It might seem strange that Australia’s beleaguered national flag carrier would own a road freight company when one of its big money spinners is air freight In fact it might seem like an oxymoron for air freight to travel by road but according to Qantas it is in fact a smart solution to keep its customers happy, and heaven knows the airline has struggled to achieve that recently.
JETS Transport Express has been a fully owned subsidiary of Qantas since 2008, specialising in moving express freight from airport to airport, to distribution centres or to customers and according to some, depending on the type of freight, utilising JETS Transport Express can actually be faster than domestic air freight.
JETS runs 15 B-double rigs mainly overnight between east coast capital cities, and nine of its trailer sets are now powered by new Scania R 590 V8 prime movers, with six further units to be delivered in the coming months.
JETS Transport Express’ national compliance manager, Peter Gilbert, was responsible for driving the shift to Scania, replacing a fleet of older American and European prime movers.
“JETS is our road feeder network for air freight, so what can’t be transported on the aircraft is fed through us,” he said.
“Sometimes this is because the cargo might be dangerous goods, or it could be that the trucks can transport the cargo more quickly than waiting for the next freighter aircraft to collect and deliver it to that location.
“If a freighter aircraft arrives with cargo at the Qantas Melbourne Freight Terminal, and the freight’s destined to go to Sydney, it can be faster to put it onto road transport depending on the type of freight and aircraft schedules,” he said.
“Currently we are using nine of the 15 new Scania prime movers we ordered and like Qantas, Scania’s prime focus is safety, they offer premium active and passive safety features, cabin comfort that reduces driver fatigue, and the trucks have an impressive payload capacity,” Gilbert said.
“A further bonus is that these Scania V8 Euro 6 compliant engines are biofuel compatible, as well,” he said.
“Emissions reduction is very important to us. We specified the biofuel compatibility to give us the option to go down that route in the future.
“Running on biodiesel, you’re reducing your CO2 by 85%, which for trucks that do high km every year, is something meaningful for us, particularly in an industry where otherwise it’s very hard to find those savings,” Gilbert said.
“JETS Transport Express focus is primarily on the safety of the drivers and the safety of other road users, so we aim to give our drivers the best possible vehicle to do the job.
“When we selected the R 590 V8 we also optioned up the cab interior with leather seats and a few extra trimmings. The cab is the driver’s workplace, their office on wheels,” Gilbert said.
“It’s important to us and to our drivers that they have good equipment. These Scanias have dual fridges, an extendable bunk, and heaps of storage.
“We have had a lot of really good driver feedback regarding the driver environment and driving experience,” Peter says of the new Scania trucks. “Obviously it’s been a change for some because American trucks are completely different: switching from manual transmission Road Rangers to fully automated, it’s a little bit different. But overall though the feedback has been excellent.
“Although we don’t usually have drivers sleeping in the cabs, sometimes it may be necessary, so a comfortable, high-quality cab should also help us attract and retain good quality drivers,” he said.
“Initial fuel efficiency has been good, and the engines are just running in. The first vehicles have racked up about 40,000 km. Fuel burn was one of the key reasons for purchasing, and so far, we’re very happy with that. We are averaging approximately 2.5 km per litre,” Gilbert said.
In addition to improved fuel economy, JETS has opted for Scania’s all-encompassing Repair and Maintenance contract to ensure complete transparency on operating costs.
“We went with the R&M package, so we know our monthly spend is pre-set, and we’re covered by preventative maintenance as well, so we know what key items need to be replaced prior to failure. It’s great to know that there are mandated times when we will have those components changed. Also, the service intervals are set for us. There’s no surprises. It’s like the aviation industry, where service intervals are preset, and preventative maintenance is the rule. The industry is very stringent about these intervals, so it’s great to have the trucking side of it similarly aligned to the aircraft,” Gilbert said.
According to Scania another key motivator for JETS to switch to the Swedish brand, came from the relationship built up by its account manager, Tevfik Onguc with JETS over several years.
“The relationship has been great with Tevfik Onguc, even before we chose the Scania product. He’s kept in contact with us, following us up and telling us about new product,” Gilbert said.
“He kept touching base, so we knew he was interested in us, and when we started to look at Scania, he was very efficient in coming back with answers to our many questions.
“So far, we have had a couple of our drivers through the Scania driver training programme and the drivers are keeping an eye on their onboard driver scores. We’re hooked into the Scania Fleet Monitoring programme and the fleet reports are a key element for us also.
“We want to know how the drivers are performing, so we can educate them, and maybe it sets up a little bit of a competition too between drivers. The efficiency score is very easy to understand. We have a recognition system within Qantas so we can reward people for different parts of what work they do. So that that could play a part, too,” Gilbert said.
“One of the best introductions to Scania was the great initiative of the drive day over at Anglesea (proving ground). This gave me a chance to drive the complete range – all fully laden – so I could test all the equipment. To experience the trucks as they would normally be driven was fantastic,” Gilbert said.
According to account manager Tevfik Onguc, JETS Transport Express was not only won over by the product, but by the backup Scania Australia can provide through its network of nine capital city-based company-owned workshops and dealerships.
“Peter and his team were impressed by the support that we can provide, which goes well beyond that of our rivals. That, plus the Repair and Maintenance contracts give them peace-of-mind on operating costs,” Onguc said.
“Another element to our business is that we offer advice on turning over the vehicles when they still have enough life in them to realise good resale values. I think this is something that JETS was very interested in.
“As a customer, JETS has been very insistent on getting all the data, all the information on how the trucks will operate, what the costs will be, and to be sure they have factored in all the elements regarding the trucks’ working lives, so they can be satisfied they won’t get any unexpected surprises.
“This is what you must do when you are running an airline. Nothing is left to chance, and hat’s how we roll at Scania, too,”Onguc said.
