Close to 150 transport business owners, managers, administrators, and specialist consultants attended the inaugural Freight2020 Australia and New Zealand user group conference in March 2017. The enthusiastic response from participants confirmed the arrival of Freight2020 VISION as a major annual transport industry technology event.

Richers Transport, headquartered in Maryborough, Queensland, sent a team of four delegates including Matthew Richers [above] to the inaugural Freight2020 VISION conference in Melbourne

“This has been a great day,” said Sydney-based Allan Thornley, managing director of Shaw’s Darwin Transport, during the lunch break at Freight2020 VISION. Shaw’s are the market-leading freight carriers operating in and out of Darwin and were long-term users of a competitive transport management system until switching to Freight2020. “It’s enlightened us to some of the greater aspects of the [Freight2020] system and taught us a few things we didn’t know.”

Matthew Richers of Richers Transport, Maryborough-headquartered eastern seaboard carriers with more than 200 employees, said, “There are four of us from the company here today and I guess the most exciting thing for us is reconfirming Freight2020 as the right fit for our business. We use Freight2020 in its entire capacity throughout our operations, repairs and maintenance workshop, accounts… It’s been good for myself and the rest of our team to look at Freight2020 Mobility, which we’re implementing in the coming months, as well as the business analytics [Freight2020 BI360 real-time business analytics dashboard], which will be really great for our financial team and director.”

Peter Evenden, managing director of Prospect Refrigerated Transport, the Sydney-based company which carries temperature-sensitive freight for some of Australia’s iconic grocery brands said, “I’m down here in Melbourne having a great time and learning lots.”

Another Sydney-based delegate was Emerson Pierce from John L Pierce Transport (“JLP”), the bulk tanker specialists with 150 trucks and more than 330 employees. “It’s been a very interesting day, learned a lot,” said Emerson. “We’ve taken away a fair bit, so really happy to be here.”

“This is a very exciting time for us”

Siobhan Clifford was one of the delegates representing Mount Noorat Freighters at Freight2020 VISION 2017

Siobhan Clifford, one of a team representing the Victorian-based bulk haulage specialists Mount Noorat Freighters at VISION said, “We’ve had a great day today at the first Freight2020 conference. We’re looking forward to using Freight2020 Mobility in the near future.”

With Freight2020 now one of the fastest-growing Progress OpenEdge-based ERP solutions in the APJ (Australia, Pacific, Japan) region, many delegates attending VISION on behalf of their respective companies were relatively new to the system. Mark Battersby of PK Logistics said, “We are just about to go live with Freight2020 so this is a very exciting time for us. It gives us lots of new opportunities to explore with compliance and safety, possibly mobility, and also our warehouse and transport is going to be integrated, which is very important for us.”

More than 130 transport and logistics companies based in Australia and New Zealand are now using Freight2020 to drive their businesses more efficiently and competitively, a good number of these being represented by delegates making the journey to attend Freight2020 VISION 2017.

Peter Evenden, Emerson Pierce, Allan Thornley, Matthew Richers, Siobhan Clifford, and Mark Battersby were interviewed at Freight2020 VISION for the 2-minute “Freight2020 VISION 2017 Delegate Reviews” video which is now available for viewing on YouTube.

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The “underpayments” described by an industrial magistrate as “substantial” involved: “meal, travel and shift allowances; overtime, leave, and public holiday entitlements; minimum hourly rates; and expense payments to cover overnight stays away from home,” as reported in Fully Loaded. It was stated the company: “…broke workplace laws by withholding $244,221 in payments from 10 fuel tanker drivers, seven of whom are no longer with the company…”

The losses for individual drivers were found to have ranged from $7,355 to $59,993. The Court’s decision is being appealed by the company concerned. According to the article in Fully Loaded, the Fair Work Ombudsman, Natalie James, said, “The Court’s decision should send a message to transport sector employers about the importance of ensuring they pay all minimum entitlements.”

Freight2020 Payroll Management protecting against employee underpayment

(Stock photo using model)

“Employee entitlements in the Australian road freight transport industry, as within any industry sector, are a very serious matter,” said Rob Mullins of CMS Transport Systems. “Compliance with all regulatory aspects of human resources management, including payroll calculations, has always been integral to Freight2020 development. Heavy vehicle compliance and all-round HR compliance is safeguarded throughout the Freight2020 system.”

“There is no point running a profitable transport business without absolute compliance in operations, fleet management, human resources, and administration. Not having the right system to manage compliance throughout the organisation would only expose the business to great risk.”

Developed specifically for the Australian road freight transport industry

Freight2020 Payroll Management is the payroll solution that is purpose-built for managing the intricacies of employer obligations and regulatory requirements for trucking companies of all sizes, operating in any mode of freight carriage.

Not only does Freight2020 Payroll easily manage all complex factors bearing on driver pay calculations – including the accurate calculation of trips and associated allowances, and tricky superannuation calculations for long-haul drivers – it is fully integrated with the entire Freight2020 suite including Subcontractor Management, Operations Management with Driver Mobility for tracking shifts and journeys in real-time, Financial Management, and Human Resources Management incorporating OHS/WHS/WorkSafe/WorkCover compliance.

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Peter Colbert was found guilty of manslaughter following the death of Robert Brimson. Mr Brimson was the driver of a Colbert Transport truck named “The Big Girl”, a 1994 Mitsubishi taut-liner with more than 800,000km on the odometer when the brakes failed in heavy traffic. Mr Brimson saved lives by managing to steer the careening truck clear of banked passenger vehicles, but was himself subsequently killed when the truck left the road and slammed into a pole.

Truck driver’s last moments captured on camera

ABC News report 21 August 2015

The terror and gravity of Mr Brimson’s last moments were captured on a dashboard-mounted camera. According to ABC News reports, Mr Brimson’s last words were, “Oh [expletive] brakes… Where am I gonna [expletive] go… I’ve got nowhere to [expletive] go,” leaving little room for conjecture as to the cause of the accident, or the risk posed to public safety while the stricken driver was forced to make desperate, split-second decisions to avoid colliding with other vehicles.

Mr Colbert denied knowledge of The Big Girl having shown any indications of a significant brake problem before the accident. The jury would decide otherwise, however, following testimony from Colbert Transport’s bookkeeper, and other drivers employed by the company. It was determined that Mr Colbert failed to have the doomed truck checked by a mechanic after knowing that brake fluid leaking from the vehicle had caught fire about one month prior to the fatal crash. Also, reports of an air leak in the truck’s braking system were found to have been made to Mr Colbert in the days just before Mr Brimson lost his life after only 10 days in the job as a driver for Colbert Transport.

Lapses and oversights allowed to prevail

Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS Transport Systems, the Melbourne-based developers of Australia’s leading transport management system, Freight2020, responded to news of the trial and sentencing of Peter Colbert by saying: “Although the culpable actions and attitudes of this particular trucking company owner contributed towards the severity of the sentence handed down in this tragic instance, even inadvertent failures, such as overlooking a vehicle fault report or license expiry can have drastic consequences, reaching far beyond those directly accountable. Any manual or half-baked transport management system can easily allow human lapses and oversights to prevail.”

Freight2020 Driver Mobility vehicle safety checklist on common mobile device

With Freight2020, vehicle safety and maintenance issues can be very tightly controlled, and there is strict and comprehensive monitoring of a plethora of vital compliance issues.

Using Freight2020 Driver Mobility on a common smartphone, the driver is required to complete a vehicle fault and safety equipment checklist at the start of their shift, capturing photographic evidence where the issue is visible. Any issues are immediately flagged to those concerned with Fleet Maintenance Management, and the details are immediately available throughout the system.

Freight2020 also guards against breaches of compliance in operations management – alerting users if a certain truck without DG-certification is about to be booked to carry dangerous goods, or if a driver who has not undergone a specific site induction is about to be sent to the site for pickup or delivery. These are just some examples of how Freight2020 helps govern compliance business-wide, reducing risk to the organisation, their customers and employees, and everyone using the roads.

Compliance made easy through automation

“For companies already using Freight2020, compliance is not just an over-arching responsibility and consideration, but an integral part of day-to-day business processes. Compliance is made easy through intelligent automation, every step of the way,” Grant said. “The best way to appreciate the compliance-related advantages of Freight2020 is through a live demonstration where we simulate real-life everyday situations that are specific to the transport business.”

Read the full story online in ABC News reports:

5 Dec 2014: Bail refused for truck company operator charged with manslaughter of employee
11 Jun 2015: Trucking company boss Peter Colbert ignored warnings about brake failure that led to driver’s death, court hears
12 Jun 2015: Colbert Transport truck caught fire a month before crash killed driver, Adelaide court told
16 Jun 2015: Trucking company boss Peter Colbert denies manslaughter charge, knowledge of brake issues
17 Jun 2015: Trucking company boss Peter Colbert found guilty of manslaughter after brake failure which led to death of Robert Brimson
21 Aug 2015: Trucking boss Peter Colbert jailed for more than 12 years over driver Robert Brimson’s death

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A growing number of Australian transport and logistics organisations are taking a more proactive approach to the management of driver fatigue through the deployment of Electronic Work Diaries (EWDs) to augment the paper-based work diaries currently needed to comply with safety legislation.

New Sentinel EWD fatigue management system

Transtech, one of the most experienced Australian developers of fatigue management systems, recently released a new version of their Sentinel EWD for real-time online and offline driver fatigue management. Sentinel uses the iFace, a 7″ in-vehicle touchscreen device, for mobile interactivity.

“With Sentinel on iFace, the driver simply presses an on-screen button to start or stop their work and rest periods. Sentinel does all the calculations and keeps the driver aware of their fatigue status within their individual rule-set, even when journeys are outside of the cellular network,” said Paul Weiss, Business Development Manager of Transtech. “Real-time processing delivers back-office insights into fatigue information, advanced alerting, reports with visual aids, and historic feedback.”

“Transtech and CMS have worked together collaboratively on integrated and complementary solutions for a number of major transport companies,” said Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS Transport Systems, developers of the Freight2020 transport management system.

“Any Australian transport company with a heavy-vehicle fatigue management system already in place should be commended for showing commitment to improving worker safety and reducing the road toll,” Grant said.

* Estimate deduced from fatigue-related road accident and crash fatality statistics quoted by the Traffic Accident Commission of Victoria and Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

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