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AUSTRALASIAN BUS & COACH<br />
<strong>ABC</strong><br />
<strong>ABC</strong><br />
ISSUE<br />
BUSLINK NT<br />
CDC SUBSIDIARY<br />
COMMITS $660K+ TO<br />
IMPROVE SAFETY<br />
NZ ADL E-BUSES<br />
EAST AUCKLAND<br />
ISLAND DELIVERY +<br />
KIWI BUS RENEWAL<br />
BRISBANE COUNCIL<br />
NATURAL-GAS<br />
BUS FADE-OUT<br />
ISSUE 399 Nov<br />
2020<br />
$5.95 inc GST<br />
CRÈME CARAMEL<br />
GOING TO SCHOOL HAS NEVER BEEN SO COOL<br />
in focus: tfnsw panel 3 operator: near or far, nsw deliveries: slip slightly
THE BOYS<br />
ARE BACK!<br />
BIGGER AND BETTER
Saturdays<br />
4.30pm!
contents<br />
ISSUE 399 NOVEMBER 2020<br />
08<br />
in the know<br />
6. editorial | ignition<br />
Editor Cotter talks movies, elections, buses<br />
and hotspots. And hopes there is no movie<br />
coming about them all. ‘Cause it happens.<br />
8. news | the front line<br />
We’ve gathered up all the key, hardhitting<br />
Australasian and international bus and<br />
coach news for you, to keep you in the loop.<br />
36<br />
20. column | BIC<br />
PATH TO REOPENING<br />
Michael Apps discusses creating<br />
opportunities in a not-so Covid normal.<br />
in focus<br />
28. In focus | tfnsw panel 3 buses<br />
ILLAWARRA TO SEE FIRST<br />
‘PANEL 3’ BUSES<br />
A family owned and operated bus<br />
company in the coastal NSW Illawarra<br />
region will soon be running the first<br />
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) ‘Panel<br />
3’-compliant buses from Volvo and Volgren,<br />
which needed new fire-retardant materials<br />
and fire-suppression systems to meet the<br />
latest ‘Crib 7’ standard.<br />
32. In focus | canberra bus rally<br />
‘MUM AND DAD’ BUS BUSINESSES<br />
STAGE CANBERRA RALLY<br />
A 15-strong convoy of family owned ‘mum<br />
and dad’ bus companies from across<br />
Australia made its way to rally outside<br />
Parliament House, Canberra, on October<br />
26, to highlight the economic pressures<br />
these small businesses are under.<br />
36. In focus | transdev electric bus<br />
FULLY ‘SUSTAINABLY POWERED’<br />
E-BUS FOR SEQ<br />
Transdev Queensland will launch a<br />
100 per cent ‘sustainably powered’<br />
full-sized electric bus for South East<br />
Queensland early 2021, charged at a<br />
fully solar-powered bus depot in Brisbane,<br />
the company reports.<br />
4<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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48<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
Editor: Fabian Cotter<br />
ph: 0451 194 600<br />
e-mail: Fabian.Cotter@aremedia.com.au<br />
Technical Writer: Paul Aldridge<br />
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40. In focus | melbourne protest bus<br />
MELBOURNE OPERATOR TAKES<br />
PROTEST BUS TO THE STREETS<br />
Victorian border closure uncertainty<br />
– affecting a charter bus business’s<br />
ability to reliably plan and honour tour<br />
bookings – plus Melbourne’s recent<br />
strict metro lockdown restrictions<br />
forced one local family owned and run<br />
bus operator to visibly protest his plight<br />
and put more than half of his bus fleet<br />
up for auction to help pay a spiralling<br />
multi-million dollar debt.<br />
42. coverstory | hino<br />
SOMETHING SPECIAL<br />
With its delicious retro look<br />
underwritten by modern bus<br />
performance and appeal, this very<br />
first Hino RN8J chassis on a Custom<br />
Adventurer-body ‘school bus’ is<br />
something the kids will love and hate<br />
to have to leave after each journey.<br />
Fabian Cotter writes.<br />
48. operator | near or far<br />
WHEREVER YOU ARE<br />
Husband and wife duo Rod and<br />
Justine Williams are doing their best<br />
to weather the current storm that has<br />
hit the bus industry so hard. Despite<br />
their four-year-old business being<br />
Our business can<br />
and will survive this<br />
turmoil!<br />
severely affected by the restrictions<br />
brought on by the pandemic, they<br />
remain upbeat and are using the time<br />
to refurbish their fleet. Anjali Behl spoke<br />
to them recently.<br />
departments<br />
54. bus marketplace | classifieds<br />
FOR SALE!<br />
There’s hundreds of great vehicles and<br />
services listed here from some of the<br />
leading bus and coach companies on<br />
the planet. Have a look around and see<br />
what you might find in there!<br />
60. factory facts | bus deliveries<br />
MONTHLY RESULTS<br />
We know you love them and so we have<br />
the latest bus and coach supplier sales<br />
data collected and recorded for you<br />
to sink your teeth into. To know who is<br />
who and who’s done what simply check<br />
it out!<br />
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busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
5
IGNITION<br />
FABIAN COTTER<br />
Get off my Planet! Now!<br />
Pandemic movies already, US politics, state borders, Covid hotspots<br />
and worse – packed fast-food ‘drive-thrus’. Someone, please help!<br />
Friday night behind a 10-car long<br />
take-way food drive-thru queue. “Get<br />
off my planet! Now!” So frustrating...<br />
If 2020 were an avalanche then right<br />
about now many of us would calling out<br />
for help and hoping the nearest rescue St<br />
Bernard was on its way ASAP – with that<br />
little neck barrel in tow. Nice one, Fido!<br />
Interestingly, the internet points out<br />
– so take it with a grain of salt; question<br />
everything, I say – the ‘most famous’ St<br />
Bernard was called Barry and he saved<br />
between 40 and 100 ‘hooman’ lives during<br />
his Italian-Swiss Alps rescuing stint. Go<br />
Barry! What a legend. In fact, apparently<br />
many of these dogs back in the day weren’t<br />
trained and dogs just learned from other<br />
dogs, each generation, how to rescue<br />
people. How good is that?!<br />
I tell you, if any of these dogs went into<br />
politics they’d kill it! Talk about ‘doggy<br />
bagging’ the popular vote come election<br />
time for intelligence and commonsense.<br />
Speaking of which, it’s been pretty hard<br />
not to get into the all-permeating recent US<br />
election – even for those of us hard pressed<br />
to watch TV these days at the best of times.<br />
‘Are we there yet?’ Apparently not – either<br />
way. Allegations of vote rigging and/or<br />
bad ballots or such continue and it looks<br />
like there’s more of this to come. It seems<br />
recounts have happened before in US<br />
history (who knew?) and I saw something<br />
about how the US Constitution was actually<br />
set up to deal with such scenarios to<br />
maintain integrity – and so it should - and<br />
this involves court cases and either party’s<br />
leaders not conceding etc., so that things<br />
take its course. Hmm... Fascinating stuff.<br />
Thankfully, there’s some new<br />
light-hearted movies coming out to distract<br />
us from the news for a bit – though one<br />
called Songbird set a few years from now<br />
seems to be about another virus and people<br />
getting ripped out of their homes and stuck<br />
into what looks like concentration camps<br />
or such. Umm… No thanks! Making a buck<br />
off current times’ vibes doesn’t sound right<br />
to me, so skipping that one for sure. Borat’s<br />
next one, though, looks worth a look.<br />
BORDERS OPENING?<br />
At the time of print, and according to the<br />
NSW state government website, it will “…<br />
re-open the border to Victoria at 12:01am<br />
on Monday 23 November.” Great news! Ja?<br />
Though everyone is obsessed with ‘cases’,<br />
and with recent days of low to no cases in<br />
Victoria and NSW as well, this sounds on<br />
track, one would think and hope. And as<br />
border closures massively affect the tour/<br />
charter side of the bus business, well … we<br />
watch and wait with baited breath. ‘Hey,<br />
Barry! How’s that brandy coming along?’ ;)<br />
I get press releases from various<br />
governments either lifting classifications<br />
of ‘hotspots’ or enforcing, so hoping<br />
geographic areas don’t endure needless<br />
‘demonising’, meaning discrimination of<br />
people and affecting property prices in the<br />
long run maybe.<br />
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?<br />
Not Pandora’s make-up or Medusa’s curlers<br />
fortunately, but something all the more<br />
pertinent to buses and coaches and public<br />
transport overall in this, Issue 399, of <strong>ABC</strong>.<br />
Firstly, kicking things off exclusively on the<br />
front cover this month is the very retro-cool<br />
Hino-Custom Adventurer school bus –<br />
which is now part of Turnbull’s Bus Service<br />
in rural Victoria.<br />
This is the first time the new Adventurer is<br />
on a Hino RN8J chassis and it certainly got<br />
attention from members of the bus-loving<br />
public as it made its way south to its new<br />
home. A combination that’s usable for<br />
school bus, mining spec, or for a charter/<br />
coach feel, there may well be more of this<br />
mix to come. Read more starting page 42.<br />
In news developments, an evolving<br />
situation (was going to say ‘case’, but<br />
that’s now triggering all sorts of ‘Pavlov’s<br />
dog’ fear responses these days) sees CDC’s<br />
Buslink NT needing to invest AUD$660K+<br />
into bus safety after a 2017 tragedy. Again,<br />
massive condolences to the family, so<br />
hoping the safety learnings from this may<br />
well save other drivers in future, from a<br />
national perspective via the campaign. We’ll<br />
definitely be following up on this for all.<br />
Also, ADL has delivered some e-buses<br />
to Auckland Transport east of the city on<br />
Waiheke Island and it’s also renewed its<br />
partnership with Kiwi Bus Builders.<br />
Brisbane City Council has announced it<br />
will phase out its use of natural-gas buses,<br />
which is interesting given the technology<br />
has been advancing elsewhere around the<br />
world, so maybe that’s something we can<br />
look at more in future.<br />
As for operators, given the current feel<br />
of things, we visited Far Or Wide Bus and<br />
Coach in the Blue Mountains west of<br />
Sydney. Many of you have now heard of<br />
owner Rod Williams and his company’s<br />
pandemic plight, along with loads of<br />
others, who orchestrated ‘demonstration<br />
rallies’ both in NSW and then in Canberra<br />
to highlight the impact of the pandemic<br />
on so many family and independent bus<br />
companies. To get to know the man and his<br />
people a bit more and how they got to this<br />
stage, read on from page 48.<br />
Also in the mix we focus on Dion’s Bus<br />
Service and its acquisition of the first TfNSW<br />
‘Panel 3’-compliant bus – and the latest<br />
fire-mitigation measures it needed. Plus we<br />
check out Transdev’s fully solar-powered<br />
“...with any good gut-churning,<br />
vomit-inducing roller-coaster ride,<br />
what goes up must come down, as they<br />
say, right? Right???”<br />
depot and e-bus charging plan in<br />
South-East Queensland, and much more.<br />
October deliveries? Yep, a slight dip<br />
again, but with any good gut-churning,<br />
vomit-inducing roller-coaster ride, what<br />
goes up must come down, as they say – and<br />
back again, right? Right??? Check it out<br />
from page 60.<br />
And with that, here we are. This time<br />
next month we will – God willing – be about<br />
to celebrate Christmas 2020, so hopefully<br />
whatever other nightmare that might be<br />
coming is polite enough to just back off<br />
for a bit until the new year kicks in. Not like<br />
right at midnight, ok, but say … well, a week<br />
or two later would be nice. Or not at all. ;)<br />
Until the next thrilling instalment…<br />
6<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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NEWS<br />
BUSWAYS’ ADELAIDE METRO SUCCESS<br />
NSW-BASED bus operator Busways<br />
has successfully transitioned its new<br />
Adelaide Metro workforce, using<br />
a ‘digital employee engagement’<br />
app strategy to help overcome the<br />
challenges of the current pandemic,<br />
it explains.<br />
By using a clever ‘social media’<br />
technology, Busways adapted<br />
its interstate approach to move<br />
smoothly into its new Adelaide Metro<br />
contract’s two depots and welcome<br />
215 new employees to the existing<br />
Busways 1,500+ workforce.<br />
The company was selected by the<br />
South Australian government on<br />
March 11, 2020 to begin operating<br />
services for the Adelaide Outer South<br />
contract on July 5; the only new<br />
market entrant appointed in two<br />
tranches of bus contract tenders,<br />
it explains.<br />
After 77 years of service in New<br />
South Wales it was the company’s<br />
first interstate expansion and made<br />
Busways’ Australia’s largest privately<br />
owned bus operator, it confirms.<br />
Throw state border closures and<br />
physical distancing rules into the<br />
mix and Busways had to get creative<br />
about employee engagement to<br />
achieve a successful workforce<br />
transition, it says.<br />
Managing director Byron Rowe<br />
explains that Busways’ primary focus<br />
to uplift quality in service delivery<br />
depended on engaging the existing<br />
workforce to support and prepare<br />
them to embrace change.<br />
“Over the past few months, we<br />
have fundamentally been changing<br />
almost every operational aspect and<br />
process, which is ultimately resulting<br />
in a fleet that is cleaner, quieter and<br />
more reliable,” Rowe said.<br />
“Change is not easy, but employees<br />
that are more engaged, better<br />
trained and kept informed about<br />
what the company is doing deal<br />
with the transitioning process<br />
much better.<br />
“It’s important to me that every<br />
Busways employee has opportunities<br />
to discuss, challenge and ask<br />
questions about Busways and what<br />
we’re currently working towards.<br />
“Communication is something we<br />
are continuously finding better ways<br />
to do,” Rowe added.<br />
MANAGING COMMUNICATIONS<br />
The rollout in early 2020 of a new<br />
employee communication app<br />
to Busways’ NSW workforce was<br />
spearheaded by Busways head of<br />
marketing and communications<br />
Donna Frith.<br />
“It has always been a challenge<br />
to easily reach our frontline drivers,<br />
mechanics, cleaners and yard staff<br />
Above:<br />
“Change is<br />
not easy, but<br />
employees<br />
that are more<br />
engaged, better<br />
trained and<br />
kept informed<br />
about what<br />
the company is<br />
doing deal with<br />
the transitioning<br />
process much<br />
better,” said Rowe<br />
(pictured right).<br />
Below:<br />
Employee using<br />
Blink.<br />
who make up about 90 per cent of<br />
our team overall,” Frith stated.<br />
“We needed an app built<br />
specifically for remote workers and<br />
we found that in Blink, which works<br />
for mobile and desktop and mimics<br />
the usability of other social media<br />
platforms, meaning the user learning<br />
curve was minimal,” she added.<br />
The new platform proved<br />
instrumental in managing<br />
communications for the interstate<br />
transition, according to Busways.<br />
The company had four months to<br />
engage, recruit and ‘onboard’ the<br />
incumbent Adelaide workforce<br />
before commencing operations,<br />
it says.<br />
“Over the past<br />
few months,<br />
we have<br />
fundamentally<br />
been changing<br />
almost every<br />
operational<br />
aspect and<br />
process.”<br />
8<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
INTERSTATE INTERACTION<br />
With the Covid-19 border<br />
closures, only half of the Busways<br />
transition team was able to<br />
get to Adelaide to manage<br />
face-to-face meetings, depot and<br />
fleet inspections, and training.<br />
Original plans for depot-based<br />
transition offices were changed to<br />
accommodate physical distancing;<br />
instead an off-site transition<br />
office with expansive space was<br />
established, Busways explains.<br />
The team provided an<br />
on-the-ground presence to<br />
manage critical activities<br />
and pared-back one-on-one<br />
consultations, but most<br />
engagement with transferring<br />
employees had to be done<br />
remotely, it says.<br />
“We had to pivot our<br />
engagement approach<br />
to concentrate on regular,<br />
meaningful and personal content<br />
via the app. We committed to<br />
a daily posting schedule, and<br />
while that was managed by<br />
our communications team, our<br />
transition and leadership team<br />
members actively participated<br />
in posting their own content and<br />
engaging in the comments so<br />
relationships could be built early,”<br />
Frith said.<br />
All employees who registered to<br />
transfer their employment signed<br />
up for a user account and 99 per<br />
cent accessed the app weekly<br />
throughout the transition period,<br />
Busways confirms. Utilisation has<br />
remained high at 97 per cent of<br />
users accessing the app at least<br />
fortnightly since transition, it says.<br />
E-BUSES PART OF QLD<br />
ELECTION COMMITMENT<br />
Ahead of the recent Queensland<br />
state elections, the Labor government<br />
announced a $23 billion investment to<br />
“supercharge roads, public transport and<br />
jobs”, with electric buses a key feature of<br />
the plan.<br />
The announcement would see the Gold<br />
Coast and Logan areas set to become “the<br />
home of electric buses with a re-elected<br />
Palaszczuk government to supercharge<br />
the industry by building and trialling<br />
the technology in the growing region”,<br />
it stated.<br />
Transport and main roads minister<br />
Mark Bailey says Gold Coast and<br />
Logan commuters would enjoy “a<br />
first-hand glimpse of the future” with<br />
the government to partner with local<br />
companies Bustech, Kinetic (Surfside<br />
Buslines) and Clarks (Clarks Logan City<br />
Bus Service), it confirms.<br />
“We’ve built light rail, we’re rolling out<br />
the longest electric vehicle superhighway<br />
in the world, and from next year locals<br />
will build and ride electric buses that<br />
will be able to travel up to 300km from a<br />
single charge,” minister Bailey said.<br />
DRIVING FORCE<br />
Member for Waterford, minister for<br />
employment and small business,<br />
and minister for training and skills<br />
development Shannon Fentiman says 10<br />
electric buses will be built on the Gold<br />
Coast and rolled out across Logan.<br />
“Before Covid-19 hit, our community<br />
was a driving force behind two record<br />
years of public transport use,” minister<br />
Fentiman said.<br />
“As part of Queensland’s plan for<br />
economic recovery, the Palaszczuk<br />
government is extending the busway<br />
in Logan thanks to the $749 million<br />
M1 upgrade through to Daisy Hill, and<br />
very soon we’ll see electric buses on our<br />
streets.”<br />
Labor’s candidate for Currumbin<br />
Kaylee Campradt says on the Gold Coast<br />
electric buses would be used for the very<br />
first time on the 777 bus route between<br />
Broadbeach and the airport.<br />
“We know buses play an important role<br />
in connecting our community, alongside<br />
the coast’s popular light rail and heavy<br />
rail,” candidate Campradt said.<br />
“With this very important first step it’ll<br />
mean that by 2030 every new bus being<br />
rolled out across Queensland will be a<br />
zero-emissions bus, which is great news<br />
for our environment too.<br />
“We’re building more than $4 billion<br />
in roads and transport for the region<br />
supporting more than 3,000 jobs, and<br />
with the electric bus market continually<br />
evolving, I think we’ll potentially see<br />
our community become the home of<br />
advanced vehicle manufacturing in<br />
Australia.”<br />
Above: (L-R) Kinetic GM of SEQ Matt Campbell,<br />
Labor candidate for Burleigh Wayne Bartholomew,<br />
Labor candidate for Currumbin Kaylee Campradt,<br />
Surfside Buslines depot manager Allyson Robinson<br />
and minister for transport and main roads Mark<br />
Bailey.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
9
NEWS<br />
BUSLINK NT COMMITS $660K TO<br />
IMPROVE SAFETY<br />
NORTHERN TERRITORY WorkSafe<br />
has accepted a $660K ‘enforceable<br />
undertaking’ from Buslink NT Pty Ltd<br />
over the tragic death of a bus driver, who<br />
was fatally injured as a result of a bus<br />
rollaway incident in 2017.<br />
NT WorkSafe alleged that despite<br />
numerous safety reports in the<br />
Australian bus industry highlighting<br />
the dangers of bus rollaway incidents<br />
and a Buslink bus being involved in a<br />
similar near miss days earlier, Buslink NT<br />
failed to implement adequate control<br />
measures.<br />
NT WorkSafe further alleges this failure<br />
not only exposed the worker to the risk<br />
of death or serious illness, but also had<br />
the potential of placing the health and<br />
safety of their passengers and nearby<br />
pedestrians at risk, it states.<br />
Buslink NT was charged with six<br />
offences under Section 32 of the<br />
Work Health and Safety (National<br />
Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 for<br />
failing in its duty to protect its drivers,<br />
passengers and the community from<br />
the risk of rollaway incidents, NT<br />
WorkSafe confirms.<br />
The six charges have been withdrawn,<br />
but NT WorkSafe can commence<br />
proceedings if Buslink NT fails to comply<br />
with the terms of the undertaking,<br />
it explains.<br />
NEEDS TO BE DONE<br />
The activities in the enforceable<br />
undertaking to benefit the work health<br />
and safety of the workers, industry and<br />
the community are:<br />
• installing MobilEye collision avoidance<br />
systems in all 327 buses across<br />
Buslink’s Northern Territory and<br />
Queensland fleets<br />
• producing and distributing an<br />
instructional video on rollaway bus<br />
prevention for bus operators and<br />
drivers across Australia<br />
• working with a partner organisation to<br />
deliver a Northern Territory road safety<br />
campaign targeting distracted driving.<br />
SAFETY BENEFITS<br />
The Northern Territory’s work health<br />
and safety regulator Bill Esteves says<br />
the NT WorkSafe investigation found<br />
no evidence of ‘reckless conduct’ (Work<br />
Health and Safety [National Uniform<br />
Legislation] Act 2011 – Division 5,<br />
Offences and penalties, section 31<br />
Reckless conduct – Category 1), which<br />
would have precluded the proposed<br />
undertaking from being accepted.<br />
“The activities Buslink NT committed<br />
to in its enforceable undertaking have<br />
been assessed as likely to result in<br />
long-term, sustainable, measurable and<br />
tangible work health and safety benefits<br />
for the workplace, the industry and the<br />
community,” Esteves said.<br />
“The expected work health and<br />
safety benefits will deliver outcomes<br />
superior to those expected from a court<br />
sanction, in particular the rollaway<br />
bus prevention video will ensure that<br />
learnings from Buslink NT’s experiences<br />
will be communicated across Australia,”<br />
Esteves added.<br />
The financial obligations of the<br />
proposal are significant, and exceed<br />
penalties handed down for similar<br />
incidents under equivalent legislation by<br />
threefold, WorkSafe NT explains.<br />
“Following the incident, Buslink<br />
NT has worked with the original<br />
equipment manufacturers to identify<br />
and implement additional engineering<br />
safety controls to further reduce the risk<br />
of a bus rollaway.<br />
“All owners and operators of buses<br />
are urged to follow suit and review<br />
their systems to minimise or eliminate<br />
the risk of a bus rollway incident from<br />
tragically occurring again,” said Esteves.<br />
10<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
BYD-BACKED E-BUS MANUFACTURING SITE ACQUIRED<br />
A PROPOSED $700 million e-bus<br />
and e-vehicle manufacturing hub<br />
in the NSW Southern Highlands –<br />
backed by Chinese manufacturer<br />
BYD – is a step closer after<br />
‘cleantech’ company TruGreen’s<br />
subsidiary Nexport secured a<br />
51-hectare Moss Vale site.<br />
As the Australian Financial Review<br />
(AFR) reported, the site south-west<br />
of Sydney aims to be at the forefront<br />
of a revival of local manufacturing,<br />
with as many as 2,000 new skilled<br />
jobs envisaged for the entity.<br />
According to the AFR, Nexport<br />
chief executive Luke Todd confirms<br />
the 51-hectare site at an industrial<br />
estate at Moss Vale in the Southern<br />
Highlands had been acquired for<br />
the manufacturing operation as<br />
it aims to become a big player in<br />
making electric buses and vehicles.<br />
Nexport is the largest supplier of<br />
electric buses in Australia, it states,<br />
and uses electric vehicle technology<br />
developed by BYD.<br />
Todd says the group was tapping<br />
into the big shift towards rebuilding<br />
Australia’s manufacturing base, and<br />
an industry of the future in electric<br />
vehicles.<br />
Nexport “wanted to be part of<br />
a manufacturing renaissance, in<br />
line with the push by the federal<br />
government to ensure that an<br />
economic revival coming out of the<br />
pandemic was accelerated”, the AFR<br />
explains.<br />
“It was already in the works but<br />
we have taken the opportunity to<br />
escalate and expedite and deepen<br />
our investment,” Todd said.<br />
“We are 100 per cent<br />
Australian-owned.”<br />
Other investors include Rod<br />
Casson, who built up a large<br />
motorcycle accessories business<br />
with his brother, which they sold in<br />
2017 for $123 million to ASX-listed<br />
MotorCycle Holdings, the AFR states.<br />
The Halifax family office has also<br />
taken a stake, it reports.<br />
Above:<br />
Nexport chief<br />
executive<br />
Luke Todd<br />
says the Moss<br />
Vale industrial<br />
production site<br />
itself would be a<br />
zero-emissions<br />
site and would be<br />
producing buses,<br />
trucks, vans and<br />
passenger vehicles<br />
when it was at full<br />
strength.<br />
The New South Wales government<br />
has begun the long process of<br />
electrification of its fleet of 8000<br />
buses, it adds.<br />
Todd says the Moss Vale industrial<br />
production site itself would be a<br />
zero-emissions site and would be<br />
producing buses, trucks, vans and<br />
passenger vehicles when it was at<br />
full strength.<br />
He said Nexport and TrueGreen<br />
were aiming to attract other<br />
“cleantech” businesses to the site.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
11
NEWS<br />
uses all those new technologies<br />
that we’ve been speaking about –<br />
hydrogen, electric – it’s going to be a<br />
mix of different technologies, but it’s<br />
got to work in Brisbane conditions,”<br />
he said.<br />
“Diesel is going to need to be in<br />
the mix in our public transport fleet<br />
for the foreseeable future.”<br />
BRISBANE FADES OUT<br />
NATURAL-GAS BUSES<br />
CLEAN DIESEL-technology buses<br />
will slowly replace Brisbane City<br />
Council’s aging ‘eco-friendly’<br />
natural-gas run fleet, with reported<br />
explosions resulting in gas tanks only<br />
being half filled for safety, affecting<br />
efficiency, an <strong>ABC</strong> Radio Brisbane<br />
broadcast highlights recently.<br />
As the basis for a printed story on<br />
www.abc.net.au called ‘Brisbane<br />
City Council swaps “exploding”<br />
gas-powered buses for diesel<br />
following gas cylinder explosions’, it<br />
states that the, “…new diesel buses<br />
are a stopgap, with Brisbane City<br />
Council’s long-term plans to use<br />
a mix of greener technologies,<br />
like electricity and hydrogen,<br />
still years off.”<br />
It added: “Explosions in 2008 and<br />
2012 led to policies that restricted<br />
gas buses operating with half-filled<br />
tanks, which meant they needed to<br />
be refuelled more often.<br />
“The council is withdrawing the<br />
gas buses, which make up about a<br />
third of the fleet, and they will be off<br />
the roads by 2027,” it stated.<br />
NO PROGRESS<br />
As the report states, Brisbane public<br />
and active transport chair Councillor<br />
Ryan Murphy says natural gas “at its<br />
heart” was cleaner than diesel, but<br />
the former had not progressed in<br />
two decades.<br />
As a result, the Euro 6 standard<br />
diesels – the council’s bus of choice<br />
– had “leapfrogged” gas buses, with<br />
lower particulate and nitrous oxide<br />
emissions, it says.<br />
“By 2023 we want to have a<br />
procurement strategy in place that<br />
uses all those new technologies<br />
that we’ve been speaking about –<br />
hydrogen, electric – it’s going to be a<br />
mix of different technologies, but it’s<br />
got to work in Brisbane conditions,”<br />
Councillor Murphy said.<br />
He explains that the<br />
council wanted electric and<br />
hydrogen-powered buses, but<br />
needed to make sure they would<br />
work in Brisbane’s climate and<br />
conditions, and at scale, the<br />
national-broadcaster <strong>ABC</strong> news<br />
report states.<br />
Councillor Murphy pointed to the<br />
first Brisbane Metro bus that would<br />
arrive mid next year: an electric bus<br />
that could carry 150 passengers,<br />
reach 90 kilometres per hour, and<br />
fully charge in 4–6 minutes, the<br />
reports states.<br />
The United Kingdom and France<br />
want diesel banned by 2040, and<br />
India wants it off roads by 2030,<br />
but Counsellor Murphy says those<br />
countries are taking “some pretty big<br />
bets” on their future public transport<br />
fleets and Brisbane would be more<br />
conservative, it quotes.<br />
“By 2023 we want to have a<br />
procurement strategy in place that<br />
Above and<br />
Below:<br />
As the report<br />
states, Brisbane<br />
public andactive<br />
transport chair<br />
Councillor Ryan<br />
Murphy says<br />
natural gas “at its<br />
heart” was cleaner<br />
than diesel, but<br />
the former had<br />
not progressed in<br />
two decades.<br />
THE EXPLOSIONS<br />
Brisbane opposition leader<br />
Councillor Jared Cassidy (ALP) says<br />
natural gas buses – introduced<br />
under Labor Lord Mayor Jim Soorley<br />
– had carried millions of passengers<br />
for two decades.<br />
“At the time they were<br />
cutting-edge technology,” he<br />
said, though “conceded it was<br />
disappointing that two gas cylinders<br />
had exploded in the fleet”, the<br />
report states.<br />
Councillor Cassidy supported<br />
the council’s plan to import 60<br />
electric buses for Brisbane Metro,<br />
but insisted it needed to be more<br />
ambitious and power its entire<br />
1,200-strong fleet with electric or<br />
hydrogen, it explains.<br />
Councillor Cassidy says bus<br />
manufacturer Volgren, based in<br />
Brisbane, had the capability with<br />
its international counterparts to<br />
develop and build electric buses<br />
for the city’s non-Metro routes, the<br />
report confirms.<br />
“We’ve got a fleet of 1,200 buses,”<br />
he said.<br />
“We’d be one of the very few of the<br />
bus operators in Australia who could<br />
lead the way on introducing electric<br />
buses on a mass scale.<br />
Councillor Murphy says replacing<br />
the city’s diesel buses “overnight”<br />
would be financially irresponsible<br />
and leave working buses with<br />
“nothing to do”.<br />
12<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
ADL DELIVERS E-BUSES TO AUCKLAND<br />
AUCKLAND TRANSPORT (AT) and ferry<br />
operator Fullers360 now has six new<br />
electric buses for use on Waiheke Island,<br />
New Zealand, thanks to a delivery from<br />
Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), which<br />
also has renewed its partnership with New<br />
Zealand manufacturer Kiwi Bus Builders.<br />
According to ADL – owned by North<br />
America’s New Flyer Industries – it will<br />
supply an additional two electric buses<br />
to Fullers360 subsidiary Waiheke Bus<br />
Company before Christmas, allowing half<br />
of all buses on the island to be converted<br />
to zero-emission operation.<br />
At the launch event, attended by the<br />
Mayor of Auckland and the British Consul<br />
General in Auckland, ADL announced<br />
its renewed partnership with local<br />
manufacturer Kiwi Bus Builders, it adds.<br />
This will now include the assembly of<br />
electric buses, which for the New Zealand<br />
market had until now taken place overseas,<br />
it confirms.<br />
In addition to two-axle models like<br />
those for Waiheke Island, the partners will<br />
produce 12.6m-long, three-axle electric<br />
buses, which ADL has designed for the<br />
specific requirements of bus operation in<br />
New Zealand by carrying 78 passengers<br />
without the requirement of an overweight<br />
permit, a first for New Zealand, it states.<br />
As the country prepares to fully transition<br />
its bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles by<br />
2035, their local assembly will support<br />
up to 100 jobs at Kiwi Bus Builders, ADL<br />
explains.<br />
ADL’s general manager for New Zealand<br />
Tony Moore said: “We have been a major<br />
supplier to New Zealand for almost ten<br />
years and during this time have already<br />
supplied 500 vehicles with the help of our<br />
friends at Kiwi Bus Builders. As Auckland<br />
Transport and other transport authorities<br />
prepare to move to a zero-emission fleet,<br />
we are renewing this partnership in a clear<br />
sign of our support for New Zealand jobs<br />
and our commitment to this market.”<br />
Kiwi Bus Builders managing director<br />
Richard Drummond said: “The Enviro200<br />
range of electric buses are not only<br />
designed for our local requirements here<br />
in New Zealand, but are also built in this<br />
country. With investment in updated build<br />
techniques, we will be able to scale up<br />
our production to meet demand from<br />
Auckland and elsewhere in New Zealand<br />
as the fleet transformation gets under way<br />
ahead of the 2035 zero-emissions target.”<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
13
NEWS<br />
YUTONG E-BUS FOR<br />
EAST AUCKLAND, NZ<br />
EAST AUCKLANDERS will<br />
electric vehicle on the road in<br />
soon be able to enjoy a quiet,<br />
Auckland, and our drivers are<br />
zero-emissions bus experience<br />
very excited to have been given<br />
thanks to Auckland Transport<br />
the opportunity to get behind<br />
(AT) and local Transdev subsidiary<br />
the wheel,” she explained.<br />
Howick and Eastern, the<br />
companies have announced.<br />
2040 GOAL<br />
Purchased by AT, the new<br />
Transdev Australasia CEO Luke<br />
including AT, to bring new<br />
state-of-the-art Yutong E13<br />
three-axle electric bus will<br />
be operated by Howick and<br />
Eastern on routes throughout<br />
the Eastern suburbs and to and<br />
from the City, catering for up to<br />
78 passengers per trip, Transdev<br />
confirms.<br />
Agati congratulated Auckland<br />
Transport for its ambition to<br />
deliver a fully zero-emission bus<br />
fleet by 2040.<br />
“Globally, Transdev is a leader<br />
in zero-emissions mobility and<br />
we are proud to be partnering<br />
with government agencies,<br />
Above:<br />
Auckland’s<br />
newest electric<br />
vehicle has<br />
been specifically<br />
designed to meet<br />
New Zealand<br />
conditions,<br />
says Transdev<br />
Australasia.<br />
fleet and technologies to more<br />
places,” Agati said.<br />
“By replacing existing legacy<br />
fleets with new zero-emissions<br />
vehicles we can work together<br />
to reduce our carbon footprint,<br />
improve the long-term<br />
sustainability of the transport<br />
General manager of Howick<br />
network, and make public<br />
and Eastern Sheryll Otway says<br />
transport an even easier choice<br />
the new three-axle vehicle would<br />
for customers,” he added.<br />
provide a superior experience for<br />
Auckland’s newest electric<br />
both customers and drivers.<br />
vehicle has been specifically<br />
“The new vehicle is designed<br />
designed to meet New Zealand<br />
for passenger comfort, offering<br />
conditions and is powered by a<br />
a smoother, quieter and<br />
422kW battery, with the vehicle<br />
more sustainable journey for<br />
capable of travelling up to 400<br />
customers,” Otway said.<br />
kilometres on a single charge,<br />
“The bus is the first extra-large<br />
Transdev confirms.<br />
14<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
SITA BUSLINES REBRANDS TO<br />
TRANSIT SYSTEMS VICTORIA<br />
MORE THAN 18 months after Transit<br />
Transit Systems subsidiary, says the<br />
Systems acquired Melbourne-based<br />
group is pleased to see the Transit<br />
Sita Buslines – marking the<br />
Systems network presence expand<br />
company’s first foray into the state –<br />
into Victoria.<br />
the rebranded Victorian bus entity<br />
“We have been successfully<br />
is now officially known as Transit<br />
running the operations in Victoria<br />
Systems Victoria, it was announced<br />
for over 18 months now, and the<br />
recently.<br />
time was right to consolidate<br />
The company says it is extremely<br />
the branding into the Transit<br />
pleased to launch the new-look Sita<br />
Systems network,” Feuerherdt<br />
Buslines following the acquisition of<br />
explained.<br />
the group into the Transit Systems<br />
“It is very much business as<br />
portfolio in April 2019.<br />
usual on the ground, but it<br />
Transit Systems has successfully<br />
transitioned more public transport<br />
contracts than any other provider<br />
in Australia, and is renowned for<br />
innovation with leading on-demand<br />
services, including ‘turn up and go’<br />
services, and zero-emission transport<br />
outcomes already in operation, the<br />
company states.<br />
Clint Feuerherdt, CEO SeaLink<br />
demonstrates our commitment<br />
to the Victorian transport network<br />
as global operator with local<br />
knowledge,” he said.<br />
Transit Systems has a fleet of<br />
electric buses running as part of<br />
a trial with Transport for New<br />
South Wales, as well as being one<br />
of the most experienced hydrogen<br />
fleet operators, experience gained<br />
Above:<br />
“We look forward<br />
to seeing the<br />
Transit Systems<br />
fleet moving<br />
around Victoria,<br />
and we’re excited<br />
by the possibilities<br />
in the state,” said<br />
Clint Feuerherdt,<br />
CEO SeaLink<br />
Travel Group.<br />
for London network, it confirms.<br />
“We are driven by the concept that<br />
the more comfortable, convenient,<br />
sustainable and reliable we make<br />
public transport, the more we<br />
can increase patronage, reduce<br />
road congestion and decrease<br />
emissions – improve performance<br />
measurements and outcomes for<br />
our clients and the community,”<br />
Travel Group, which wholly owns the<br />
in the globally renowned Transport<br />
said Feuerherdt.<br />
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busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
15
NEWS<br />
$100 MILLION NSW<br />
REGIONAL JOB PUSH<br />
SUPPORT GRANTS of up to<br />
$10 million under a new NSW<br />
government program designed<br />
to create more jobs across the<br />
state is open to businesses in the<br />
transport and tourism sector, a<br />
government spokesperson for<br />
Deputy Premier John Barilaro<br />
confirms.<br />
Existing regional businesses<br />
can apply for funding, as can<br />
businesses located in metropolitan<br />
areas, interstate or overseas that<br />
want to establish operations in<br />
regional NSW.<br />
For the purposes of this fund,<br />
regional NSW is defined as any area<br />
in NSW that is outside of Greater<br />
Metropolitan Sydney, Newcastle<br />
or Wollongong, the government<br />
clarifies.<br />
The idea behind the plan is<br />
regional businesses that can<br />
increase employment by expanding<br />
production lines or relocate<br />
operations to regional NSW from<br />
interstate or overseas will have<br />
access to the grants.<br />
Deputy Premier John Barilaro<br />
says the $100 million Regional Job<br />
Creation Fund, announced recently,<br />
will provide businesses with the<br />
money they need to fast track<br />
expansion plans, to create jobs and<br />
Above:<br />
NSW Deputy<br />
Premier Barilaro<br />
says the Regional<br />
Job Creation<br />
Fund will provide<br />
grants between<br />
$100,000 and up<br />
to $10 million<br />
to undertake<br />
projects that<br />
create jobs.<br />
stimulate the local economy.<br />
“NSW businesses have<br />
demonstrated remarkable<br />
resilience in the face of drought,<br />
bushfires and Covid-19 and this<br />
unprecedented funding program<br />
will help them thrive instead of<br />
just survive,” Deputy Premier<br />
Barilaro said.<br />
“I have set an ambitious target for<br />
the Regional Job Creation Fund to<br />
create at least 5,000 new direct jobs<br />
across regional NSW in the next<br />
three years by providing businesses<br />
with the equipment, infrastructure<br />
and capacity they need to create<br />
new opportunities and attract new<br />
customers.<br />
“Regional NSW is the engine<br />
room of our state and this program<br />
will deliver immediate economic<br />
stimulus as businesses leverage new<br />
opportunities by providing work for<br />
tradies and suppliers.<br />
“Regional NSW’s abundance of<br />
natural resources, its pool of skilled<br />
labour and the NSW government’s<br />
record infrastructure spend is<br />
providing businesses and industry<br />
with everything they need to<br />
succeed.”<br />
Deputy premier Barilaro says the<br />
Regional Job Creation Fund will<br />
provide grants between $100,000<br />
and up to $10 million to undertake<br />
VOLVO BUS<br />
AUSTRALIA<br />
‘FAMILY’<br />
CELEBRATES<br />
MILESTONES<br />
FATHER AND SON duo David and<br />
Stuart Woodward are collectively<br />
celebrating 40 years with Volvo<br />
Bus Australia this year, with the<br />
‘veterans’ reaching 25- and 15-year<br />
milestones, respectively.<br />
The 2020 career milestones<br />
for the stalwart Woodward pair<br />
highlights the integral support to<br />
the Volvo Bus Australia team they’ve<br />
provided and their nurturing of vital<br />
relationships with customers and<br />
industry stakeholders, the company<br />
confirms.<br />
16<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
projects that create jobs, including those<br />
that:<br />
• replace, upgrade or adapt existing plant<br />
or equipment, including technology or<br />
energy efficiency upgrades<br />
• enable existing regional NSW businesses<br />
to establish an additional production<br />
line<br />
• relocate a business from interstate<br />
or internationally to regional NSW, or<br />
onshore an activity currently being<br />
undertaken overseas to regional NSW<br />
• develop new tourism experiences and<br />
attractions to create new demand in a<br />
region.<br />
TRANSPORT AND TOURISM<br />
When <strong>ABC</strong> magazine contacted the<br />
deputy premier’s office for further<br />
information, a spokesperson for said:<br />
“The NSW government’s $100 million<br />
Regional Job Creation Fund will help<br />
to create at least 5,000 new jobs across<br />
the next three years by supporting<br />
existing regional businesses and<br />
encouraging interstate and international<br />
business to invest in the regional NSW.<br />
“The fund will assist businesses in key<br />
and engine industries including transport<br />
and logistics, agriculture, manufacturing,<br />
defence technology and medical, by<br />
co-funding projects providing businesses<br />
with the money they need to fast track<br />
expansion plans that will create jobs and<br />
stimulate local economies.<br />
“Projects include the expansion or<br />
extension of existing buildings, facilities<br />
or production lines or the construction<br />
of new standalone buildings or facilities.<br />
Projects must create at least five new<br />
ongoing jobs.<br />
“Existing regional businesses can apply<br />
for funding, as can businesses located in<br />
metropolitan areas, interstate or overseas<br />
that want to establish operations in<br />
regional NSW.<br />
“For the purposes of this fund,<br />
regional NSW is defined as any area<br />
in NSW that is outside of Greater<br />
Metropolitan Sydney, Newcastle or<br />
Wollongong,” they stated.<br />
CONTACT INFO<br />
The NSW state government says it is<br />
encouraging, “…businesses to discuss<br />
their proposal with the Department<br />
of Regional NSW by contacting<br />
1300 679 673.”<br />
For further information about the<br />
program guidelines and eligibility,<br />
visit www.nsw.gov.au/RCJFund or visit<br />
https://www.investregional.nsw.gov.au/<br />
investment-support/regional-jobcreation-fund/.<br />
Applications are now open and<br />
will close on May 14, 2021, or when<br />
program funding is fully allocated, the<br />
government explains.<br />
Commencing his time with Volvo Bus<br />
Australia in April, 1995, David Woodward<br />
joined the team as Zone Service manager<br />
NSW, servicing NSW and NT customers.<br />
He later assumed the role of Regional<br />
Service manager for the Sydney metro<br />
area, where he serviced a large number<br />
of customers across city, school, charter<br />
and coach operations, before moving<br />
into the newly created role of National<br />
Competency manager in March this year,<br />
Volvo Bus states.<br />
Overall, Woodward Snr. has 44 years of<br />
experience in the bus and coach industry<br />
since landing his first industry job as an<br />
apprentice mechanic in 1976. Since then<br />
he has developed outstanding skills in<br />
his field and has become regarded as<br />
a technical guru in the industry, Volvo<br />
explains.<br />
LIKE FATHER, LIKE…<br />
Passion and dedication to the bus and<br />
coach industry clearly runs in the<br />
Woodward family as David’s son,<br />
Stuart, followed in his father’s footsteps<br />
and began his career with Volvo Bus<br />
Australia a decade later in 2005, Volvo<br />
Bus confirms.<br />
Having been immersed in the<br />
industry and the close-knit bus and<br />
coach community since he was a child<br />
- where he attended various bus shows<br />
and events – Woodward Jnr. has had<br />
a passion for buses and coaches for as<br />
long as he can remember, he says.<br />
Stuart began his career with<br />
Volvo Bus Australia as an apprentice<br />
heavy diesel technician and later<br />
transitioned to Service Advisor with<br />
Volvo Commercial Vehicles Sydney.<br />
He spent seven years as Contract and<br />
Technical Support manager for Volvo<br />
Bus in WA, and moved into his current<br />
role as regional sales manager for NSW<br />
in July 2019.<br />
VALUABLE ASSETS<br />
Both David and Stuart’s extensive<br />
industry experience, exceptional<br />
customer relationship skills and high<br />
level of respect from the industry<br />
make them valuable assets to Volvo<br />
Bus and its customers, the company<br />
states.<br />
“We are very fortunate to have had<br />
David and Stuart supporting the Volvo<br />
Bus Australia team throughout the<br />
years,” said David Mead, acting general<br />
manager Volvo Bus Australia.<br />
“Not only have they provided<br />
invaluable service to our customers,<br />
but they are truly passionate about the<br />
bus and coach industry in Australia.<br />
“Their career milestones are a<br />
testament to their unwavering<br />
dedication to the organisation and we<br />
are very grateful to have them playing<br />
such key roles within the Volvo Bus<br />
team,” stated Mead.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
17
NEWS<br />
WWF-BACKED POST-<br />
COVID RECOVERY<br />
HIGHLIGHTS ‘CLEAN’<br />
E-BUSES<br />
THE WOT!?!<br />
TAKING THE P***<br />
This was the Edinburgh News’ front page on<br />
November 9 – Lothian Buses drivers have been<br />
accused of<br />
dumping<br />
bottles of<br />
their urine<br />
in bushes<br />
on the aptly<br />
named<br />
Bogwood<br />
Road in the<br />
village of<br />
Mayfield<br />
near<br />
Edinburgh.<br />
“We have<br />
worked<br />
with local authorities and other partners to put<br />
in place arrangements for toilet facilities along<br />
our routes across Edinburgh and the Lothians,”<br />
said Lothian Buses in its defence – raising the<br />
question of where they thought bus drivers<br />
were relieving themselves previously. And one<br />
would hope that the bus is indeed stopped<br />
before such matters are taken care of.<br />
IN A MOVE to help stimulate Australia’s<br />
pandemic-stymied economy, a World<br />
Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia campaign<br />
video promoting a $2 billion recovery<br />
focusing on green technology has<br />
crucially thrust electric buses further<br />
into the mainstream spotlight, recently.<br />
Renewable heavy vehicles specialist<br />
Electromotiv is fronting the WWF<br />
Australia campaign, which evolved after<br />
a WWF-commissioned report by EY<br />
suggested a clean stimulus package<br />
could create more than 100,000 jobs<br />
in a post-Covid-19-led recovery. And a<br />
central element to the initiative is a $240<br />
million investment in electric buses.<br />
In the video released by WWF this<br />
week, Electromotiv’s managing director<br />
and co-founder Toby Roxburgh explains<br />
that Australia is well-placed to take<br />
advantage of renewable energy and to<br />
manufacture the buses that will replace<br />
their fossil-fuel precursors.<br />
“Australia has a fantastic renewable<br />
energy resource; we’re the perfect<br />
location for zero-emission buses. The<br />
technology is there and we can make<br />
them in Australia,” Roxburgh said in the<br />
video that shows Transport Canberra’s<br />
Yutong E12 electric trial bus travelling<br />
the streets.<br />
Roxburgh believes the campaign<br />
could not have come at a better time,<br />
saying Australian governments have<br />
until recently been reluctant to add<br />
zero-emission buses to their fleets, but<br />
that’s changing rapidly.<br />
“The demand for electric buses is<br />
exponential. In the first quarter of this<br />
year we did nine electric buses for<br />
Auckland. We’re now working on our<br />
next 50, our next hundred and our next<br />
200 vehicles,” he said.<br />
IN TRANSITION<br />
Earlier this year, Transport for New South<br />
Wales announced it would transition its<br />
8000-strong bus fleet to zero-emission<br />
technology by 2050. In 2019, Brisbane<br />
City Council appointed a bid team<br />
offering a high-capacity electric vehicle<br />
and infrastructure combination to<br />
service its $944 million Brisbane Metro<br />
project.<br />
WWF Australia Energy Transition<br />
manager Nicky Ison says the<br />
investment in electric buses<br />
outlined in the EY report could<br />
double local manufacturing jobs<br />
in the bus sector.<br />
“We can rebuild our economy in a way<br />
that sets up Australia for prosperity in a<br />
world hungry for a low-carbon future,”<br />
Ison said.<br />
“Secure jobs, cleaner air, improved<br />
health and a nation envied as a world<br />
leader in renewables – they are all within<br />
our grasp. Australians will prosper and<br />
thrive under a renewables-led recovery,”<br />
Ison explained.<br />
Above:<br />
Roxburgh believes the WWF Australiabacked<br />
campaign could not have come at a<br />
better time, saying Australian governments<br />
have until recently been reluctant to add<br />
zero-emission buses to their fleets, but that’s<br />
changing rapidly.<br />
RAMBLE ON<br />
Things are a bit happier south of the border<br />
in North Yorkshire, where a three-hour<br />
double-decker ride over the moors has been<br />
named the UK’s most scenic bus route in a<br />
competition run by Bus Users UK. The 840<br />
route between Whitby and Leeds cruises past<br />
the medieval city walls of York before rambling<br />
through the rolling Yorkshire countryside to<br />
finish up at the coast and a dramatic view of<br />
Whitby’s ruined gothic abbey. Though, you<br />
probably will need a wee after sitting on the<br />
bus for three hours… Spare bottle, anyone?<br />
BORN TO BUS<br />
Looking for Christmas present ideas? Bus<br />
Driver Simulator has now been released on<br />
your console of choice, offering “a high level of<br />
realism, buses from various countries and two<br />
faithfully reproduced cities (Cologne, Germany<br />
and Serpukhov, Russia)”. If you just can’t get<br />
enough of it during work hours, it includes<br />
road events such as traffic jams and accidents,<br />
the need for fuel stops and variable weather,<br />
though it doesn’t seem to have kangaroos<br />
rocketing out of nowhere, possibly to the relief<br />
of our European counterparts.<br />
18<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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busstopsales.com.au
BIC<br />
MICHAEL APPS<br />
The path to reopening<br />
We have to look towards creating opportunities in a not-so Covid normal<br />
Michael Apps<br />
BIC executive<br />
director<br />
PO Box 6171,<br />
Kingston ACT 2604<br />
p: 02 6247 5990<br />
f: 02 6273 1035<br />
e: admin@bic.asn.au<br />
On October 23, the Australian government<br />
released its national policy to ‘open<br />
Australia’: a ‘three-step framework for<br />
a CovidSafe Australia’ to nationally<br />
reopen to a state of ‘Covid normal’. At this stage,<br />
Western Australia has decided not to join the rest<br />
of the national cabinet in support of the Covid<br />
normal plan.<br />
It is possible that, by December 25, the whole of<br />
Australia (except WA) may have open, quarantinefree<br />
domestic borders and all Australians will be able<br />
to socialise at any venue, at any time, at a distance<br />
of 1.5m (not the currently prescribed 2 and 4 square<br />
metre rules). Australians may also be permitted to<br />
engage in low risk international travel, but I am yet to<br />
be convinced of this.<br />
So, what is Covid normal? Well, as I understand it,<br />
our ‘new normal’ is:<br />
• outbreaks are managed through a swift public<br />
health response<br />
• no domestic border restrictions<br />
• physical distancing (1.5m) and personal<br />
responsibility to hygiene and Covid testing<br />
• all businesses to have a CovidSafe plan.<br />
What places are CovidSafe? Any state or territory that<br />
sustains a green light in a complex matrix of traffic<br />
lights called the ‘Common Operating Picture’. The<br />
‘picture’ measures state and territory performance on<br />
managing Covid-19.<br />
What other places are CovidSafe? Outside of<br />
Australia, it remains New Zealand only. The recently<br />
“I think the national Covid<br />
normal plan, if adopted by all<br />
states and territories, is an<br />
extremely positive step for<br />
industry.”<br />
announced in-principle agreement between<br />
Singapore and Hong Kong to establish a two-way air<br />
travel bubble (ATB) is an interesting development to<br />
be closely watched.<br />
The ATB allows travel between both cities<br />
without quarantine, with certain conditions such as<br />
travellers testing negative for Covid. It is clear to me,<br />
however, that our coach sector cannot rely on any<br />
international borders opening anytime soon.<br />
The latest tourism statistics (provided by the<br />
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry<br />
in September) tells a compelling and painful<br />
story for our coach tourism sector:<br />
• international visitors for 2020 likely to be around<br />
1.8 million versus 9.5 million last year – buggered if I<br />
know where the 1.8m visitors are coming from;<br />
• domestic interstate travel in June down 82 per cent<br />
compared to last year with overnight spend down<br />
to $404 million compared to $2.9 billion in June<br />
2019;<br />
• hotel occupancy rates in August/September in<br />
key capital cities down around 30 –35 per cent<br />
compared to 75–82 per cent last year.<br />
The August results from Tourism Research Australia<br />
show that regional areas are faring better than<br />
capital cities (Sydney, for example, down 85 per cent<br />
compared to August 2019), but regional QLD, WA<br />
and SA are all on the way up.<br />
However, I believe there is a strong opportunity<br />
for our coach sector in both regional and urban<br />
tourism. The BIC has long advocated to industry and<br />
governments for people to travel across Australia not<br />
over it and connect regional visitors to our cities and<br />
vice versa. State regional visits are not dissimilar to a<br />
regional coach tour in Europe.<br />
If this new Covid normal plan pans out, coach<br />
operators need to crank up the engine now<br />
and start talking to the state tourism agencies<br />
and local governments to grow a new and unique<br />
service in Australian tourism. There is more to<br />
local coach tourism than young backpackers<br />
and grey nomads.<br />
Not trying to tell operators how to suck eggs<br />
here, but I believe we need to expand the market<br />
opportunities across the board, not just the<br />
traditional markets (charter school bus as an<br />
example). Why not try something that offers an<br />
experience for a family to see and experience our<br />
regions and cities?<br />
The BIC and the Bus Australia Network are<br />
doing our bit to ensure that support for the sector<br />
is on the agenda of all ministers in transport and<br />
tourism – including providing a 10-year strategy<br />
for coach solutions for land transport tourism.<br />
We are also currently holding discussions with<br />
the deputy PM Michael McCormack and the<br />
national cabinet to support a number of initiatives<br />
to encourage industry diversification, business<br />
investment and tourist incentives.<br />
The bureaucratic task moves slowly most of the<br />
time, but I think the national Covid normal plan, if<br />
adopted by all states and territories, is an extremely<br />
positive step for industry and there-in lies an<br />
opportunity for coach operators to flick the switch to<br />
new ways to deliver a tourism product.<br />
Keep safe and well. Stay informed at ozebus.com.<br />
au/covid.<br />
20<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
INSTANT ASSET WRITE OFF UP TO $150K UNTIL 30 JUNE 2021<br />
ALL REASONABLE OFFERS CONSIDERED ON ALL VEHICLES ADVERTISED<br />
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Wheel, large luggage<br />
bins. Expressions of<br />
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WAS $265,000 + GST<br />
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Munro<br />
Luxury fit out with<br />
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USED BUS<br />
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SPONSORED CONTENT<br />
FIRESTORM EVOLVES TO<br />
UNITED SAFETY<br />
Firestorm Fire Protection<br />
has changed its name<br />
to United Safety and<br />
Survivability. With the<br />
change of name comes<br />
the best of safety and<br />
survivability technology<br />
for Australia.<br />
Firestorm Fire Protection’s<br />
heritage has been in vehicle fire<br />
suppression, with a dedicated<br />
team of specialists servicing the<br />
transportation sector since 2010.<br />
With now more than 10,000 Fogmakers<br />
installed on buses throughout Australia<br />
and New Zealand, the company has been<br />
instrumental in the industry in producing<br />
a notable downward trend in bus fires<br />
year on year as uptake increases in both<br />
public and private fleets, it states.<br />
To continue with the company’s<br />
core philosophy toward safety, it has<br />
introduced new products that sit outside<br />
of the fire mitigation, but still remain close<br />
to its core values.<br />
“This became the necessary catalyst to<br />
change our name to United Safety and<br />
Survivability Corporation (USSC),” national<br />
product and innovation manager Kieran<br />
McHatton shared.<br />
Since 2004, the company has grown<br />
steadily from a small base in the Hunter<br />
Valley to now, in 2020, employing 130+ staff<br />
and with nine metropolitan and regional<br />
branches across Australia.<br />
With the Pennsylvania, USA-based parent<br />
company providing new and innovative<br />
products to the portfolio, it quickly became<br />
apparent that the next evolution was to<br />
change the company’s name to USSC.<br />
As part of this growth, the management<br />
team has welcomed Brett Baxendale to<br />
the position of business development<br />
manager. Baxendale has applied experience<br />
in passenger transport vehicles and shares<br />
the vision to work with clients as partners in<br />
safety and survivability.<br />
In 2021, new product sets will be released<br />
into the transport market. These products<br />
will allow USSC to further assist the market<br />
with the new challenges, such as proactive<br />
sanitisation of buses, it says.<br />
Active Air Purification at work.<br />
22<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
COVID SOLUTIONS<br />
AEGIS Microbe Shield is the first<br />
product USSC released recently,<br />
which has seen significant<br />
interest from the bus sector.<br />
AEGIS provides a 12-month<br />
antimicrobial barrier for surfaces.<br />
The product is applied to all high<br />
touchpoints, including handrails,<br />
seating, passenger windows and<br />
driver cabin.<br />
This gives the public<br />
confidence to return to public<br />
transport and interstate coach<br />
travel, and when combined with<br />
USSC’s PHI cell it provides a<br />
“one-two punch” to bacteria<br />
and viruses, the company says.<br />
In addition to AEGIS, Active<br />
Air with PHI Cell Technology is a<br />
proven solution for Covid-19 in<br />
vehicles and commercial areas,<br />
USSC says.<br />
The unit produces low levels<br />
of hydroperoxides, which in pure<br />
form is recognised as a highly<br />
effective disinfection agent<br />
commonly used in the health<br />
and medical industries to kill<br />
viruses and bacteria.<br />
The Active Air unit can be<br />
installed in the recirculating air<br />
conditioning unit of a vehicle<br />
with fixed glass windows to<br />
continually sanitse the air as the<br />
vehicle is operating. This occurs<br />
autonomously and without driver<br />
initiation and provides a constant<br />
level of protection for both<br />
occupants and driver.<br />
This duration is the key to<br />
elimination of colony-forming<br />
bacterial and virus clusters, as<br />
traditional high-disinfection<br />
cleaning leaves vehicles<br />
unprotected during operational<br />
periods, USSC states.<br />
Various-sized modules are<br />
Fogmaker is Australia’s<br />
leading vehicle watermist fire<br />
suppression system, it says.<br />
This gives the public confidence to<br />
return to public transport and interstate<br />
coach travel.<br />
available from USSC to suit different<br />
application areas, it explains.<br />
FIRE-SUPPRESSION<br />
SOLUTIONS<br />
Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) are now<br />
being rolled out across metro areas,<br />
which creates new challenges for<br />
builders and operators alike.<br />
As most fire-suppression systems<br />
were tested on diesel fires. it is vital<br />
to understand what systems are<br />
available for ZEBs, the compliance<br />
of those systems and the fire<br />
performance, based on the risk.<br />
United Safety offers a variety<br />
of fire-suppression systems<br />
including the Fogmaker Water<br />
Mist, conventional foam systems,<br />
dry chemical powder, dual agent,<br />
aerosol and 3M Novec.<br />
SAFETY SYSTEMS<br />
Safety of vehicle occupants has<br />
been the core attributing value<br />
of the company’s mandate and<br />
success throughout the years.<br />
USSC has a neat and simple<br />
solution for the end-of-shift driver<br />
procedure that ensures no child<br />
is left on board a bus, or any other<br />
item in fact, the company says.<br />
Child Check-Mate is a driver<br />
alarm system that ensures that the<br />
driver has walked the length of a<br />
full-size bus to disable an alarm<br />
system with a push of a button.<br />
The small box has big<br />
functionality says McHatton,<br />
such as audible instructions,<br />
GPS integration capability, delay<br />
function for loading and fueling,<br />
and telematic output for real-time<br />
viewing by CCTV.<br />
For more information about<br />
USSC’s product offerings, contact<br />
Brett Baxendale via email at<br />
brett.baxendale@ussc.com.au,<br />
call 1800 424 889, or visit USSC’s<br />
website at www.ussc.com.au<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
23
SPONSORED CONTENT<br />
AXALTA – A LEADER IN<br />
PAINT AND COATINGS<br />
2020 has been a<br />
quiet year for many,<br />
but that has not<br />
stopped Axalta from<br />
continuing to work<br />
in the background,<br />
supporting partners<br />
and strengthening<br />
businesses.<br />
As the major supplier<br />
of paint and<br />
coatings to the bus<br />
industry, Axalta has<br />
striven to provide<br />
products and solutions, resulting in<br />
increased productivity, durability and<br />
longer lifespan of vehicles, it says.<br />
With the recent announcement<br />
that Axalta has been appointed the<br />
exclusive paint and coatings supplier<br />
to Bustech, Axalta now supplies<br />
to more than 75 per cent of all<br />
Australian manufactured buses, the<br />
company confirms.<br />
Axalta puts its rapid growth within<br />
the bus industry down to taking time<br />
to truly understand the challenges<br />
faced by Australian manufacturers.<br />
“At Axalta we consider ourselves<br />
a partner to manufacturers, not just<br />
a supplier. Every bus carrying the<br />
manufacturer’s logo also carries<br />
our global reputation for industry<br />
leading product and support,” Axalta<br />
Australia OEM product manager<br />
Michael Busch said.<br />
“The predominantly coastal,<br />
high-corrosion environment that<br />
Australia’s buses operate within,<br />
exposed to constant extreme<br />
levels of UV, needs a unique<br />
product offering.<br />
“The Axalta product team<br />
has done an outstanding job at<br />
identifying the best possible product<br />
combinations, which contribute<br />
significantly to producing, in our<br />
opinion, the best buses in Australia.”<br />
However, the paint product itself is<br />
just a small part of the product and<br />
service offering provided by Axalta,<br />
it says.<br />
“Axalta’s partnership with<br />
manufacturers includes extensive<br />
initial and ongoing painter training,<br />
assistance identifying quality new<br />
recruits, analysis and improvement<br />
of existing processes, quality<br />
control and supply of international<br />
benchmark quality product,” Busch<br />
continued.<br />
“We even work directly with the<br />
manufacturer’s supply chain to<br />
ensure the initial part is provided at<br />
the quality level required, to allow<br />
the final paintwork to present to its<br />
full quality capacity.”<br />
At Axalta we consider<br />
ourselves a partner to<br />
manufacturers, not just a<br />
supplier.<br />
Above:<br />
Coatings<br />
application on<br />
a bus<br />
Right:<br />
Axalta’s<br />
partnership with<br />
manufacturers<br />
includes ongoing<br />
painter training<br />
SUITE OF CLIENTS<br />
A proud member and supporter<br />
of the Australian Bus Industry<br />
Confederation (BIC), Axalta’s suite<br />
of clients domestically includes<br />
Volgren’s three manufacturing<br />
sites in Victoria, Western Australia<br />
and Queensland, plus Bustech in<br />
Queensland and Precision Buses in<br />
South Australia.<br />
Internationally, Axalta customers<br />
include global powerhouses Volvo,<br />
Yutong and BYD, the company<br />
confirms.<br />
The extensive national Axalta<br />
technical team continues to offer<br />
the highest levels of support to<br />
manufacturers in all states and<br />
territories of Australia, it explains.<br />
24<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
SPECIAL EVENTS<br />
IT’S NOT JUST A TRUCK<br />
SHOW – IT’S A FESTIVAL<br />
The latest announcement<br />
about the 2021 Brisbane<br />
Truck Show was not<br />
about the truck show<br />
at all. Yet it was greeted<br />
with overwhelming<br />
enthusiasm by stalwarts<br />
from across the industry.<br />
The last show to feature<br />
heavy equipment and<br />
machinery was also the<br />
last show at the RNA –<br />
Brisbane Showgrounds<br />
– in 2009. The show’s hand was<br />
forced by the redevelopment of the<br />
Showgrounds; however, the move to<br />
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition<br />
Centre has been well rewarded.<br />
Exhibitors have been able to really<br />
step it up with the quality of their<br />
displays in one of the world’s great<br />
venues. The Brisbane Truck Show is the<br />
only event that takes over the whole<br />
centre, with fantastic displays filling all<br />
three floors.<br />
The proximity to South Bank and the<br />
CBD has opened up new opportunities<br />
for truck displays, networking, dining<br />
and entertainment.<br />
If there were one, the only downside<br />
was that there was nowhere for the big<br />
yellow construction gear.<br />
Well, in Australia we never say<br />
never. The exciting news that the<br />
2021 Civil Construction Field Days will<br />
be hosted by the Civil Construction<br />
Federation of Queensland in tandem<br />
with the Brisbane Truck Show was<br />
confirmed last month. They have<br />
delivered the concept on a smaller<br />
scale before, but the 2021 event is<br />
not short of ambition.<br />
The new venue is downriver from the<br />
Story Bridge alongside the fabulous<br />
Northshore Hamilton development at<br />
Portside Wharf.<br />
It is large enough for a huge array of<br />
heavy equipment and machinery and<br />
plenty of parking, too. Not that you’ll<br />
need it if you take the free shuttle from<br />
the truck show, or jump on a Rivercat<br />
from South Bank.<br />
The reciprocal ticket means that your<br />
entry into one show will also get you<br />
into the other. That’s a lot of bang for<br />
your buck.<br />
HEAVY VEHICLE WEEK<br />
Last year’s Brisbane Truck Show<br />
brought with it a new umbrella event<br />
that takes in all the displays, product<br />
launches, dinners, conferences,<br />
meetings and other activations<br />
alongside the show.<br />
The Australia Heavy Vehicle Industry<br />
Week gave a name to an extraordinary<br />
collection of activities that make<br />
Brisbane an irresistible destination for<br />
the industry every two years.<br />
Next year will see major anniversaries<br />
celebrated by a couple of the industry’s<br />
biggest names. Plans are well<br />
underway for how that will look on the<br />
ground but enough to say that you, the<br />
visitor, will be the beneficiary.<br />
There will be more trucks and trailers<br />
on display at South Bank parklands<br />
and more again in the CBD.<br />
Virtually every bar and restaurant in<br />
the precinct will be offering deals for<br />
truck show attendees; the National<br />
Apprentice Challenge will be staged<br />
Above: Todd Hacking (HVIA), Simon Turnbull<br />
(Hastings Deering) and Damian Long (CCFQ)<br />
launch the Civil Construction Field Days.<br />
in the South Bank Piazza and live<br />
entertainment every day – and every<br />
night – will bring the festival to life.<br />
Meanwhile the Brisbane Truck<br />
Show will benefit from new features<br />
including a dedicated Future Fuels<br />
hub and an expanded Technology and<br />
Innovation hub.<br />
The Queensland Heritage Truck<br />
Show over at Rocklea has been taking<br />
place on the weekend of the show for<br />
years. If you haven’t made your way<br />
over there before, 2021 is definitely<br />
the year.<br />
Speaking of heritage trucks, the 1928<br />
Thornycroft A2 that was the stage for<br />
the very first Brisbane truck show in<br />
1968 is currently being restored. That<br />
project is no small challenge; however,<br />
everything is on track to unveil her on<br />
opening day of the show.<br />
It sounds like everything that’s old<br />
is new again, doesn’t it? All that and a<br />
whole lot more.<br />
With the borders opening up, hotel<br />
rooms are booking fast. Make sure<br />
you’ve locked in yours!<br />
www.brisbanetruckshow.com.au<br />
26<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
INNOVATION - SUSTAINABILITY - SAFETY - KNOWLEDGE - CAREERS - COMMUNITY
IN FOCUS<br />
TFNSW PANEL 3 BUSES<br />
ILLAWARRA<br />
TO SEE FIRST<br />
‘PANEL 3’ BUSES<br />
A family owned<br />
and operated<br />
bus company in<br />
the coastal NSW<br />
Illawarra region will<br />
soon be running<br />
the first Transport<br />
for NSW (TfNSW)<br />
‘Panel 3’-compliant<br />
buses, which needed<br />
new fire-retardant<br />
materials and firesuppression<br />
systems<br />
to meet the latest<br />
‘Crib 7’ standard,<br />
Volgren reports<br />
recently.<br />
Established in 1923, Dion’s Bus<br />
Service – based in the<br />
Wollongong suburb of Fairy<br />
Meadow – is the oldest bus<br />
operator in the Illawarra.<br />
The concept behind the term ‘Panel<br />
3’ refers to TfNSW’s new procurement<br />
arrangement where all new buses travelling<br />
in New South Wales must meet passenger<br />
safety improvement measures, including<br />
stringent new fire-mitigation specifications.<br />
The two low-floor route buses,<br />
incorporating Volgren Optimus bodies on<br />
Volvo BR8 chassis, will replace vehicles<br />
coming to the end of their life, and<br />
Dion’s managing director Les Dion<br />
says that will make a significant difference<br />
to passengers.<br />
“The two new buses will go into service in<br />
late November, replacing two older buses<br />
approaching their maximum contract bus<br />
age of 25 years,” Dion said.<br />
“Being low-floor accessible buses we<br />
will be able to better accommodate<br />
wheelchairs and prams, as well as our<br />
elderly customers.<br />
“By replacing two standard buses with<br />
accessible buses we are now in a position to<br />
be able to provide 100 per cent accessible<br />
buses to all of our scheduled passenger<br />
services,” he added.<br />
GREAT TRANSFORMATION<br />
Dion’s fleet, having served its customers<br />
through World Wars and depressions,<br />
has transformed greatly during that<br />
time and now, as one could imagine.<br />
“In early days you would use your<br />
resources to maintain your fleet and<br />
even add gas-producing charcoal<br />
burners to keep the buses going when<br />
fuel was scarce during the Second<br />
World War,” Dion said.<br />
In fact, there was even a period where<br />
Dion’s would ‘re-body’ its own buses in<br />
order to keep costs down. When it could<br />
no longer do this, Dion’s would revert<br />
to buying second-hand buses. In 1989,<br />
Dion’s purchased its first new bus in 40<br />
years, it confirms.<br />
Les Dion says the company’s first<br />
Volgren entered the fleet in 1998 and<br />
that was the first time the team saw a<br />
reliable bus body.<br />
“This bus shared the same chassis as<br />
three previous buses with a different<br />
28<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
us body. All three of them<br />
gave us grief and the common<br />
denominator was the bus body<br />
in this instance,” he explained.<br />
“It is important that the bus<br />
body and chassis complement<br />
each other and we have seen<br />
many instances where that was<br />
not the case. What that equated<br />
to is time off the road and<br />
expensive repairs.<br />
“Unnecessary ongoing<br />
maintenance over the life of<br />
the bus does not go down well,<br />
especially when you know that<br />
you will be stuck with the bus for<br />
some 25 years,” he said.<br />
MINUTE DETAILS<br />
Dion points out that the<br />
engagement with Volgren has<br />
enabled him to address minute<br />
details such as positioning of the<br />
Consat screen and other control<br />
By replacing two standard buses with<br />
accessible buses we are now in a position to be<br />
able to provide 100 per cent accessible buses<br />
to all of our scheduled passenger services.<br />
switches and devices affecting<br />
the driver.<br />
“Previously, it was a bit of a<br />
lottery with where some of the<br />
controls and switches would end<br />
up,” he stated.<br />
“With the demand of Panel 3<br />
there were some limitations on<br />
product patterns such as seating.<br />
Instead of simply progressing<br />
with the most convenient style,<br />
Volgren made certain that we<br />
understood the limitations and<br />
were still happy with the colour<br />
scheme that was provided.”<br />
Today, the majority of Dion’s<br />
fleet comprises Volvo buses and<br />
about 80 per cent have Volgren<br />
bodies. He says his company<br />
has confidence that the Panel<br />
3 version of the Volvo-Volgren<br />
combination will perform well –<br />
and in great part that confidence<br />
comes down to the engagement.<br />
“Working with Volgren on<br />
Panel 3 is a totally different<br />
procurement process [to what<br />
has occurred before]. And<br />
because there’s a lot more<br />
required of manufactures there’s<br />
been a lot more engagement in<br />
terms of what’s going in the bus,<br />
Above:<br />
All new buses<br />
travelling in New<br />
South Wales<br />
must meet<br />
passenger safety<br />
improvement<br />
measures,<br />
including<br />
stringent new<br />
fire-mitigation<br />
specifications.<br />
Opposite, Below:<br />
Les Dion with two<br />
Volvo/Volgrenbodied<br />
buses<br />
(Illawarra Mercury,<br />
2017. Image:<br />
Sylvia Liber).<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
29
IN FOCUS<br />
TFNSW PANEL 3 BUSES<br />
It’s just a massive leap in terms of the standard<br />
of buses we are getting now and it lends itself<br />
to a great customer experience.<br />
Above:<br />
There are new<br />
standards in place<br />
for increased<br />
fire resistance of<br />
materials, as well<br />
as a new fireextinguisher<br />
system<br />
for the engine bay.<br />
Below:<br />
There has been<br />
significant<br />
engagement of the<br />
operator with the<br />
builder to build the<br />
best bus possible.<br />
where it should be positioned,<br />
what it’s going to look like...”<br />
KEY MILESTONE<br />
Volgren’s sales and marketing<br />
manager Yuri Tessari says<br />
achieving Panel 3 compliance<br />
is a key milestone for the<br />
company and the result of strong<br />
cooperation and engagement<br />
with manufacturers, chassis<br />
OEMs, operators and<br />
government.<br />
“These vehicles are the end<br />
of a 12-month process working<br />
closely with Volvo and Transport<br />
for New South Wales,” Tessari<br />
explained.<br />
“There’s been a great deal of<br />
company-wide collaboration –<br />
design, manufacturing<br />
engineering, sales – everyone’s<br />
been invested in making sure the<br />
vehicles exceed expectations.<br />
“The process took a huge<br />
amount of work researching<br />
new fire-retardant materials<br />
to bring them up to a Crib 7<br />
standard.<br />
“[We worked] with existing and<br />
new suppliers to meet the Panel<br />
3 requirements, [including] new<br />
standards in fire suppression<br />
materials – plastics, seat vinyl,<br />
flooring, a new fire extinguisher<br />
system for the engine bay...”<br />
Tessari states the result is<br />
an updated version of their<br />
constantly improving flagship<br />
Optimus now incorporating<br />
the most rigorous fire-safety<br />
specifications a Volgren bus has<br />
ever possessed. And four more<br />
will come to the south coast of<br />
New South Wales very soon, the<br />
company confirms. Volgren’s next<br />
Panel 3 order is from Premier<br />
Illawarra, and these buses will be<br />
built on MAN chassis.<br />
A MASSIVE LEAP<br />
As for Dion’s, the new buses will<br />
go into service mid-November<br />
2020, across scheduled city<br />
services and school runs, and<br />
Les Dion says he’s found himself<br />
wondering at how far the<br />
company has come in almost<br />
a century.<br />
“It’s just a massive leap in<br />
terms of the standard of buses<br />
we are getting now and it<br />
lends itself to a great customer<br />
experience,” he said.<br />
“When you step into a<br />
bus you want to feel relaxed<br />
and comfortable and enjoy<br />
the journey.<br />
“This chassis and body<br />
[combination] lends itself to that.<br />
“The chassis and body – and<br />
relationship we have with the<br />
manufacturers – tick all the boxes<br />
for us,” he said.<br />
30<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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IN FOCUS<br />
CANBERRA BUS RALLY<br />
‘MUM AND DAD’ BUS<br />
BUSINESSES STAGE<br />
CANBERRA RALLY<br />
A 15-strong convoy of family owned ‘mum and dad’ bus companies from across<br />
Australia made its way to rally outside Parliament House, Canberra, on October<br />
26 to highlight the economic pressures these small businesses are under.<br />
To highlight their plight, the 15<br />
‘desperate’ small bus-company<br />
owners in their buses joined a<br />
convoy that circled the lawn in<br />
front of the Parliament building<br />
in a display of solidarity – organised by<br />
Australian Family Owned Bus Companies.<br />
The buses joined the convoy after meeting<br />
with shadow tourism minister Senator Don<br />
Farrell and Labor MPs Susan Templeman<br />
(Macquarie) and Mike Freelander (Macarthur)<br />
to plead their case, organisers state.<br />
They also spoke with shadow<br />
infrastructure, transport and regional<br />
development minister Senator Catherine<br />
King in a phone conference.<br />
Opposition leader in the Senate<br />
Penny Wong and deputy Leader Kristina<br />
Keneally have agreed to meet in the future,<br />
organisers add.<br />
According to rally spokespeople, as the<br />
“bus industry faces extinction” due to a<br />
range of issues such as “bankruptcy, bank<br />
foreclosures, dangerous decline in mental<br />
health and even suicide threats”, the<br />
nationwide ‘mum and dad’ family owned<br />
and independent bus industry faces such a<br />
demise without a federal government rescue<br />
package because of the impacts of Covid-19.<br />
HOPELESS AND HELPLESS<br />
Owner of Paramount Tours in Bankstown,<br />
NSW, Laura Di Leva, said: “Every kilometre<br />
travelled costs a business owner about $3.50,<br />
so coming to Canberra was a huge sacrifice<br />
that cost each operator hundreds of dollars<br />
(thousands in some cases).”<br />
She thanked politicians for meeting<br />
with five Australian Family Owned Bus<br />
Companies group representatives, but says<br />
small bus company owners felt hopeless.<br />
“They have no work and don’t see anything<br />
changing,” she said.<br />
The ongoing closure of international<br />
Rally spokespeople had a meeting before<br />
the rally with politicians including Labor MP<br />
Susan Templeman (right), pleading their case.<br />
borders had wiped out bus tours to tourist<br />
sites around the nation, slashing operator<br />
income to zero, she says.<br />
Many who relied on the inbound tourism<br />
market had heavily invested in vehicles to<br />
serve the previous demand, she explains.<br />
Now, the hiatus to vehicle repayments<br />
had expired and banks and other lenders<br />
demanded payment, Di Leva states.<br />
Many could not pay and must consider<br />
refinancing their homes or using the equity<br />
in them to meet repayments. Some risked<br />
losing everything, she outlines.<br />
“One operator told me he has to fork<br />
out over $5,000 per month in repayments<br />
starting October,” Di Leva said.<br />
“He doesn’t have that money unless he<br />
sells his house. He’s 75 and was looking into<br />
retiring before the pandemic broke out.<br />
“He can’t even sell his vehicles as no-one<br />
has the money to buy them, and if he sells<br />
at auction he will get only half of their value.”<br />
Domestic border closures have also<br />
impacted the long-distance charter market.<br />
With no indication on when they would<br />
reopen, “…we cannot even plan tours for<br />
the future.”<br />
Many operators had been forced to<br />
deregister vehicles they could not afford to<br />
register, which also axed their potential to<br />
work if circumstances changed, she adds.<br />
All small bus company owners faced<br />
financial hardship, with some facing<br />
bankruptcy, Di Leva states, who says that she<br />
has had zero income for 12 months.<br />
VEHICLE REPAYMENT COSTS<br />
Di Leve sold one of her coaches at a heavily<br />
reduced rate and is looking at selling<br />
another, she confirms.<br />
While she had secured a repayment<br />
deferral extension until February 2021, the<br />
consequence was an extra $1,500 a month,<br />
bringing the monthly total to $7,500 for just<br />
one vehicle, and an additional eight months<br />
to the contract term.<br />
“I don’t see how I can make this repayment<br />
if I don’t have a substantial amount of work,”<br />
she said.<br />
“I will have to draw down on my home loan<br />
to cover just the vehicle repayment costs.”<br />
Also a licensed travel agent, two interstate<br />
and two overseas tours were cancelled and<br />
Di Leva had to refund all her clients, she says.<br />
32<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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IN FOCUS<br />
CANBERRA BUS RALLY<br />
We are one of the first<br />
industries impacted and<br />
the last ones to recover.<br />
got guys ringing me in tears and<br />
threatening suicide, and that<br />
impacts my own mental health,”<br />
Williams said.<br />
In total, she had lost approximately<br />
$100,000 in income and<br />
forfeited two years of work due to<br />
the pandemic, she adds.<br />
“I will not see that level of income<br />
for at least another three years,”<br />
she said.<br />
“Our industry is not like<br />
restaurants or coffee shops that can<br />
convert their output to takeaways.<br />
We are one of the first industries<br />
impacted and the last ones to<br />
recover.”<br />
GRATEFUL BUT STRUGGLING<br />
Director of Near or Far Bus & Coach<br />
in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Rod<br />
Williams especially thanked Ms<br />
Templeman, who arranged the<br />
meetings with her Parliamentary<br />
colleagues and raised the issue in<br />
a Private Member Statement in<br />
Parliament.<br />
Williams says while smaller<br />
bus companies were grateful<br />
for government help such as<br />
JobKeeper, many aspects of the<br />
industry had been overlooked.<br />
Small bus companies needed<br />
help with crippling costs like depot<br />
rental payments, vehicle registration,<br />
insurances, fuel costs and toll fees<br />
to remain viable and provide job<br />
security for employees, he explains.<br />
The group is calling on state<br />
governments to share transport<br />
work with all accredited operators<br />
rather than just large companies,<br />
he states.<br />
Hartley adds that an extension<br />
of JobKeeper past March 2021 was<br />
also needed, along with negotiations<br />
with creditors and industry specific<br />
mental health support.<br />
Williams also worried about the<br />
thousands of bus drivers, mechanics,<br />
cleaning and other ancillary staff<br />
employed by the bus industry.<br />
“We’re not using our vehicles so<br />
we don’t need windscreens, tyres or<br />
technicians, which means we’re not<br />
bringing business to these people,”<br />
he said.<br />
“It’s life and death now. I’ve<br />
LIFELINE NEEDED<br />
Meanwhile, communities would also<br />
be stripped of affordable transport<br />
options when normal travel<br />
resumed if a lifeline was not thrown<br />
to the small private bus industry<br />
now, he says.<br />
Pre-Covid, these operators had<br />
filled their buses with everyday<br />
Australians and transported them to<br />
school camps, swimming carnivals<br />
and sporting activities, school<br />
holiday outings, weddings, seniors’<br />
daytrips and other social group<br />
events. Now they are on the brink of<br />
collapse, they say.<br />
He urged people to contact their<br />
local politicians.<br />
“Many operators like myself<br />
will not be around much longer<br />
without some instant cash<br />
injections and then some form<br />
of ongoing assistance such as<br />
low-interest government loans<br />
with a non-payment term, then a<br />
long-term payment plan.”<br />
Above:<br />
15 ‘desperate’<br />
small buscompany<br />
owners<br />
in their buses<br />
joined a convoy<br />
that circled the<br />
lawn in front of<br />
the Parliament<br />
House in<br />
Canberra.<br />
34<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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IN FOCUS<br />
TRANSDEV ELECTRIC BUS<br />
250 solar panels are capturing up to<br />
159,000kWh of power per year.<br />
‘SUSTAINABLY POWERED’<br />
E-BUS FOR SEQ<br />
Transdev Queensland will launch a 100 per cent ‘sustainably powered’<br />
full-sized electric bus for South East Queensland early 2021, charged at<br />
a fully solar-powered bus depot in Brisbane, the company reports.<br />
Touted as a first for Australia,<br />
global e-mobility leader<br />
Transdev will operate the new<br />
39-seat e-bus on TransLink<br />
routes throughout Brisbane<br />
and the Redlands from early 2021 under a<br />
two-year partnership with the Queensland<br />
state government, it confirms.<br />
Transdev CEO Luke Agati says the<br />
bus would be 100 per cent powered by<br />
‘harvested’ sustainable solar energy, with<br />
the company installing a new Green<br />
Mobility Megawall, comprising 10 Tesla<br />
Power Walls and solar network at its<br />
Capalaba depot.<br />
“Averaging more than 280 days of<br />
sunshine per year, Queensland well and<br />
truly lives up to its reputation as the<br />
Sunshine State, and we are excited to be<br />
bringing this clean, green, modern vehicle<br />
to Brisbane and the Redlands,” Agati said.<br />
“Globally, Transdev is a leader in<br />
zero-emissions mobility, and work is<br />
underway to introduce new fleet and<br />
innovations to Australia and New Zealand<br />
over the coming months.<br />
“Research, testing and design for our<br />
future zero-emissions fleet will be led<br />
from our newly opened Maintenance and<br />
Engineering Centre of Excellence, also<br />
based at our Capalaba Depot.”<br />
ZERO-EMISSION FLEET<br />
Member for Capalaba Don Brown toured<br />
Transdev’s Capalaba depot recently and<br />
says the new e-bus would help to power<br />
Queensland’s e-mobility industry and<br />
support jobs.<br />
“Not only will the new vehicle be<br />
powered by the more than 159,000kWh of<br />
local sunshine collected on-site each year,<br />
but it will be Queensland research and<br />
experience that will shape the design and<br />
introduction of [a] new zero-emission fleet,<br />
both here in Queensland, and elsewhere<br />
across the country,” member Brown said.<br />
“Global economies have been hard-hit<br />
by Covid-19, and both Australia and<br />
Queensland have not been immune.<br />
“But Queensland’s ongoing health<br />
response means we can continue our<br />
plan for economy recovery, which means<br />
creating jobs on major transport projects<br />
like new, more energy-efficient buses, our<br />
$371 million smart ticketing system and<br />
the Eastern Transitway.<br />
“The Palaszczuk government is<br />
committed to collaborating with<br />
industry on the transition to electric<br />
vehicles and infrastructure and services,<br />
and Transdev’s decision to lead it’s [sic]<br />
e-mobility operations from Queensland<br />
is a recognition of the expertise and<br />
innovation that we have here in the<br />
Sunshine State.”<br />
BUS FACTS<br />
• Route testing will occur for two years<br />
– to identify suitable routes (based on<br />
geography, stopping pattern, etc.) for<br />
optimal energy efficiency<br />
• Capacity for 61 passengers – 39 sitting,<br />
22 standing<br />
• Up to 300-kilometre range per charge<br />
(operating under normal conditions)<br />
• 348kW size battery<br />
• Battery fully charged in under<br />
five hours<br />
• Enhanced passenger comfort – reduced<br />
noise, USB charging ports and electric<br />
ramp<br />
36<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
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IN FOCUS<br />
TRANSDEV ELECTRIC BUS<br />
• Customised digital signage and<br />
on-board display<br />
• Volgren Optimus body integrated<br />
with BYD e-bus chassis.<br />
GREEN MOBILITY<br />
MEGAWALL/SOLAR SYSTEM<br />
• 250 solar panels capturing up to<br />
159,000kWh of power per year –<br />
average of 438kW per day<br />
• Green Megawall consists of 10<br />
individual Tesla Power Wall units<br />
• Total storage capacity 135kWh.<br />
Our day-to-day work influences<br />
our families, friends and future<br />
generations where they live, work<br />
and play.”<br />
In Australasia, Transdev has 5,704<br />
people passionate about operating<br />
its 2,150 vehicles and vessels, which<br />
deliver more than 145 million<br />
customer journeys each year, it<br />
explains.<br />
It will be Queensland<br />
research and experience<br />
that will shape the design<br />
and introduction of [a]<br />
new zero-emission fleet.<br />
ABOUT TRANSDEV<br />
According to Transdev it believes, “…<br />
public transport plays an important<br />
part in how a city comes to life.<br />
Above: L-R: Transdev Australasia<br />
head of engineering Marc Cleave,<br />
TransLink CEO Matt Longland and<br />
Transdev Queensland head of business<br />
operations Mark McKenzie looking at<br />
solar panel installation at Transdev’s<br />
Capalaba Depot, Brisbane. Image<br />
credit: Nicholas O’Sullivan.<br />
Right:<br />
A mock-up of the e-bus – final livery is<br />
to be determined by TransLink.<br />
38<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
THE ENGINE OIL<br />
THAT WORKS AS<br />
HARD AS YOU<br />
Our customers depend on Shell Rimula to protect their bus<br />
and coach fleets in the harsh Australian conditions. From long<br />
distance coaches traveling through the centre of Australia, to<br />
stop/start driving of city buses, you can trust Shell Rimula.<br />
Shell Rimula oils are formulated to safeguard engines against<br />
wear and acid corrosion, which can be harmful to engine and<br />
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Coupled with a comprehensive range to transmission,<br />
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and coolants, our range of lubricants cover just about every<br />
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as you do.<br />
To find out more about Shell Rimula and other<br />
quality lubricants call our technical team on<br />
1300 134 205 or visit Shell.com.au/Rimula
IN FOCUS<br />
MELBOURNE PROTEST BUS<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
OPERATOR<br />
TAKES PROTEST<br />
BUS TO THE<br />
STREETS<br />
Victorian border closure uncertainty – affecting a<br />
charter bus business’s ability to reliably plan and<br />
honour tour bookings – plus Melbourne’s strict<br />
metro lockdown restrictions forced one local<br />
family owned and run bus operator to visibly<br />
protest his plight and put more than half of his<br />
bus fleet up for auction to help pay a spiralling<br />
multi-million dollar debt.<br />
Laurie Pincini of Rockleigh Tours<br />
drove his protest bus around<br />
Melbourne metro precinct<br />
recently, covered in anti-Victoria<br />
premier Dan Andrews slogans.<br />
Pincini says his business is “going<br />
backwards” and that “it’s screwed”, after<br />
having to put 12 of his 22 buses up for<br />
auction.<br />
Speaking exclusively to <strong>ABC</strong>, he said<br />
that he has had to diversify his workload<br />
to include hay bailing and silage trucking<br />
to keep money flowing and help reduce<br />
a $3.8 million (and growing) debt –<br />
Pincini recounted a harrowing financial<br />
predicament being felt by charter bus<br />
operators Australia-wide.<br />
“We are driving silage trucks, we are<br />
doing hay contracting, we’re doing<br />
anything to try to make a dollar, mate –<br />
we’ve been closed since March 16,”<br />
Pincini said.<br />
“I’ve had one bus a day, or you know<br />
a couple out… Out of the 22 buses, the<br />
maximum I’ve had [doing] work has been<br />
five in one day doing V/Line at night-time,<br />
at 3.00am, 4.00am in the morning. That<br />
doesn’t’ pay the bills when it costs us<br />
$200K a month to open the door and<br />
you’ve only got $50K a month coming in.<br />
“We’ve been in the bus game now for<br />
just on 75 years. We employ my sons,<br />
my daughters, my sons-in-laws, uncles,<br />
fathers in-laws, bloomin’ my kid’s uncle’s<br />
brothers-in-laws plus families and<br />
everything in the local community.<br />
“Come the end of December and<br />
something opens and goes bang! They are<br />
all out of work because JobKeeper doesn’t<br />
work past then when I’ve got to pay them<br />
the 20 hours a week. I can’t afford it!”<br />
When asked what the motivation behind<br />
the protest bus was, Pincini referred<br />
comparatively to the situation in NSW and<br />
said: “It’s been causing waves; it’s all around<br />
the world.”<br />
The bus started doing the rounds<br />
recently when the amended Victorian<br />
Omnibus bill – still contentiously<br />
interpreted by pro-democracy civil<br />
libertarians while championed and<br />
defended by premier Daniel Andrews<br />
MP – was passed.<br />
THE STRESS<br />
Asked about the stress and impact this is<br />
all having on his family and himself, Pincini<br />
replied: “Well, mate – I’ve called Beyond<br />
40<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
Blue... I’ve been there.<br />
“I’ve had to make those phone<br />
calls; I’ve had to make those<br />
phone calls to family and friends...<br />
I know they are out and having<br />
depression again.<br />
“When you walk past a yard full<br />
of buses and an empty shed and<br />
you go ‘there will be nobody here<br />
for the next two weeks, if I knock<br />
myself off who’s going to care?’ So<br />
it gets to that point, mate.<br />
“The mental strain and pressure...<br />
And, you know financially if the<br />
buses go, the house goes – they are<br />
only items. The mental pressure<br />
that you are dealing with that<br />
you’ve let your team down, your<br />
family down, your community<br />
down – that’s what the problem is.<br />
“It’s not so much the financial<br />
because all of a sudden you<br />
think you are a failure you’ve let<br />
so many people down because<br />
they have relied upon you to pay<br />
their mortgages and everything.<br />
And now they are struggling and<br />
they can’t make their mortgage<br />
repayments. And even though it<br />
[the pandemic] wasn’t our fault,<br />
you still take it to heart.”<br />
BORDER GUARANTEE<br />
Pincini says while they won’t<br />
reject any financial assistance, the<br />
point of the exercise is to draw<br />
attention to the need to re-open<br />
borders fully.<br />
“Until they can get borders<br />
open for the charter industry, the<br />
industry is screwed.<br />
“Every time Queensland decides<br />
that three people in NSW have<br />
got it and they are going to close<br />
the border on them, how can an<br />
operator book a tour – a five-day,<br />
10-day, 15-day tour, whatever – to<br />
not be able to go across the border?<br />
“It took us until September to<br />
get money back off Jetstar because<br />
of cancellations, so how do I go to<br />
book tours when there’s flights and<br />
things that cancel due to Covid<br />
and border closures and they only<br />
gave us back the money in the end<br />
because … they [the passenger/<br />
airline] cancelled their flight?<br />
“So how do we book tours and<br />
that knowing we’ve got no money<br />
coming back?<br />
“If we can’t go because the tour<br />
can’t happen because the border’s<br />
closed and we lose flights, lose<br />
hotels, lose everything, you are even<br />
in worse sh*t.<br />
“That’s why, as an industry, that’s<br />
what we need: we need guarantees<br />
the borders will stay open and they<br />
are not going to [close].<br />
“When did we go from ‘living<br />
with Covid’ to ‘eradication’?<br />
“It’s a stacked deck; none of<br />
us are going to be able to reach<br />
that.”<br />
Above:<br />
Pincini says that<br />
he was driven<br />
to protest by a<br />
lack of clarity on<br />
opening borders<br />
and keeping<br />
them open.<br />
Left:<br />
Pincini and his<br />
employees have<br />
been doing<br />
everything from<br />
driving silage<br />
trucks to hay<br />
contracting to<br />
try and keep<br />
themselves in<br />
business.<br />
Opposite:<br />
Since Covid hit,<br />
the most work<br />
that’s come<br />
through for<br />
Rockleigh Tours<br />
was running five<br />
buses for rail<br />
replacement<br />
in the early<br />
morning.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
41
COVERSTORY<br />
HINO-CUSTOM ADVENTURER<br />
SOMETHING<br />
SPECIAL<br />
With its delicious retro look underwritten by modern bus<br />
performance and appeal, this very first Hino RN8J chassis on a<br />
Custom Adventurer-body ‘school bus’ is something the kids will love<br />
and hate to have to leave after each journey.<br />
WORDS FABIAN COTTER IMAGES SARA CLARK<br />
42<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
Time ‘waits for no man’,<br />
as the saying goes – and<br />
nor should it. Yet its<br />
passing brings equal<br />
amounts of pleasure<br />
or pain when we reminisce the<br />
emotional sights and sounds of<br />
our youthful yesteryears as we<br />
spearhead into each new day.<br />
Or perhaps some of us<br />
sleep-deprived writers should<br />
just merely start reading more<br />
Hemingway…<br />
That aside, there will be some<br />
things of the past that seem to<br />
transcend time and consistently find<br />
a beautifully congruous place in the<br />
modern day.<br />
And when it comes to buses, the<br />
strikingly retro-cool colour scheme<br />
of Victoria’s Turnbull’s Bus Service –<br />
in use since the company’s origins<br />
some 70 years ago – still looks<br />
stunning and ‘factory fresh’ now.<br />
Well … technically it really is<br />
factory fresh because the delectable<br />
tan, cream and ruddy-brownish<br />
maroon PPG paint hues actually are<br />
new, gracing this recently released<br />
Hino-Custom Adventurer school/<br />
charter head-turner.<br />
“We have always used that colour<br />
scheme; it actually came from<br />
an early Toyota Deluxe Coaster<br />
colour option,” explained David<br />
Turnbull, dealer-principal of Turnbull<br />
Toyota in Yarrum and Sale.<br />
“My 86-year-old father, Ian<br />
Turnbull (the mastermind behind<br />
the styling who started out as an<br />
apprentice mechanic), originally<br />
decided [on] that.<br />
“We have always had Hino bus<br />
Hino has a comprehensive<br />
suite of business solutions<br />
for its customers.<br />
chassis and we currently run five<br />
school buses and all [with] Custom<br />
coach bodies.<br />
“We use Denso air conditioning.<br />
We like Denso as it’s the same that’s<br />
in Toyota and we have had a Toyota<br />
dealership for 56 years in Yarram<br />
and Sale,” he said.<br />
BORDER CROSSING<br />
Right about now you can appreciate<br />
where this is going.<br />
Once recent pictures of the new<br />
bus – while it was being refuelled<br />
out in public by stalwart Hino sales<br />
manager Kevin Fielding – surfaced<br />
on a bus-related website and went<br />
Above:<br />
Ian and David<br />
Turnbull,<br />
representing<br />
generations ‘two’<br />
and ‘three’ out of<br />
‘four’ to date.<br />
Left:<br />
This recently<br />
released<br />
Hino-Custom<br />
Adventurer really<br />
is a good-looking<br />
head-turner.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
43
COVERSTORY<br />
HINO-CUSTOM ADVENTURER<br />
HINO ADVANTAGE<br />
The comprehensive Hino Advantage program provides Hino bus customers with<br />
fleet training, a dedicated in-house customer care centre and access to Hino<br />
genuine parts and service, Clark explains.<br />
“Every day a bus is off the road, it is costing operators money and the pressure<br />
to return it to service as quickly as possible can encourage some companies to<br />
take shortcuts, but, in fact, the best option is to simply purchase Hino genuine<br />
parts.”<br />
Most Hino genuine parts are readily available from the Hino dealer network,<br />
with 24/7 support available from the parts distribution centre in Sydney, which<br />
also provides delivery to any Australian capital city as soon as the next business<br />
day, Clark explains.<br />
Hino genuine parts are guaranteed to ‘fit first time, every time’, minimising<br />
downtime and increasing profitability, Clark adds.<br />
All Hino genuine parts fitted on a Hino bus by an authorised Hino dealer come<br />
with a three-year unlimited kilometre parts warranty.<br />
As part of the Hino Advantage suite of business benefits, every Hino bus chassis<br />
comes with a one-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty (whichever occurs first), and<br />
a two-year/unlimited-kilometre standard powertrain warranty, she states.<br />
Top:<br />
The driver’s area<br />
includes a Isri<br />
6860 driver’s seat<br />
and AC boost.<br />
Above:<br />
Styleride Orion 57<br />
x non-reclining<br />
seat-belted seats<br />
with Transporter<br />
vinyl tan trim.<br />
Opposite,<br />
Top + Below:<br />
The company’s<br />
traditional colour<br />
scheme has<br />
been applied to<br />
this brand new<br />
bus, melding<br />
old school cool<br />
with updated<br />
technology.<br />
‘viral’ in local bus circles, being built<br />
in NSW it was going to prove tricky<br />
to get it over the border down south<br />
into Victoria, it would seem.<br />
“The new bus we had to pick<br />
up from Bombala, NSW, as Hino<br />
couldn’t deliver across the border<br />
without having to quarantine for<br />
two weeks when they returned,”<br />
explained Turnbull exclusively to<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> magazine.<br />
“I drove it back from Bombala<br />
with Dad and it actually seems to<br />
run better than the last few [SB50s]<br />
we purchased.”<br />
So what will the bus be used<br />
for and where does it fit into the<br />
Turnbull’s Bus Service mix? And<br />
where and how did that story begin?<br />
“We have six bus runs in total,”<br />
Turnbull explained.<br />
“My grandfather started the<br />
business up around 70 years ago,<br />
repairing cars and buses. He was<br />
repairing a bus in the early days<br />
and the customer didn’t have any<br />
money to pay him so he gave him<br />
the old bus.<br />
“Back then the bus used more oil<br />
than fuel and they used waste sump<br />
oil to keep it going until they tried<br />
some cored rings and that stopped<br />
the oil usage.”<br />
We can only assume things have<br />
dramatically improved since then<br />
with a current pandemic being the<br />
new challenge for us all…<br />
“We have been fortunate through<br />
Covid [in] country Victoria. We were<br />
able to battle through; just needed<br />
to tighten up spending, etc.<br />
“I’m the third generation in the<br />
business and we already have the<br />
fourth working in the company,”<br />
Turnbull said.<br />
MASTERMIND<br />
So just what is it about this bus that<br />
makes it so special? Its new-age<br />
retro style with cream, tan and<br />
maroon colour scheme definitely<br />
makes what is old new again. Yet<br />
more so, its minimalist styling<br />
means it has a classic look and feel<br />
with all of the modern comforts.<br />
For the parties involved, this is the<br />
first production Custom-Denning<br />
Adventurer body on a twin-axle Hino<br />
RN8J automatic bus chassis.<br />
It pumps out 285hp/213kW from<br />
its six-cylinder overhead-cam ‘Euro<br />
44<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
Specs<br />
5’ diesel engine, driven via a ZF Ecolite<br />
six-speed automatic transmission.<br />
Ride comfort comes via air suspension.<br />
Hino Bus manager Sara Clark said:<br />
“The RN8J is proven Hino product that<br />
is comfortable and quiet to drive. The<br />
ZF six-speed automatic transmission<br />
combines with the six-cylinder engine for<br />
smooth acceleration and excellent fuel<br />
efficiency.<br />
“For Hino bus customers, it is the service<br />
and business benefits they receive once<br />
they leave the dealership that is equally<br />
as important as the sales experience,”<br />
she said of the Hino Advantage concept<br />
behind it all.<br />
It should be noted that as a Toyota<br />
Motor Group company, Hino has a<br />
comprehensive suite of business<br />
solutions for its customers, designed to<br />
MAKE: Hino<br />
MODEL: RN8J twin-axle chassis<br />
ENGINE: Six-cylinder overhead-cam<br />
EGR & DPR (meeting ADR 80/03 Euro<br />
5) diesel; Power – 285hp/213kW<br />
TRANSMISSION: ZF Ecolite six-speed<br />
automatic<br />
SUSPENSION: Air suspension<br />
BODY: Custom-Denning 12m<br />
Adventurer; Paint – PPG cream,<br />
tan and maroon; Australian Made<br />
certified, locally designed and<br />
produced; Frame – stainless-steel<br />
frame using 3CR12 malleable steel,<br />
stipple stainless side walls included,<br />
CAM-lock luggage bins, roofmounted<br />
air intakes, lift-up wheel<br />
arches<br />
INSIDE: Seats – Styleride Orion 57 x<br />
non-reclining seat-belted seats with<br />
Transporter vinyl tan trim; flooring –<br />
Tarkett Granit Safe ‘Terracotta’; side<br />
wall interior trim – ABS sand finish in<br />
dark grey, Centre wall interior trim<br />
– powder-coated aluminium light<br />
grey; driver’s seat – Isri 6860; Actia<br />
multiplexing with driver interface<br />
MISC.: Denso LD8 air-con with full<br />
AC dashboard mounted controller;<br />
destination system – Mobitec LED<br />
16x140 with ICU602 controller; body<br />
– field service support with onsite<br />
repairs by appointment; large stock<br />
volumes for quick parts supply;<br />
options – electric front blind, 2x<br />
half blinds NS and OS, driver’s AC<br />
boost fan, Canon heated mirrors, full<br />
through bins, four hopper windows<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
45
COVERSTORY<br />
HINO-CUSTOM ADVENTURER<br />
This was a totally new<br />
bus for the client and being<br />
a new Hino option, it was<br />
exciting [for Custom] to work<br />
with Hino Australia.<br />
which was an SB50, purchased<br />
around three years ago.<br />
“The Adventurer is the<br />
replacement of the SB50, as the<br />
SB50 has now been phased out,”<br />
he explained.<br />
“Some states have excluded<br />
low-mount mirrors on school<br />
buses, and this one was built with<br />
Canon arm-style mirrors which are<br />
reduce costs over the life of the<br />
BODY BEAUTIFUL<br />
low-mounted mirrors.<br />
vehicle, she explains.<br />
Though not the first new<br />
“This was a totally new bus for the<br />
Like all Hino products, Hino<br />
Adventurer to come out of the<br />
client and, being a new Hino option,<br />
buses are built with the core brand<br />
latest Custom-Denning stable, of<br />
it was exciting [for Custom] to work<br />
attributes of quality, durability and<br />
reliability (QDR) she says - and Hino<br />
here has been delivering buses to<br />
the Australian market for 55 years,<br />
she confirms.<br />
the Turnbull’s project – the first on<br />
a Hino platform – national sales<br />
manager Mick Neskes confirms<br />
the customer had bought Custom<br />
products in the past, the last of<br />
Above:<br />
The ‘Euro<br />
5’-equivalent<br />
diesel engine<br />
pushes out<br />
285hp/213kW.<br />
with Hino Australia.<br />
“The bus is so versatile it can<br />
be a basic school bus, mine spec,<br />
or dressed up as a charter/<br />
coach-style bus!” he stated.<br />
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HINO37093 19 v1 Poncho Bus HP Resize - <strong>ABC</strong> Directory.indd 1<br />
46 <strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au<br />
12/9/19 10:25 am
FOR<br />
SALE<br />
OWNER MUST SELL<br />
DUE TO HEALTH<br />
PROPERTY WITH<br />
TWO BUILDINGS<br />
unit 1 & 2, unit 2 currently<br />
rented to bus company.<br />
Bus company has been in<br />
operation in the top end<br />
for 25 years. Will sell as a<br />
whole or separate.<br />
For information<br />
Contact owner direct<br />
Bill 0403 470 165
OPERATOR<br />
NEAR OR FAR BUS AND COACH<br />
Husband and wife duo<br />
Rod and Justine Williams<br />
are doing their best to<br />
weather the current<br />
storm that has hit the<br />
bus industry so hard.<br />
Despite their four-yearold<br />
business being<br />
severely affected by the<br />
restrictions brought on<br />
by the pandemic, they<br />
remain upbeat and<br />
are using the time to<br />
refurbish their fleet.<br />
Rod Williams is clearly passionate<br />
about his business and feels<br />
positive about serving the local<br />
community.<br />
A former school teacher, Rod<br />
starting driving school excursions and local<br />
scout trips while still pursuing his teaching<br />
career in the mid-1990s.<br />
When he decided to move on from teaching<br />
he knew he could fall back on his driving skills,<br />
as he had driven with a lot of other companies<br />
in the previous 20 years.<br />
In 2017, he and his wife, Justine, set up<br />
Near or Far Bus and Coach, and they remain<br />
steadfast in their commitment to provide a<br />
reliable and safe bus service in country New<br />
South Wales, they say.<br />
The company operates bus charter in<br />
the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney<br />
regions, including Penrith, Emu Plains,<br />
Kingswood, Windsor, Richmond, St Marys,<br />
Blacktown, Katoomba, Blackheath, Mt.<br />
Victoria, Springwood and Blaxland.<br />
Its depot and office is located in Lawson in<br />
the Blue Mountains.<br />
Right:<br />
Rod Williams credits his driver team as being a key<br />
part of the Near or Far family.<br />
NEAR,<br />
FAR, WHEREVER<br />
48<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
YOU ARE<br />
WORDS<br />
ANJALI BEHL<br />
IMAGES PAUL ALDRIDGE<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
49
OPERATOR<br />
NEAR OR FAR BUS AND COACH<br />
Our determination kept us busy and we have<br />
had our wheelchair accessible coach’s interior<br />
refurbished and it looks fantastic.<br />
Above:<br />
It’s a family affair at<br />
Near and Far, with<br />
Rod and Justine’s four<br />
children also involved<br />
in the business.<br />
Opposite:<br />
Near or Far Bus and<br />
Coach was set up<br />
in 2017 by Rod and<br />
Justine Williams.<br />
Near or Far relies mostly<br />
on toured charter. It holds a<br />
standing order from Transport for<br />
NSW for emergency busing, and<br />
also works for a couple of schools<br />
in the area. Its school contacts<br />
were passed on from IHS<br />
Coaches, when Rod purchased<br />
the business from former owner<br />
Kelvin Weatherburn, he explains.<br />
Kelvin (affectionately called<br />
Kel) continues his passion to<br />
serve the local communities by<br />
driving for Rod now.<br />
LOVE FOR THE JOB<br />
Justine continues to teach<br />
at a local school, while taking<br />
care of the ‘office’ side of<br />
things, such as record-keeping<br />
and compliance, while Rod<br />
manages the day-to-day<br />
operations and driving full-time.<br />
“We love being able to serve<br />
our local community. We’re glad<br />
to have a wheelchair-accessible<br />
coach in our fleet, which allows<br />
us to cater to passengers with<br />
special needs. Our determination<br />
kept us busy and we have<br />
had our wheelchair accessible<br />
coach’s interior refurbished and<br />
it looks fantastic,” Rod said.<br />
“One of the other best parts<br />
of running my own business is<br />
having a team that is as devoted<br />
to the work as Justine and I are.<br />
“My team [Kelvin, Eddie, John<br />
and Paul] is as much part of the<br />
business as Justine and our kids.<br />
“Our four children, Sienna,<br />
Samuel, Ashleigh, Abigail, also<br />
lend a helping hand in the family<br />
business,” he said.<br />
THE FLEET<br />
Near or Far currently owns<br />
four vehicles, ranging from a<br />
53-seater to a 69-passenger<br />
seat-belted coach. With the<br />
charter business severely<br />
crippled as a result of Covid-19,<br />
the company recently sold its<br />
fifth coach.<br />
“We started out with one<br />
bus that we bought from IHS<br />
Coaches, but we sold that off<br />
within the first year of operation,”<br />
Rod explained.<br />
“During the first year we also<br />
started running a wheelchairaccessible<br />
Scania coach. Today,<br />
all our coaches are Scania and<br />
we have a school bus that is<br />
Volvo B10M.”<br />
His team largely relies on<br />
Quinlan’s Equipment Repairs in<br />
Penrith for service and repairs<br />
and Johnson’s Towing and<br />
Mechanical in Bathurst.<br />
“We need to have our<br />
maintenance spot-on at all<br />
times because being in the<br />
50<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
usnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
51
OPERATOR<br />
NEAR OR FAR BUS AND COACH<br />
We need to have our maintenance<br />
spot-on at all times because being in the<br />
mountains does isolate you from access<br />
to mechanical repairs in a hurry.<br />
mountains does isolate you from access<br />
to mechanical repairs in a hurry. So we<br />
ensure our vehicles are always in top<br />
condition and that’s why we try to avoid<br />
any breakdowns as much as possible,”<br />
he added.<br />
THE ‘BIG C’ OF 2020<br />
Rod is a resilient bloke. The ongoing<br />
Covid-19 pandemic may have knocked<br />
out 90 per cent of his business, but of all<br />
the bus and coach business operators<br />
we’ve have spoken to in the past four<br />
months, Rod would be hands down the<br />
most optimistic that things will turn out<br />
for the better, even if the ‘when’ part<br />
of the story is still up in the air.<br />
“We’re here for the long term. We’ve<br />
weathered the storm reasonably well,”<br />
Rod said.<br />
“We’ve used the time to refurbish our<br />
fleet and further improve our vehicles.<br />
Our business can and will survive this<br />
turmoil! We are looking forward to<br />
working to provide the best service<br />
possible.<br />
“We have Covid Safe cleaning and<br />
travel practices that encourage a clean<br />
and safe environment for our customers<br />
and our staff.<br />
“At present, it is tough out there.<br />
There are so many companies relying<br />
on international tourism and, with<br />
that suspended, it has created a more<br />
competitive environment for the<br />
domestic market. What happens then<br />
is you have people undercutting each<br />
other, making businesses unsustainable.<br />
“A lot of other small businesses have<br />
become unsustainable, which is a<br />
huge concern for us all. I remember,<br />
by mid-March, every single booking for<br />
the year was wiped. That’s thousands of<br />
dollars of revenue gone.<br />
“The JobKeeper allowances have<br />
assisted some of our employees;<br />
however, we had to sadly let go of one<br />
52<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
CANBERRA RALLY<br />
Rod is the spokesperson for the Australian Family Owned Bus<br />
Companies group that has led two rallies since September to<br />
highlight the Covid-induced quandary these businesses find<br />
themselves in through no fault of their own, and lobby for a federal<br />
government rescue package.<br />
The group led their first peaceful rally to NSW state parliament on<br />
September 16, with more than 50 family owned and independent<br />
buses - representing regional and city bus operators, their staff and<br />
service providers - circling the Parliament building.<br />
Their second rally, which included a 15-strong convoy of family<br />
owned ‘mum and dad’ bus companies from across Australia, made<br />
its way to Parliament House in Canberra on October 26. The convoy<br />
circled the lawn in front of the Parliament building, in a display of<br />
solidarity to highlight their cause.<br />
The group is calling on state governments to share transport<br />
work with all accredited operators rather than just large companies.<br />
Williams also worries about the thousands of bus drivers, mechanics,<br />
cleaning and other ancillary staff employed by the bus industry that<br />
have been affected by the pandemic. The group is also demanding<br />
extension of JobKeeper past March, 202,1 and industry-specific<br />
mental health support.<br />
Rod says small bus companies needed help in the form of a<br />
federal government rescue package to manage fixed costs to keep<br />
their head above the water and provide job security for employees.<br />
“Many operators had been forced to deregister vehicles they could<br />
not afford to register, which also axed their potential to work if<br />
circumstances changed,” he explained.<br />
The local communities will also feel the knock-on effect of the bus<br />
industry’s distress as they could be “stripped off affordable transport<br />
options when normal travel resumed if a lifeline was not thrown to<br />
the small private bus industry now”, he added.<br />
of our staff member. We paid<br />
them for as long as we could<br />
before we needed to stop and<br />
recommend they seek JobSeeker<br />
payments. It was a tough decision<br />
for us. We also had to de-register<br />
two of our vehicles.”<br />
Things are coming back,<br />
although Rod says it’s patchy.<br />
“People are still concerned. A<br />
lot of our seniors’ groups don’t<br />
want to travel at the moment<br />
because they are understandably<br />
concerned about their health.”<br />
“Schools are coming back in<br />
a limited regard, but we don’t<br />
know when things will get back to<br />
normal on the charter side.”<br />
For now, Rod and his small team<br />
are keeping their chins up and<br />
looking forward to better times.<br />
Above:<br />
The coach<br />
fleet is made<br />
up of Scanias,<br />
accompanied<br />
by a Volvo B10M<br />
school bus.<br />
Right:<br />
Rod says<br />
that during<br />
the Covid<br />
downturn, the<br />
company has<br />
used its time to<br />
refurbish and<br />
improve its fleet.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
53
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56 <strong>ABC</strong> NOVEMBER 2020 busnews.com.au
WANT TO ADVERTISE? CALL 03 9567 4154 Bookings for next issue close on Dec 5th 2020<br />
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2 X 2013 HIGER<br />
MUNRO<br />
Cummins ISF 165hp, automatic,<br />
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2016 BONLUCK<br />
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2 X 2007 DENNING<br />
PHOENIX 4X2 12.5M<br />
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2010 MAN 18-360<br />
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217,000klm, very clean<br />
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2005 MERCEDES<br />
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body, 46 lap sash seat belted<br />
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703,000klm<br />
Priced to sell<br />
$50,000.00+GST<br />
2016 BONLUCK<br />
“PRESIDENT 9”<br />
Cummins ISB300HP, Aliison<br />
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coach seats inc lap sash seat<br />
belts, Spheros heat cool A/C, large<br />
underfloor bins, as new condition,<br />
travelled only 134,000klm<br />
$145,000.00+GST<br />
2010 BCI “EXPLORER”<br />
CUMMINS ISM410HP<br />
Allison auto inc retarder, 58<br />
lap sash seat belted leather<br />
recliners, rear toilet, Tracs A/C,<br />
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$115,000.00+GST or<br />
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<strong>ABC</strong>-HH2-5129255-TS-398<br />
2 X 2015 IVECO<br />
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Cursor 330hp,ZF automatic<br />
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Reduced to<br />
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2 X 2015 SCANIA<br />
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260,000klm<br />
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busnews.com.au NOVEMBER 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
57
Yutong Bus Centre Melbourne<br />
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2000 VOLVO B7R<br />
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<strong>ABC</strong>-HH-5171496-TS-399<br />
58<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> NOVEMBER 2020 busnews.com.au
WANT TO ADVERTISE? CALL 03 9567 4154 Bookings for next issue close on Dec 5th 2020<br />
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STRETCH?<br />
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busnews.com.au NOVEMBER 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
59
DELIVERIES OCTOBER 2020<br />
Deliveries still feeling<br />
the pandemic pinch<br />
After a solid rise last month, the figures are back in the 70s,<br />
exclusive <strong>ABC</strong> data reveals.<br />
Amonth after bus and coach deliveries<br />
seemed to be heading in the right direction,<br />
the numbers have eased back to the 70s in<br />
October.<br />
While 71 is not the lowest figure yet this<br />
year (70 in August), it’s down from the more optimistic 85 in<br />
September and highlights the ongoing challenges caused<br />
by the Covid-19 pandemic.<br />
For the chassis sector, in a sign of the times, usual<br />
leaders Volvo and Scania recorded 22 and 17 deliveries,<br />
respectively. This number remains well down on tallies that<br />
often exceeded 40 in the previous year. Mercedes-Benz was<br />
next best, but didn’t break into double figures.<br />
For the body builders, Volgren can lay claim to<br />
an improved month, with its recorded deliveries<br />
increasing from 23 in September to 31 in October.<br />
Next best was Australian Bus Corporation, whose<br />
three brands – Bustech (8), Precision Buses (5) and<br />
Elphinstone (4) – combined for 17, down on 24 the<br />
month past.<br />
Thermo King retains its grip on the air-conditioning<br />
sector, with 40 recorded deliveries in October. Despite well<br />
above the chasing pack, this was down five on September.<br />
Spheros followed on nine units, just one fewer than the<br />
past month.<br />
The state charts show some variety, with usual leaders<br />
Victoria and NSW chased down by Queensland and WA.<br />
Queensland topped the chart with 28 per cent, followed<br />
by Victoria and WA neck and neck with 22 per cent. NSW<br />
languished in fourth with 13 per cent.<br />
Turn overleaf for comprehensive bus and coach delivery<br />
information for September. Please note all data is as<br />
supplied from manufacturers, with their involvement at<br />
their discretion.<br />
...state charts show some variety, with<br />
usual leaders Victoria and NSW chased<br />
down by Queensland and WA.<br />
60<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
Volgren can<br />
lay claim to an<br />
improved month,<br />
with its deliveries<br />
increasing from 23<br />
in September to 31 in<br />
October.<br />
Volgren 31<br />
<strong>ABC</strong>* 17<br />
Yutong 8<br />
BCI 6<br />
Coach Design 2<br />
Express Coaches 2<br />
Irizar 2<br />
P&D Coachworks 2<br />
Coach Concepts 1<br />
SALES BY BODY<br />
For the body builders, Volgren can lay claim<br />
to an improved month, with its recorded<br />
deliveries increasing from 23 in September to<br />
31 in October. Next best was Australian Bus<br />
Corporation, whose three brands – Bustech<br />
(8), Precision Buses (5) and Elphinstone (4) –<br />
combined for 17, down on 24 last month.<br />
7%<br />
SA<br />
13%<br />
22%<br />
WA<br />
6%<br />
TAS<br />
Percentage by<br />
REGION<br />
28%<br />
QLD<br />
%<br />
SALES BY<br />
AIR-CONDITIONER<br />
Thermo King retains its grip on the air-conditioning sector,<br />
with 40 recorded deliveries in October. Despite well above<br />
the chasing pack, this was down five on September.<br />
Spheros followed on nine, just one fewer than last month.<br />
Thermo King 40<br />
Spheros 9<br />
Cling-Yutong 7<br />
Hispacold 7<br />
N/A 3<br />
Denso 2<br />
MCC 2<br />
Coachair 1<br />
NSW<br />
24%<br />
VIC<br />
VOLVO 22<br />
SCANIA 17<br />
MERCEDES-BENZ 9<br />
YUTONG 8<br />
Sales by chassis<br />
For the chassis sector, in a sign of the times, usual leaders Volvo and Scania recorded 22 and 17 deliveries,<br />
respectively. This number remains well down on tallies that often exceeded 40 in the previous year.<br />
Mercedes-Benz was next best, but didn’t break into double figures.<br />
MAN 6<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> (BUSTECH) 4<br />
BCI 4<br />
HINO 1<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
61
DELIVERIES OCTOBER 2020<br />
MANUFACTURER,<br />
OPERATOR & LOCATION<br />
UNITS<br />
CHASSIS<br />
(Model)<br />
BODY<br />
BUILDER<br />
HP*<br />
ENGINES<br />
Rear / Front<br />
Emissions<br />
standard<br />
AUST BUS CORP* MetroTas TAS 4 Bustech XDI Elphinstone 300 R Euro 6<br />
BCI Gosels Bus Service QLD 1 Citirider BCI 300 R Euro 5<br />
Kenneth John Bailye WA 1 Cruiser 10 BCI 300 R Euro 5<br />
Mechanical Mining WA 1 Cruiser 10 BCI 285 R Euro 5<br />
The Entrance Red Bus Service NSW 1 Citirider 12 BCI 300 R Euro 5<br />
HINO N/A NSW 1 RN8J P&D Coachworks 286 R Euro 5<br />
MAN Transit Australia QLD 6 RC2 19.320 LE E5 Bustech 320 R Euro 5<br />
MERC-BENZ N/A VIC 1 OC500RF E5 1936 Irizar 360 R Euro 5<br />
N/A VIC 1 O500R Volgren 300 R Euro 5<br />
N/A QLD 1 OC500RF E5 1936 BCI 360 R Euro 5<br />
N/A QLD 1 OC500RF E5 1936 BCI 360 R Euro 5<br />
N/A WA 1 O500R Express Coaches 300 R Euro 5<br />
N/A NSW 1 OC500LE E6 Volgren 360 R Euro 6<br />
N/A NSW 1 OC500LE E6 Volgren 360 R Euro 6<br />
N/A NSW 1 OC500LE E6 Volgren 360 R Euro 6<br />
N/A VIC 1 OC500LE E6 Express Coaches 360 R Euro 6<br />
SCANIA Christians Bus Co VIC 1 K 310 IB4X2 Coach Design 310 R Euro 5<br />
Cranbourne Transit VIC 1 K 310 UB4X2 Volgren 310 R Euro 5<br />
Dept of Public Transport Infrastructure SA 5 K 320 UB4X2 Precision Buses 320 R Euro 6<br />
Gillicks Bus Lines VIC 1 K 310 IB4X2 Irizar 310 R Euro 5<br />
L C Dyson's Bus Services Pty Ltd VIC 1 K 310 UB4X2 Volgren 310 R Euro 5<br />
Ventura Bus Lines VIC 1 K 320 UB4X2 Volgren 320 R Euro 6<br />
Ventura Bus Lines VIC 2 K 310 UB4X2 Volgren 310 R Euro 5<br />
Ventura Bus Lines VIC 2 K 320 UB4X2 Volgren 320 R Euro 6<br />
Ventura Bus Lines VIC 1 K 320 UB4X2 Volgren 320 R Euro 6<br />
Warrnambool Bus & Motor Co. VIC 1 K 320 IB4X2 Coach Design 310 R Euro 6<br />
Wimmera Roadways VIC 1 K 310 IB4X2 Coach Concepts 310 R Euro 5<br />
VOLVO Ronald Down VIC 1 B8R Volgren 330 R Euro 5<br />
Maryborough Bus Lines VIC 1 B8R Volgren 330 R Euro 5<br />
Clarks Logan City Bus Service QLD 2 B8RLE Bustech 320 R Euro 6<br />
CDC Forest Coach Lines NSW 1 B8R Volgren 330 R Euro 5<br />
N/A QLD 1 B8R P&D 330 R Euro 5<br />
Brisbane City Council QLD 8 B8RLE Volgren 320 R Euro 6<br />
Perth Transport Authorities WA 8 B8RLE Volgren 320 R Euro 6<br />
YUTONG N/A WA 1 D7 Yutong 140 F Euro 5<br />
N/A WA 1 D7 Yutong 140 F Euro 5<br />
N/A WA 1 D7 Yutong 140 F Euro 5<br />
N/A WA 1 D7 Yutong 140 F Euro 5<br />
N/A WA 1 D12 Yutong 360 R Euro 5<br />
N/A NSW 1 T12 Yutong 350 R Euro 5<br />
N/A NSW 1 D9 Yutong 250 R Euro 5<br />
N/A NSW 1 D9 Yutong 250 R Euro 5<br />
TOTAL DELIVERIES 71<br />
62<br />
<strong>ABC</strong> November 2020 busnews.com.au
TRANSMISSION<br />
A: Automatic<br />
M: Manual<br />
AS: Auto-Shift<br />
O: Opticruise<br />
TRANS<br />
MAKE<br />
AXLES<br />
BODY<br />
LENGTH<br />
(metres)<br />
AIR-CON<br />
(Brand)<br />
NUMBER OF SEATS<br />
Fixed<br />
Coach<br />
Recliners<br />
Metro<br />
Long<br />
Distance<br />
APPLICATION<br />
Charter<br />
City or<br />
Route<br />
School<br />
SEATING<br />
SEAT<br />
BELTS<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 52 – – – – X – Styleride N<br />
A ZF 2 11 Thermo King 41 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 10.4 MCC 43 – – – – – X Sege Y<br />
A ZF 2 10.40 MCC 43 – – – – – X Sege Y<br />
A ZF 2 12 Denso – – 45 – – X – Ster N<br />
A ZF 2 12 Denso 57 – – – – – X Styleride Y<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 50 – – – – X – McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 Hispacold 57 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Coachair 57 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 N/A – – – – – – – N/A N/A<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 N/A – – – – – – – N/A N/A<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 N/A – – – – – – – N/A N/A<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 Thermo King – – 45 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 Thermo King – – 45 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 Thermo King – – 45 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 13.5 Thermo King 49 – – – – X – Styleride N<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Thermo King – – 44 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Hispacold – – 42 – – X – Styleride N<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Hispacold 57 – – – – – X Sege Y<br />
A ZF 2 12 Thermo King – – 41 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 12.5 Thermo King – – 44 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 12 Thermo King – – 44 – – X – McConnell N<br />
O Scania 2 12.5 Thermo King – – 44 – – X – McConnell N<br />
O Scania 2 13 Thermo King – – 44 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 12.3 Thermo King 57 – – – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 13 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X Styleride Y<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 50 – – – – – X Styleride N<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X McConnell Y<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King 57 – – – – – X Styleride Y<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Spheros – – – – – X – McConnell N<br />
A ZF 2 10-12.9 Thermo King – – 41 – – X – McConnell N<br />
A Allison 2 8 Cling-Yutong 28 – – – X – – Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 8 Cling-Yutong 28 – – – X – – Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 8 Cling-Yutong 28 – – – X – – Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 8 Cling-Yutong 28 – – – X – – Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 12 Cling-Yutong 57 – – – – – X Yutong Y<br />
A ZF 2 12 Spheros 57 – – – – – X Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 10 Cling-Yutong 39 – – – – – X Yutong Y<br />
A Allison 2 10 Cling-Yutong 43 – – – – – X Styleride Y<br />
*Australian Bus Corporation (<strong>ABC</strong>) comprises Bustech (16), Precision Buses (10) and Elphinstone (2). Volgren’s count includes two units from its partnership with Supportrans.<br />
busnews.com.au November 2020 <strong>ABC</strong><br />
63
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