Brett Macklin is doing the rounds of his B-double with an iron bar in his hands, checking all the tyres on his 19-metre log trailers after a run down Dunstan’s Road to Nariel in the upper reaches of north-eastern Victoria.

Brett Macklin is doing the rounds of his B-double with an iron bar in his hands, checking all the tyres on his 19-metre log trailers after a run down Dunstan’s Road to Nariel in the upper reaches of north-eastern Victoria.
A road train with five trailers attached isn’t something you see every day, so when Big Rigs got word that Australia’s first-ever B-quins had hit the road, we of course wanted to know more.
A transport industry stalwart who started his climb through the ranks more than 25 years ago as an apprentice heavy vehicle mechanic has been named the Craig Roseneder Award winner in the 2020 Castrol Vecton Industry Awards.
It has just gone 8.30am and Craig Radford works his way up through the gears as he heads out of the little town of Benambra in a remote corner of the north-east Victorian alpine region, with another long day hauling timber on the schedule.
“I’ll just keep going as long as I can. When I can’t do it anymore, that’s when it’s time to give up. A fella asked me a few years ago, ‘When are you going to retire?’ And I said I’ll retire when they start to dig the hole. My mother lived to 107 so I’ve got a bit to go to catch her age haven’t I,” said Bill Ferguson, who recently celebrated his 88th birthday.
Late last year, the director of Mercedes-Benz Truck and Bus in Australia, Michael May, got an unexpected phone call from Italy. And it was nothing to do with a long-lost relative trying to connect.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, panic-buying hasn’t been an unfamiliar site. This has left many companies in the supply chain struggling to keep up with extra demand, including packaging and recycling giant Visy – but Iveco’s offer of demonstration trucks has helped the business keep up with the added load.
The National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) recognises that road safety has many facets and affects all on the road, not just truck drivers. Many of our efforts and policies are directed to and or include, aspects of road safety and with Road Safety week upon us now, it is timely to reiterate some of the things we think require further focus and work, to achieve improvements for all.
Truckies are invariably the first on the scene of an accident or incident on the road, and it pays to be prepared, writes veteran driver Mike Williams, as part of our coverage of National Road Safety Week, brought to you by NTI.
A new Queensland Rail safety campaign is reminding motorists that size matters when driving over-height vehicles near rail bridges.