Joel Alexander Clish — Building the Palm Island vehicle

Tell us a little about yourself
Hi, I am Joel and I am 23 years old. I am a Mechanical Trades Assistant at Orange Sky Australia that specialises in anything carpentry or technical drawing related.
What are we you building at the moment?
We are in the final stages of building the newest laundry vehicle in our fleet that is headed to the remote community of Palm Island in Queensland.
We are using a Mercedes Sprinter like we use for our combo vehicles but this time we started with the cab chassis (a truck body). The canopy is custom made and will be built off site.
What was it like planning the build?
We got the news that we were going to build a vehicle for Palm Island and white-boarded the pros and cons to our current fleet. Then looked at our hybrid vans and laundry vans, how they function, how they can be maintained, how future proof they are and other important aspects. A few options became clear when discussing the RV01 project (Lockhart River truck) regarding the mechanical quality of the vehicle. It has not always been the easiest of vehicles to maintain so we moved made the decision to purchase a new vehicle. When everything was identified up on the whiteboard we landed on the purchase of a box body cab chassis; the first of it’s kind for Orange Sky.
Add a drawing that Joel will provide tomorrow
What were some of the most important parts of the build process?
A lot of planning goes into this type of build but all of the systems already in our other vehicles stay the same. We have a great base to start from but there is a lot of research and design before the build starts and throughout the whole process. I did a lot of research on the spacial layout of the van and how different components fit inside. Damien specialises in the weight restriction, Nic M looks after the systems, Nic P the mechanical and Steven the electrical. We map all the dependencies on on a little pie chart and get to work.







How do you work together?
Usually we will have a big catch up at the start of the build and try to forecast what the week looks like. We will then try to forecast any times that the van is going to be inaccessible for example, when it goes to get exhaust done or if we have an electrician in to work on something specific. In terms of the actual HQ staff it is pretty organic and a result of us building a lot of vans together.

What was the hardest thing about the build?
The weight restrictions. It’s a tight payload so we don’t have a lot of weight to work with before it has to be converted to a light ridged license. This would restrict the number of volunteers that can drive and get in the way of our flexible volunteer models.
The other restrictions are space and format for the onboard water.
Did you take a lot of ideas from other Orange Sky vehicles?
A lot of the build followed a similar format to other Orange Sky vans. All of the different workable sections of the van like the burner that heats the water, the pumps the water around and washer manifolds are still in their separate components.
It was potentially easier to lay out all of the parts because of it does not have the restrictions of the other vans, it is a box shape and a lot easier to square off and design flexibly.
Why do you think it is important for Orange Sky to offer laundry service in Palm Island?
I didnt realise the need for a vehicle in remote communities in Australia until I had the opportunity to visit Orange Sky’s laundry truck in Lockhart River. I now know that is not just individuals doing it tough, it is entire communities that don’t have access to these facilities. By going there is seeing the impact that out first remote vehicle is having in Lockhart River it is a no brainer that we need to be in as many places as possible. Palm Island is just the one of many remote places that we can have an impact all over Australia.

What is next for the build team at Orange Sky ?
Next is working out all of our safe working instructions for the Palm Island vehicle. Before vans launch we need to have a set of work instructions that someone in Palm Island can use i.e. easy to understand guides for someone in Palm Island to change the detergent drum or clean a washing machine.
At this stage we also take a lot of documentation for ourselves by troubleshooting and diagnosing issues over the phone. I will do a lot of drawing and documenting for myself so we can leverage off all the success of the build and replicate for further vehicles. We can then have a lot of the parts pre-fabricated before the nest chassis arrives.
What make Orange Sky special as part of the build team?
The freedom to make suggestions. I have never been in a workplace before where I have felt like a senior member of a team as a 23 years old. You don’t feel like you are limited by your experience or your age. That is the coolest thing for me.
