In the news from Diesel this week we have seen Prixcar Buys Rival, a Milestone for Volvo and a DP World Surcharge.
Volvo Group Australia announced a major milestone, with the Group’s 60,000th truck produced at its Wacol plant in Brisbane. The milestone coincides with the Group joining the Australian Made Campaign, being awarded certification to carry the iconic ‘Australian Made’ logo.
Announcing the production milestone, Peter Voorhoeve, President and CEO of Volvo Group Australia, said that the Group has demonstrated that automotive manufacturing is alive in Australia. This, despite well-publicised reports of recent car manufacturing closures.
“Our Wacol plant has been operating since 1972, and houses manufacturing and engineering facilities to produce both Volvo and Mack trucks,” said Voorhoeve. “The plant makes a significant economic contribution to the local area, and it does it without any government subsidies.
“We have close to 450 people directly employed in the production process, about 50 dedicated engineers based in Brisbane. The Wacol factory also has approximately 85 local suppliers delivering more than 3,500 different components to the Wacol factory – of which, many are produced right here in Australia.”
The announcement of the production of 60,000th truck at the Wacol plant coincided with Volvo Group Australia officially joining the Australian Made Campaign, being awarded certification to carry the iconic green-and-gold ‘Australian Made’ logo.
Prixcar Buys WWL
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and Prixcar have signed an agreement that sees WWL sell its inland transportation and technical service business in Australia to Prixcar, in exchange for a 20 per cent ownership share in Prixcar.
Prixcar is a provider of finished vehicle logistic services in Australia with a nationwide footprint. Prixcar’s primary focus is inland transportation and technical services for the auto segment, complementing WWL’s focus on the heavy truck, rolling equipment and machinery segment. The joint business is expected to have an annual turnover in excess of $250 million and a team of over 1,000.
Stopping DP World Surcharge
The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) is urging the Essential Services Commission (ESC) in Victoria to investigate infrastructure surcharge pricing at the Port of Melbourne, following an announcement by stevedore DP World Australia that it would raise prices for the second time this year on January 1 2018.
Operators transporting containers in and out of Melbourne have been told by the stevedore to expect a 51 per cent increase in prices, taking the cost per full container received or delivered via road or rail to $49.50. This follows a substantive increase in March, and increases from rival stevedore Patrick in June. Price rises at DP World terminals in Sydney and Brisbane were also announced.
Greater Access to the Network
Australian transport ministers have approved amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) to allow greater access to the network for high volume vehicles.
Vehicles approved to level 1 of the Performance Based Standards (PBS) will be allowed general access to the road network if their gross mass is below 42.5 tonnes, once the Queensland Parliament passes the amendments.
This follows ministerial endorsement of the National Transport Commission’s (NTC) policy proposal at the May 2017 Transport and Infrastructure Council (TIC) meeting paving the way for economy-wide benefits of up to $1 billion per annum.