarket Manager.
VDO ProViu hardware included in the
system includes four cameras with 187
degree lenses, horizontal viewing angle,
intelligent software driven light balance
plus an Electronic Control Unit.
The system is suitable for retrofit and
original equipment application on a wide
range of commercial vehicles.
recyclIng lube oIl
There is now an alternative solution to recycling lube
oil, with the opening of the Northern Oil Refinery
(NOR) near Gladstone in Central Queensland. The new
plant is designed to re-refine up to 100 million litres
of waste lube oil a year for re-use as lube oil in the
automotive, transport, mining and agricultural sectors.
The plant is the result of a joint venture between
Southern Oil and J.J Richards and Sons. The company
says it is the only facility capable of recycling waste
lube oil back into base lube oil in Queensland.
Southern Oil has been processing waste lube oils
from Hunter Valley mines, vehicle service centres
and other commercial generators into international
standard re-refined lube oil at its plant in Wagga
Wagga, NSW, since 2001.
“NOR presents a fantastic environmental
opportunity for Australian industry,” said Tim Rose,
Southern Oil Managing Director. “The refinery
means Australia will need to import less base oil
from offshore, enabling an Australian manufacturer to
support Australian industries.
“We now need strong support from waste oil
producers like heavy vehicle fleets, mines and local
governments to direct their waste lube oil to be
re-refined, rather than burned and wasted which is
what mainly happens now.”
95 per cent of the base oil for Australia’s lube oil
needs is imported, only five per cent is produced
through re-refining waste lube oil. 350 million litres of
waste lube oil is collected in Australia every year. 60
per cent of this is burned and 24 per cent is exported
to be burnt overseas.
“With the addition of our Gladstone re-refinery,
Southern Oil will be able to process 38 per cent of
Australia’s waste lube oil, sourcing from the 84 per
cent which is burnt, and reduce Australia’s reliance on
oil imports,” said Rose.
The Queensland re-refinery is claimed to produce
no waste. Every component of the waste lube oil is
reused and 99 per cent of the lube oil component is
recovered as high quality lube oil for re-use.
staying
connected
Making a secure electrical connection is still an important factor given the complexity
of a modern truck. dIesel Workshop looks at some of the things we have to
remember.
I
f you have been in the transport
game for longer than a day, you will
certainly know electrical faults and
malfunctions are a part of life in the
transport game. At the same time, we
have never seen more advancement in
electrical/electronics than we have in the
past 10 years, and it will continue.
Being behind the steering wheel of a
modern prime mover these days is more
akin to a Boeing 737 than a truck. Many
auxiliary devices are added, such as
maintenance systems, electronics scales,
GPS tracking devices, routing devices,
tyre pressure monitoring devices,
the list continues... These also add to
potential headaches, as they need to be
maintained.
While electrical/electronics system
development has hit light speed on the
prime mover, especially in Euro branded
trucks, from behind the cab to the end
of the trailer, the electrical systems
that the trailer manufacturers install
remain somewhat in the dark ages when
compared with what is towing it.
Having said that, it is no direct
criticism of the manufacturers of trailers,
76
DIESEL September-October 2014
there really is no need to do much more
than what they already do. Generally,
electrical functionality on trailers is
extremely basic.
The real challenge is to make the
systems reliable. Over 20+ years, the
biggest advancement on trailer electrics
is LED lamp ware. The weak link has
always been the 7-pin connector that
interconnects the trailers. Also, if the
connectors used to connect the lamps
are not installed correctly, this becomes a
weak point too.
Installing a modern, environmentally
sealed connector is straightforward if you
understand how to do it. Many people do,
however there are many who don’t. These
connectors will not work properly and
will be a source of unscheduled regular
maintenance if not installed correctly.
What is an environmentally sealed
connector? Basically a water proof
connector that has been independently
tested to IP65,67,68 or 69, normally. All
if these are submersible to a greater or
lesser degree.
In the transport industry,
especially when it comes to electrical
systems on modern trailers, there
are three predominant brands of
environmentally sealed connectors:
Deutsch DT, AMP SuperSeal and Delphi
Weather Pack.
Work shop and field crimping
Crimping is defined as the act of joining
a conductor to a pin or socket contact
using a mechanical tool to compress and
displace metal. In a good crimp joint,
there is a mutual flow of metal, causing
a symmetrical distortion of wire strands
and contact material. A proper crimp
will establish mechanical strength and
excellent electrical conductivity. It is
the most critical process of a connector
assembly
crimping configurations
Stamped and formed contacts use a
folded type of crimp while solid contacts
use a 1, 2, or 4 indent crimp. In both
styles of crimps, the wire strands and the
contact materials are formed together
in a solid mass creating a reduction of
the wire strands area. The reduced wire
strand area creates a minimum of voids
allowing for ex¬cellent conductivity.
Crimping may be accomplished with
hand tools or power tools.
Benefits of crimped contacts
Mechanically crimping contacts is the
dominant wire termination method, for
some very good reasons:
1. With smaller wire, the crimp is as
strong as the wire itself.
2. The joint can be visually inspected.
Viewing the wire through an
inspection hole in the contact makes
inspection quick and easy, both by the
operator and by the inspector.
3. Plating thickness is not restricted, as
in solder joints, so better corrosion
resistance and contact reliability are
achieved.
4. Crimping can be done anywhere,
without special preparation.
5. Terminations are replaced or modified
in the field exactly the same as in the
shop, using the same tools and the
same techniques, and with the same
ease of operation and certainty of
results.
Solder should no be added to the
terminal. The use of dielectric grease is
not recommended.
reliaBle crimps and tooling
When installing a connector, the crimp is
critical to maintaining performance and
longevity in service live. This can only be
performed with the correct tooling. Over
the past five years quality tooling costs
have plummeted. In some cases quality
after market tools can cost as little as $65.
In times past, you would have paid nearly
$500 for a similar product.
When working with one example
of environmentally sealed connectors,
the Deutsch DT, these are the kinds of
specifications for the best result in work
shop repairs:
1. Deutsch manufactures two types
of contacts, solid and stamped and
formed. Both styles of contacts
are designed for crimp style
terminations, no solder is required
or recommended. A crimp style
termination displaces the wire strands
creating a superior bond between the
wire and the contact.
2. Deutsch offers several types of tools
to assist with hand and production
wire crimping, wire insertion and
removal and wedge lock and terminal
position assurance removal. The tools
are specific to the solid contacts or the
stamped and formed contacts.