Truckologist Mobile Wheel Alignments has recently begun expanding it's service area, & following numerous enquiries from the Toowoomba region, is now officially offering mobile wheel alignments for Trucks, Trailers & Buses in the area.

We can assist with helping you save on the running costs of your heavy vehicle, namely fuel & tyres, & in most cases there will be minimal disruption to your business.  Our wheel alignments are usually completed in less than 2 hours, so you can get your vehicle back on the road fast.

We can offer 30 day accounts to established businesses, & we also have a separate structure for Wholesale Partners to join with us & offer our services to their own clients.  Many heavy vehicle mechanical & tyre businesses find our services to be an excellent add-on complimentary service for their customers, & a great way to increase profits in their own businesses.

If you'd like to know more about what we do & how we can help you reduce your bottom line & increase your profits, give Justin a call on 0403 056 961 & he will be more than happy to have a chat.

After many years at the helm of Truckologist, the time has come for me to move in a new direction. I would like to thank you all for your patronage over the years & I feel privileged to have been able to serve you.

Sometimes things come full circle, & in this case, I would like to introduce to you (or re-introduce to some of you) my brother, Justin Cumner, who will be taking the reins as of 1st April 2017.

As many of you know, Justin actually trained me & brought me into the business many years ago, so you can rest assured you will benefit from his many years of knowledge & expertise in this area, & I'm confident you will receive the same level of service that you've received from me. I will be working with Justin for a transitional period to assist in familiarising him with how the business currently operates & to minimise any disruption to your services.

Something that will certainly be of interest to many of you is the addition of truck & trailer rebushing services.  Justin plans to set up for this in the coming months, with a mobile rebushing unit to be added in addition to both mobile wheel alignment service vehicles.  More details will be provided on this shortly

$52k base (40 hrs), overtime & Saturday's extra, up to $10k commissions for work invoiced, super, phone & ute provided.

We're currently seeking a qualified diesel mechanic/fitter to fulfil the position of a Mobile Truck Wheel Alignment Technician within our small business. 

This role will have you out & about travelling through Brisbane, Ipswich & Gold Coast, helping our clients save money on fuel & tyres.

The primary focus of the role is to perform wheel alignments on heavy vehicles, however your mechanical skills will be utilised to diagnose & repair issues with steering & suspension components as required.

Requirements

• Trade qualified (experience with trucks/trailers)
• Current HR Licence
• Experience with Oxy Cutting & Welding
• Punctual & Reliable
• Ability to work autonomously
• Good communication skills
• Available early February

Wheel Alignment experience would be an advantage but is not essential to the role, but the ability & willingness to learn this side of the operation is a must.

Your existing knowledge of the mechanical operation of heavy vehicles will assist you to become proficient in wheel alignments within a short time period.

You will report directly to the business owner, & will work autonomously at most times.  As part of the front line, it's essential that you have the ability to communicate effectively with customers & build relationships with them over time.

As this is a very small business you must be reliable & possess a strong work ethic.
We work 5-6 days a week, you can expect to do a minimum of 40 hours but up to 60 hours a week when required.  You'll be rewarded for your efforts with a base hourly rate, a generous commission on work invoiced, plus a vehicle & phone also.

This position would ideally suit a person based on the Southside of Brisbane, & who is available to start late January 2016 - February 2016.
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Please forward your resume in the first instance to brad@truckologist.com.au 

This sort of technology & innovation amazes me, you've got to watch the video!  It's exciting to see what's coming in the future.
Watch the video right here.

In-vehicle cameras that detect a truck driver’s eyelid movements are helping Toll Mining Services manage fatigue in its workforce.

The company is using what it calls driver state sensor (DSS) system in its trucks to address driver fatigue in real-time.

Toll Mining Services regional health, safety and environment manager Geoff Massey detailed the technology and its benefits at this year’s Trucking Australia conference.

"Basically these cameras look at the length of blink of an eyelid and when you get really fatigued you start to have what we call micro sleeps and these can be two to three seconds," Massey says.

"When he [the truck driver] has a micro sleep the sensor detects that and the seat vibrates to wake him up.

"There’s also an audio alert [that] goes out and emails go out to our supervisors at site so at a business unit level there is information travelling to our supervisors who then ring up the driver so that they can talk to him and say, ‘take a break, get out of the cab, walk around your vehicle’."

Massey says Toll monitors all fatigue events and produces weekly reports on the number of incidents to ensure driver fatigue remains under control.

DSS has helped avert potentially serious fatigue-related crashes, with Massey saying drivers are mostly unaware they are having micro sleeps.

"What is very telling though is when we see the driver have a micro sleep and we’ve talked to him and said please step out of the cab, he complies but nine times out of 10 he says, 'I don’t feel fatigued, there is nothing wrong with me'," he says.

"It is not until we take him back into the office and replay the video of him blinking that he’s absolutely stunned.

"So to me, fatigue is one of those deadly killers like electricity or gas. It’s unseen and unheard."

DSS is one of a number of safety initiatives Toll Mining Services uses, with the company also limiting the speed of its trucks to 90km/h and installing ABS and EBS braking to prevent rollovers.

Toll Mining Services last year won the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA) Training  Excellence Award for its approach to safety.

It decided to limit truck speed and install ABS and EBS after a 2012 review found that rollover prevention training for drivers was not enough.
See the original article here http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1503/ata-2015-in-vehicle-cameras-help-toll-manage-driver-fatigue/

Certain terms agreed to during contract negotiations have the potential to cripple unsuspecting trucking firms, this year’s Trucking Australia conference has heard.

Border Express director Jon Luff’s address to the conference touched on areas that he believes can ruin a company if they are ignored.

Luff says ongoing financial stability and safety are the main priorities for trucking firms, but issues that arise during contract negotiations like contingent liability, extended payment terms and taking on risks that customers should bear are important.

"I think while you’re looking at the day to day financials, you’ve got to be aware of the one-off events that can effectively become company killers," he says.

"When we sit down with our customers we tend to be at a reasonably weak position at the bargaining table. We tend to be clinging desperately on to our margins and there is an inclination, I guess, to give up space or give up ground in other areas and I think there is a tendency in our industry to take on risk that belongs to the customers and take it on our as our own to protect our margin.

"I think about things in contract negotiations like taking on contingent liability and the inherent risk with contingent liability not knowing what there is, not knowing what you’re really possibly liable for."

Luff highlighted issues companies should consider before agreeing to extended payment terms in a contract.

"If you agree to extended payment terms that’s a commercial decision, but are you factoring in the sustainability of your business in the event the customer can’t or ultimately won’t pay the outstanding amount?" Luff says.

"And I think another one that has poked up its head recently is around customers looking for us to take on risk around chain of responsibility.

"I think it is one we might give ground in because obviously people here are very aware of their compliance responsibilities and may think they’re taking all reasonable steps, but the reality of it is taking reasonable steps doesn’t protect you from a chain of responsibility case and that can be extremely damaging to your business."

Luff made the comments during a panel discussion on business viability, which also featured former Mountain Industries boss Mike Almond and Simon National Carriers managing director David Simon.

Almond warned trucking operators against becoming hostages to debt, while Simon spoke of the need for the industry to sell itself better.


You can see the original article here http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1503/ata-2015-one-off-events-have-the-potential-to-kill-trucking-companies/

I'm pleased to announce that here at Truckologist, we are now offering Mobile Truck Repairs in Brisbane, Ipswich or Gold Coast.

Are you looking for Truck Repairs by an experienced, reliable Diesel Mechanic in Brisbane, Ipswich or Gold Coast?  Truckologist now offers Mobile Truck Repairs & Servicing anywhere in the Brisbane, Ipswich & Gold Coast areas.  Our highly experienced Mobile Diesel Mechanic can come to you at home or work for just about any Truck Repair or Servicing requirements that you may have.

Our Diesel Mechanic specialises in all American & Japanese truck brands, and places an emphasis on regular preventative maintenance and servicing, which helps minimise roadside breakdowns & unexpected out of pocket expenses.  We can even take on some of those bigger jobs such as engine rebuilds, gearbox rebuilds & brake relinings.

We all know that time is money, and we will always do our very best to get the job done on time at your convenience. All of our customers have discovered that they can save a lot of time and money by utilising the convenience of having Truckologist visit them on site at their workplace or depot, and getting their vehicles back on the road quickly.

We offer extremely competitive rates in the industry, our focus is on getting you the best result without breaking the bank.  So if you would like to make an enquiry then please give Brad a call on 0403 056 961.

By now most people in the transport industry know that they can save money by having a regular truck wheel alignment and also trailer wheel alignment.  Truck wheel alignment will provide obvious savings by reducing fuel consumption and improving tyre wear, but what else can you do to reduce costs?  

The biggest cost each year to a transport operator is fuel.  So let's look at some simple ways to become more fuel efficient:

Slow Down
The speed at which your vehicle is travelling has a massive effect on fuel consumption, the faster you drive, the more wind/air resistance that you are pushing against.  Generally, each 10 km/h speed increase will also increase fuel consumption by 5-10%.  I don't need to bother giving you an example of this & crunching the numbers, just take a look at how much you spent on fuel for your truck or fleet last financial year & imagine taking 5-10% of that and putting it back in your pocket.

Skip A Few Gears
You can usually skip a few gears & get into top gear a bit quicker & use less fuel in the process.  Most engines today produce high torque at low revs, so in most situations this isn't a problem.

Adjust Air Deflectors
Why does your truck have air deflectors?  To reduce air resistance.  For every 10cm that your trailer sits above the air deflector, your fuel consumption increases by 1%.  If you're not sure if yours is set correctly, have a look at the headboard of your trailer after a trip.  If you can see insects & bugs splattered across the top of your headboard, your air deflector is too low & should be adjusted.

Tyre Pressure Tyre Pressure Tyre Pressure
Yeah, I said it three times on purpose.  It's so easy to check, yet so often neglected.  If your tyres are over inflated, they will wear out prematurely.  If they are under inflated you will have increased rolling resistance.  Increased rolling resistance means your engine has to work harder & rev harder to maintain speed.  

Don't Overload
Every tonne overweight will increase fuel consumption by 1-2%.  This could be costing more in fuel than what you're getting paid to transport the extra goods.

So there's a few tips for you, some you may already be aware of, some you may not.  I'll be sure to add more soon, in the meantime, if you or anyone else you know requires a truck wheel alignment or trailer wheel alignment, visit the Truckologist website by clicking here.

Most heavy vehicle owners in the transport industry are asking these questions - how can I save money on my running costs? how can I reduce my tyre wear? how can I save on fuel consumption?

So let's talk about what sort of savings are available by ensuring correct alignment of axles and wheels on your truck trailer or bus.
Research & studies conducted around the world show that around 80 percent of medium to heavy vehicles are incorrectly aligned, or have a mis-alignment.
If your truck trailer or bus has incorrectly aligned wheels & axles, you have what we call increased rolling resistance when travelling on the road.  This means the engine and steering components are working harder than they need to be, and the end result is an increase in fuel consumption.  Generally speaking, correcting any alignment issues will result in a saving of 3 to 10 percent on fuel. 

Over the years we have performed alignments on several heavy vehicles that were toeing out so far that we couldn't even take a reading off our scales!   In cases like these, it is not uncommon to see savings of up to 20 percent on fuel. 

As you can imagine if you are a transport operator of one vehicle or a fleet, every year this adds up to a very significant amount of money that could easily be saved.  Let's look at a fairly common scenario:

Just say your trucks average fuel consumption is 33 litres per 100 km.  So in a one way trip from Brisbane to Sydney you consume 330 litres of fuel.  If you are getting diesel for $1.20/litre, you spend $396.00 per trip.  What you didn't know was that the incorrect alignment of your axles has been constantly increasing rolling resistance, and your fuel consumption is actually up 10 percent on where it should be. 

So along the way you get a wheel alignment.  With the axles correctly aligned, you are now using 30 litres per 100 km.  Your next trip from Brisbane to Sydney costs you $360.00 in fuel.  So you are now saving $36.00 per 1000 kms on fuel, or 3.6 cents per km.  Now I don't know how many kms your truck does each year, but you can work out the rest.

But we aren't going to stop there - now we can look at our tyre wear.  Let's start by looking at the cost of the tyres on the vehicle:  If you own a prime mover in Australia, it would be safe to say that to fit 2 new steer tyres and 8 drive tyres, you would be looking at a mimimum of $5000 fitted and balanced, and that is probably a conservative figure.  If you are running your own trailers, this figure just keeps escalating as you know.

So we've got at least $5000 of rubber that keeps the wheels turning, and we want to make our 5 grand last as long as possible.  We all know tyre pressure is a factor in uneven or premature tyre wear, but incorrect alignment of axles and wheels is just as damaging to your tyres. Even slight incorrect alignment of axles in different directions can reduce the life of our tyres, by 15 to 50 percent. 

This one is easy to work out - we will presume that by performing a wheel alignment on our truck we are now getting another 20 percent of mileage out of our tyres.  We are now saving $1,000 on every set of tyres we purchase!

So there are the obvious financial gains of having your axles correctly aligned, but if you are the driver of the vehicle there is one other major factor to consider everytime you get behind the wheel - how does the vehicle handle?  All drivers get sick of having to constantly correct the steering as they drive down the highway.  When the vehicle tracks correctly, it takes a lot of the hard work out of the trip for the driver, they can relax a little & it makes for a much more pleasant work environment.  Driver fatigue is greatly reduced & everyone is a winner!

Ok, I will sum this up for you - Truckologist currently charges $340.00 ex GST for a Truck Wheel Alignment (steer & 2 rear axles).  If you were saving 3.6c/km on fuel, the cost of your alignment would be recovered in less than 9,000 kms of travel.  You are also going to see improvements in tyre life, and the savings created can be quite significant.  The truck is going to handle better & feel better to drive.

If you do not currently have regular wheel alignments performed on your own heavy vehicle or your fleet, then you may need to have a chat with your "Financial Controller" (whether that is yourself, your better half, or some bloke in the corner office) about the numbers we have discussed here.  If they are still not convinced that they should give this a go, you may need to beat them over the head with something soft but firm until they say "Yes!".