Across 2024, Fleet HV News profiled a range of fleets around Australia, highlighting the incredible work being done across the road transport industry. Transport operators keep Australia running, which is why we love telling their stories.
Here are the most-read fleet profiles from across the year, as decided by you – our readers!
Mack Titans on desert duties
Roma-based field services specialists, Wild Desert, provide an insight into the trucks that keep Australia’s oil and gas wells running around the clock.
Wild Desert offers oil and gas field services like rig servicing, transport operations and even mobile camp delivery, using a fleet of more than 50 trucks to get to some of Australia’s most remote locations.
Managing Director at Wild Desert, David Whiley, says that he opened the company nearly twenty years ago after seeing a need for the services.
“Back in 2005 we saw the opportunity, so we sold a few houses and bought a truck,” Mr Whiley said.
“Since then we’ve just been getting busier every year.”
Around half of the company’s fleet is made up of rugged Mack Titan trucks, kept busy transporting equipment and supplies to destinations from Moomba in South Australia to the Carnarvon Ranges in Queensland.
“Our trucks are mostly running as AB triple or triple road trains and, depending on what they’re carrying and where they’re going, they might do anything from 500 to 3,500 kilometres in a trip,” Mr Whiley said.
The trucks have to get into some extremely remote places through some of the toughest terrain in the country, so Wild Desert needs capable, severe-duty trucks that can handle the harshest outback conditions.
Read the full story here.
CNW pursues hybrid fleet focus
Family owned and operated electrical wholesaler CNW opened its doors in 1952 and, while the world has changed a lot across the last 72 years, the company has ridden the technology wave the entire way. Now, it turns its sights to emissions reduction across its fleet of around 200 vehicles.
CNW invited Fleet HV News to its Murarrie warehouse in Brisbane, as the team welcomed three new Hino 300 Hybrid trucks to its growing fleet of trucks – with plans to replace outgoing runners with hybrid models.
“The price of hybrids has come down a lot, with hybrids versus the normal (diesel) truck price, so pretty much from our point of view we can start getting savings straight away with these,” CNW Asset Manager, Melinda Uhlmann explained.
Across the existing fleet of trucks and utes, with Toyota and Hino making up the bulk of the units, a few standout models have proven perfect for the delivery work CNW undertakes in both metro and regional areas.
Read the full story here.
Deniliquin Freighters welcomes five new Actros steeds
Daimler Trucks Shepparton has delivered a tuplet of Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks to Deniliquin Freighters, representing the largest delivery yet for the new regional dealership – part of the wider Tristar Group.
The transport company has long dealt with Daimler Trucks Albury, also owned and operated by Tristar Group and its leader David Warren, but now also uses the new Shepparton dealership due to its proximity to Deniliquin.
Deniliquin Freighters switched to Mercedes-Benz Actros models back in 2017 and added Freightliner Cascadia models in 2021, with the five new arrivals replacing older models.
“We’ve been really happy with them. The fuel economy has been good, the safety is always welcome and the drivers appreciate the comfort,” Deniliquin Freighters Managing Director, Russell Tait said.
“The trucks are one thing, but the team behind them, the support you get once the trucks have been delivered, is just so important.
“Dave will answer his phone whenever you call, whether it is in the middle of the night or the middle of the day and make sure any potential issue is sorted out and that is something we really appreciate.”
Read the full story here.
Herb Blanchard Haulage trades V8 rumble for six-cylinder efficiency
Grafton-based Herb Blanchard Haulage is a family run business that has successfully carved itself a niche carting Clarence Valley-produced timber electric light poles throughout the First State, as well as Queensland, and as far afield as Western Victoria.
Herb Blanchard’s three sons, Michael, Robert, and Christopher, ,along with daughter Donna and brother-in-law Greg, run the haulage firm, which has been a long-time devotee of Swedish V8 grunt.
While long-time lovers of Scania V8s, the company has just taken delivery of a new 560 R-series SUPER prime mover, featuring the CR23 extended cab.
“Our core business is transporting light poles, which can range in length from six to 26 metres, carried on flat-tops and/or extendable trailers,” Robert said.
“We cart from the light pole manufacturers’ depots located in the Clarence Valley to the energy companies’ depots, and as far as possible try to ensure we have a full load for the return, usually bricks, timber or other palletised or packed and wrapped materials.
“We have been in business long enough to have figured out what works for us, both in terms of efficiency, productivity and how to keep our drivers happy, and we are expecting good fuel performance from the new 560 hp six-cylinder 13-litre engine in the new prime mover.”
Read the full story here.
Ready Towing and OzLED light up the night
Family-owned towing company, Ready Towing, recently partnered with Brisbane-based lighting provider, OzLED, to put safety first with a new high-tech lighting system.
Ready Towing’s new Hino FD Super Low Tilt Tray setup, designed by ATB Engineering and illuminated by OzLED, joins a fleet of more than 240 vehicles, but with around 86 high-tech amber flashing lights it’s now the brightest in the southern hemisphere.
Hazard lighting is a critical component on a tow truck, keeping operators and road users safe, but never has the technology been more programmable as the towing industry turns to emergency-grade solutions.
The latest mPower lights fitted to Ready Towing’s flagship truck are the first optic-grade, silicone lens lights and are ‘virtually shatterproof’ making them perfect for emergency and extreme-duty applications.
In terms of the technology itself, OzLED Business Development Manager Tyler Boyle explains that the mPower is made by Soundoff Signal in the USA and is the most advanced warning light system available in Australia.
“This is the first vehicle in the southern hemisphere with this amount of warning lights, using the new 3-wire LIN technology mPower warning lights, and it’s the first in Australia to feature all of this on one vehicle,” he said.
“Here is how the 3-wire technology works: The red wire goes to main power, the black wire goes to earth and the Green LIN wire will go back to our control system which allows us to do over 24 different flash patterns, brake, tail, indicator, reverse, front, side and rear markers, scene lighting, directional warning and dim functions.”
Read the full story here.
Supercars stars paint Mount Panorama with Isuzu F Series
Preparations for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 1000 have stepped up a notch with Supercars drivers James Golding and Tim Slade on track with the line marking crew, lending a hand in painting the famous Mount Panorama circuit ahead of next week’s race.
The PremiAir Nulon Racing duo joined the team from Dubbo’s Central West Linemarking, who are engaged to paint the track boundaries and other important linework around the 6.213 km stretch of bitumen.
The two drivers swapped their helmets and Chevrolet Camaros for high-vis and a seat in an Isuzu F Series dual control truck with a customised road painting platform from Core Equipment in Canada.
Getting an altogether different view from the cab, the Supercars drivers said it was an eye-opening experience to witness the level of preparation required in bringing aspects of the race together.
“I have turned a few laps of Mount Panorama in racecars, but this was a very different perspective!” Mr Golding said.
“My Supercar is a special piece of kit, but the process and accuracy of the customised dual control Isuzu truck from Central West Linemarking definitely gives it a run for its money.
“The circuit and the track limit lines need to be up to the highest standards for Supercars racing. What I can say for certain is that the track is ready for us to race on next week.”
Supercars veteran Tim Slade also acknowledged the massive undertaking of preparing the track for The Great Race.
“I’m used to turning up on race week and seeing it pristine, so to see the effort from the Central West Linemarking crew and the Bathurst City Council overall is really impressive,” Mr Slade said.
“The Bathurst 1000 is a showpiece in Australian sport. To see the crew take such enormous pride in ensuring the track is presented in the best possible way is a credit to their skills and professionalism.
“I have a new appreciation in what it takes to mark out Mount Panorama, but beyond this, the work that goes into marking roads across the country.”
Read the full story here.
Hazell Bros rates T-Way
Tasmania-based civil construction services provider Hazell Bros was on the hunt for two new tippers that offered unique capabilities, as part of a fleet renewal program, which led them to Iveco’s 8×4 T-Way.
According to Hazell Bros General Manager – Assets and Logistics, Adam Muller, Iveco’s 8×4 T-Way filled the company’s niche.
“We had the need for a vehicle that would sit between a standard tipper and an articulated dump truck,” Adam explained.
“As well as allowing us to tap into the additional payload when working on private property – which was a main driver in our purchase decision – the T-Way is engineered for an off-road environment; it has a stronger frame and has hub reduction and diff locks to the rear drive axles, allowing it to better handle demanding off-road conditions.”
The two new T-Ways, which replace conventional tipper and dogs, feature Iveco’s Euro 6 (Step E) Cursor 13 engine producing 510hp/2300NM of torque, mated to a 16-speed Hi-Tronix Automated Manual Transmission.
Other benefits of the model include air suspension, which not only smooths out the rough conditions for drivers but minimises the trucks’ impact on public roads. The T-Ways are also equipped with retarders, which provide additional safety and control when fully loaded and descending inclines.
Adam explains that the T-Way’s emissions and safety credentials were also attractive to Hazell Bros.
Read the full story here.
