For those who followed our summer activities you will know that Brenton raced for Procon MRM Telematics (see below action shot) in the Bay Crits Series and in winning the entire series achieved a career breakthrough win.

In returning to his professional Trade Team, Avanti Racing, Brenton has carried on his great form this year and won multiple race stages in Asia and Australia. He narrowly missed outright victory in the Tour of the Murray but several weeks later going one better for outright in the Tour of the South Coast with outright victory. These great results culminated in Brenton leading the points in the National Road Series.

We are very proud to be associated with such a fine person and a dedicated athlete. Brenton’s professionalism and persistence are qualities we aspire to and identify with.

Over the coming months we will keep you informed of Brenton’s progress and his ultimate quest to make it into the ranks of the European Peleton. We have no doubt he will.

Brenton will also provide us with insights into the life of an inspiring Pro, sure to be interesting and inspiring. We have attached his first instalment.

When February 2015 rolls around, we’ll be hitting the road in our Kenworth K200 and Volvo FH16 for a weeklong test of two of the most popular linehaul prime movers on the Australian market.

We’ll be simulating a typical working week on the east coast towing identical B-double sets.

The route will take in the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Sydney, the Pacific from Sydney to Brisbane and finally the two day run home on the Newell Highway.

Both trucks will be hooked up to the same Procon MRM telematics system to enable vehicle performance and fuel economy to be recorded and monitored in real time.

While fuel economy is part of our challenge, performance, on-road handling and livability will also be explored and we’ll be camping in the trucks to assess cab comfort and driving to log book hours.

While the Stig has been done before by some other mob, our mystery driver The Stag (his idea not ours) and I will be rotating through both trucks during the week to allow for differing driving styles.

Both of these trucks are manufactured in Australia yet represent almost diametrically opposing engineering philosophies.

The Kenworth is the no-nonsense old school contender with a new age twist that showcases the best of North American componentry and local engineering, while the Australian built dependable FH fairly bristles with the latest in driver aids, European safety features and fuel saving technologies.

Our K200 ‘Woody Wagon’ stretch cab has already been ordered and now it’s Volvo’s turn.

Our FH will feature a Globetrotter XL cab and rest on a 3,200mm wheel base. A centre mounted 150 litre diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) tank will complement twin square fuel tanks of 690 and 520 litres respectively.

But before you go thinking the Aussie made Swede is a bit on the bland side, under the cab will be a 16 litre, 600hp engine with 2,800 Nm (2065 lb/ft) of torque.

And behind the D16G600 donk will be an overdrive I-shift automated transmission rated to 3,150Nm.

The final drive ratio for the 70 tonne GVM prime mover will be 3.40:1 to capitalise on the low revving lug-along nature of Volvo’s flagship engine.

The 2-leaf parabolics springs will keep the 7.1 tonne front axle in place while power will get to the pavement via a 23 tonne single reduction hypoid drive rear end.

While bling may not be this FH’s thing, the big white FH will feature a vertical exhaust stack and Durabrite alloys to give the Volvo an understated yet, dare I say, classy, look.

Volvo’s wild bar will prevent any kamikaze marsupials from getting stuck in the FH’s teeth.

Perhaps what is more interesting is what is going on under the skin of the FH.

In order to show off some of the cutting-edge techno wizardry available in the big Volvo, we’ll be using Volvo’s I-See GPS terrain mapping function, I-Roll free- wheeling function, Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS), as well as adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning just to name a few.

Inside the cab gets a little fancy with leather trimmed steering wheel, a premium sound package and a 33 litre fridge.

A diesel cab air-conditioner will keep things cool during rest times.

Our FH is expected to roll off the Wacol assembly line in early December and we plan to follow the build along the way.

I’m also going to spend a day with some of Volvo’s driver training team so I can be schooled in the dark arts of fuel saving technology and driving a Volvo with some small amount of finesse.

Next stop will be Bayswater as our K200 will be set to roll off the assembly line in early November.

http://www.tradetrucks.com.au/features/1409/volvo-specs-locked-in-for-duel-with-kenworth/?utm_source=ttr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article1_title&utm_campaign=19092014

The ultimate goal of the project is to understand, analyse, track and monitor movements of containers during the long supply chain journey between Australia and overseas destinations. The technology enables real-time monitoring of location and climate conditions within the containers to improve the handling of shipments, increase inventory control and reduce costs.

The trial will capture real-time data as the containers move from Australia to multiple ports in the USA involving road, rail and sea transport. The data will be transmitted to Procon’s FleetLocate software platform via the Telstra Next G^® network, supported via a global SIM card and accessible via a secure web portal.

Procon Telematics is an Australian owned company and the exclusive Oceanic representative of Procon Inc., a world-leading provider of telematics and GPS-enabled business intelligence solutions. Procon began as the world’s first fully-integrated digital telematics platform in 2003 and today the technology is used to track and manage over 1.4 million active assets globally.

The Future Logistics Living Lab is an initiative of NICTA, Australia’s leading ICT R&D organisation partnering with SAP and Fraunhofer. The Lab provides a platform for industry and research to work together, investigate real-world problems and demonstrate innovative technology that will provide logistics solutions for the future.

The Living Lab is supported by the NSW Department of Trade and Investment. Research participants include a number of leading Australian universities. To date, there are over twenty industry participants focused on logistics and IT innovation.

Thanks again to our great co-sponsors in; Secon Freight Logistics, Maven Associates, MTG Logistics and Select Business Group!

Below are some links to SBS and other related coverage.

http://www.baycyclingclassic.com.au/BayCyclingClassic/Home.html

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/news/52472/Bay-Crits-wins-for-Goss-and-Hosking

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/road/video/107186755655/Mitchelton-Bay-Cycling-Classic-Race-4

Day 1 Summary

The first hit out for the Procon Telematics Cycling Team and we picked up a 3rd place in the first of four Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic Series with a great young Australian talent in Brenton Jones. Not only did Brenton get himself in the winning break with seasoned European based pros such as Luke Durbridge and Matt Goss but going on to match and then beat them in the final sprint.

In a sign of great teamwork Steele Von Hoff, the team leader, sacrificed all opportunity to score points today when he helped Brenton hold his position in the bunch sprint for eighth position held 3 laps out from the final sprint for the break, who had lapped the main field.

At the finish Brenton commented that he “was focused and out to get himself on the podium today”. His ride was an inspiring one for all who watched on the sidelines.

Day 2 Summary

With a fourth from Brenton Jones, Procon Telematics Cycling Team moves into 2nd over all in the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic Series.

It was a perfectly executed ride today with Edward Bissaker putting in what can only be described as a power of work to look after Brenton during the race and help cover breaks.

This was then topped off by Steele Von Hoff going back to Brenton and leading him out for the final sprint. Another selfless act rewarded by Brenton with a great flying fourth behind the Orica GreenEDGE trio.

Day 3 and 4 Summary

Days 3 and 4 had Brenton Jones coming second by a single point for the overall Mens Classification winner. Brilliant support of Brenton by Steele Von Hoff and the Team helped Brenton ride to a Podium finish on day 4 and win the Men’s Series Classification!

Well done to the Team and thanks again to our brilliant sponsors.