Guiding Light

Australian family owned and operated business Adaptalift Group offers sales and hire options across its full range of equipment.

The sum total of which now approaches 10,500 units in over 30 different branches and service centres. Its truck rental division Adaptalift Truck Rentals (ATR) has in recent years consolidated a growth arc in lockstep with the burgeoning rental and leasing sector.

Under this banner it offers a complement of short- and long-term rental truck and trailing equipment for linehaul, local delivery and more specialised applications such as roadtrain and Performance-Based Standards (PBS).

Operationally, the business footprint is especially strong on the east coast with equipment available from Adelaide all the way up to Townsville in far north Queensland. Being attuned to the technological shifts now defining commercial road transport is crucial to the business’ relevance and mission.

There are product solutions on offer for fleets big or small and include the most advanced fleet management technologies.

Because it offers short- and long-term rentals, ATR must have a safe and reliable fleet. An ongoing alignment with Daimler Truck Australia Pacific yields, among other benefits, the latest prime movers in the Mercedes-Benz Actros, Fuso and Freightliner ranges locally.

There’s also a variety of trailer options available to rent including roadtrain dollies, triaxle flattops and drop deck trailers, B-double curtainsiders, tandem axles and skels. These are provided by Haulmark. Adaptalift Truck Rentals recently began a trial with another of its premium partners in JOST.

The equipment specialist already supplies fifth wheels for the entire prime mover fleet. In this instance the popular JSK37CWS series fifth wheel technology has been installed on the fleets’ 130 trucks. Now ten of these prime movers are testing JOST’s new Loc-Light sensor technology.

“We have undertaken a recent review of the fleet and following that review we made a decision to standardise the fitment of the Loc-Light technology to our prime mover fleet,” says Fraser Moore, Adaptalift Truck Rentals Executive General Manager.

“The product has initially been fitted on ten vehicles into service for a trial and is set to become standard going forward.”

The modern era of transport and logistics brings with it heightened expectations when it comes to the wellbeing and safety of truck drivers and other road users.

Maybe more so for truck fleets that operate under a rental model given the urgency of how equipment deployments are often required by their customers.

Fleet assets, in keeping with demand, are taken out by a wide variety of drivers of differing skills and experience, so having an extra layer of security when it comes to managing coupling and mitigating against dropped trailers is a major advantage.

“First of all, the Loc-Light product is a really great safety feature,” says Fraser. “An important and crucial part of transport safety is successful coupling. We had seen evidence of trailers that have been dropped in the past and nobody wants that. If we can do anything to enhance the safety and efficiency of our customers, then that’s at the forefront of what we do.”

The JOST Loc-Light sensor will ensure trailer coupling is completed correctly every time. Should a driver fail to check the kingpin in the jaw, the trailer can separate from the fifth wheel during the tug test or when manoeuvring in the yard, leading to, in most cases, damage to the truck or trailer and a costly delay in the consignment.

Hasty tug tests, such as when the weight of a loaded trailer delivers oftentimes force enough onto the fifth wheel can give the driver a false impression the trailer is securely coupled to the prime mover.

The Loc-Light sensor dispenses with much of this uncertainty.

Drivers during their pre-trip inspections can ascertain if the safety mechanism for the kingpin is in place via an LED light that indicates ‘Go/No-Go’.

A red light, which includes an audible alert, will confirm if the coupling has failed while a green light will verify the coupling is successful leaving the vehicle safe to proceed. The LED light also makes it possible to look up into the throat of the jaws in a dark area.

Adaptalift Truck Rentals is reaping the benefits from this streamlined process according to Fraser.

“That light remains visible at all times,” he says. “If the driver at a rest stop is walking past the vehicle, they can give it a quick look and see the light and know they are good to go or not. It’s really simple and intuitive for drivers as well.”

Conveniences in the digital world can sometimes lead to greater complacency instead of vigilance.

Automated processes, especially when it comes to checks and compliance, can reduce drivers to autopilot says Fraser.

“It’s advantageous to have the light at the turntable just because it really does encourage people to do those physical walk-round inspections as well,” he says.

“They should still be doing that rather than just sitting in the cab and looking at lights.”

Having a modern fleet with these latest technological advances enables operators to enjoy the advantages of improved productivity, safety and lower damage costs that these combinations can offer.

In the post-COVID environment there is less certainty in the market. For many transport operators it is critical that they avoid commitments to large capital outlays for new equipment.

“Operators have the ability to flex their fleet up or down to meet demand in partnering with Adaptalift Truck Rentals,” says Fraser.

“We view rental as offering a lot of advantages to transport operators in a volatile and uncertain market.”

As Adaptalift Truck Rentals looks to reproduce the safest and most optimised commercial vehicle product broadly across its fleet, the JOST JSK37CWS fifth wheel with Loc-Light sensor remains first choice.

As a well-known product that industry and operators alike are familiar with, JOST, what’s more, have been extremely supportive in providing training on the product and resolving any product queries according to Fraser.

“We want a consistent and standardised fleet spec that customers can rely on,” he says. “It’s so much easier for us to manage it if we’ve got that consistency and it makes it much easier for our customers as well.”