Knorr-Bremse has long been a market leader in the world of transport manufacturing for over a century. From its beginnings in Berlin, Germany – where founder, Georg Knorr, channelled his engineering expertise into his own enterprise designing train air brakes to its modern age of international operations in 30 countries which employ over 33,000 people – the company has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and accomplishments in the sector.
For some people, this wide-ranging history of efforts has been particularly spotlighted in light of Knorr-Bremse’s 120-year anniversary this year, a milestone reached by very few. Knorr-Bremse Global Head of Aftermarket for Commercial Vehicle Systems, Alexander Wagner, is one of these people.
“The 120-year anniversary is a time to reflect on what our achievements have been,” he says. “Part of celebrating this milestone is looking back at where Knorr-Bremse started and where it’s been going over these many years – from its beginning through to a time of uncertainty and takeover, to significantly expanding regional penetration outside of Europe.”
These myriads of industry experiences have equipped Knorr-Bremse with insights into different markets and their inner workings, and the Australian truck and trailer market is no exception.
Safety is a key theme of Knorr-Bremse’s observations, and the team has noticed something of a correlation between the specific safety designs of units on the road and their age.
According to Knorr-Bremse Australia General Manager, Gareth Lawless, this correlation has been made specifically clear. He explains that Australia’s truck and trailer market has been modernising their units and following a sustained effort to increase both productivity and output.
“In recent times, particularly with the push in Covid-19 to get more units on the road, we’ve been seeing this great modernisation of our vehicle park,” he says. “But we must not forget that the majority of the vehicles on the road do not have safety systems applied to them because of this. There’s no rules other than Performance-Based Standards (PBS) to have retrospectively fitted safety systems or better control signal systems from truck to trailer.”
Alexander has observed this in various markets around the world. In his view, he can partially attribute it to the rise in total cost of ownership (TCO) due to economic stress.
“There’s a lot of pressure on pricing and general TCO for fleets in many markets,” he says. “Because of this, it may not always be of financial interest for some fleets to invest in and optimise safety.
“I think it’s really important to acknowledge that costs are rising everywhere. Margins are tight in the transport industry, so everyone has to look for increases in efficiency somewhere.”
In addition to this overall discussion of safety’s role in truck and trailer markets, the observations made by Knorr-Bremse personnel also address labour in Australia’s road transport sector – something which has infamously been an increasing issue.
“A global trend that we’ve seen is the issue of finding drivers and those willing to work in workshops, learn new technologies and join the industry in general,” Alexander says. “Limitations to the workforce are occurring everywhere.”
Because of this, Knorr-Bremse’s observations have specifically been drawn to the methods used by fleet operators and logistics providers to attract young and diverse drivers. These techniques ostensibly seem to be bringing a new type of focus and diligence to the industry.
“I heard some fleet owners at the Trucking Australia conference talk about the effective specification of their vehicles to cater for young people entering our industry,” Gareth says. “We know that there’s a huge issue in this country with facilities, but I found it very enlightening to hear some of the fleet managers talking about specification of the vehicle to make sure that they accommodate female drivers, and the ability to provide them with a comfortable working environment.
“I think it’s a very good sign when the industry starts to look at how they’re specifying vehicles. Yes, for TCO and fuel efficiency, but also for attracting drivers into their operations.”
Knorr-Bremse has also identified a range of future opportunities within the Australian market, most notably through the release of new product ranges. This will particularly be prevalent in the planned launch of a remanufactured product line.
“We are looking at launching the remanufactured EconX product range here in Australia,” Gareth says. “It’s just a matter of time. I think we have the ability to provide a better range of products and solutions for the market, so we’re going to be very focused on making sure that we can fill the demand that we have for our products.”
This release coincides with another opportunity for Knorr-Bremse to design its products to be compatible with the increasing number of fleets which are trying to operate sustainably.
“Many fleets now have sustainability KPIs, and they take it very seriously,” Gareth says. “It’s important for companies like ours to ensure that these fleets have products that they can access in a way that fits their strategy around sustainability.”
Knorr-Bremse’s unique insights into both the Australian and international truck and trailer markets have provided the manufacturer with a variety of valuable information about its customers and their demand. Keeping Australia’s specific market conditions in mind, the company is constantly developing a business strategy to most efficiently serve local fleet operators and continue to lead the space as a result.
“From a localised perspective, I think it’s very important that we strategically position ourselves as the market leader and the trusted partner for all stakeholders,” Gareth says. “We strongly believe that when our industry sees the value of what we’re looking to achieve, the products will speak for themselves.”
