Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 402 i Deals On Wheels Australia

DRIVE DOWN memory lane

Like many who’ve been bitten by the trucking bug, my infatuation with heavy haulers started early. I blame Weet-Bix actually. In the early 1980s, cereal company Sanitarium was putting truck swap cards in cereal packets. Every new box was eagerly ripped open at the wrong end in a mad scramble to find the latest card featuring a Kenworth, Mack, White, International, or if you were unlucky, a Bedford. This will no doubt only serve to confirm suspicions amongst some that I really did get my truck licence from a cereal packet! POPULAR CULTURE It was in many ways a golden age for the image of trucking. The movie Convoy and its sound track had been a pop culture hit, CB radios were widespread and operated like a primitive version of…

11 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

crawlin’ the hume

When 235 historic trucks travelled the old Hume Highway from Melbourne to Albury in April, the camaraderie was as much a feature of the run as the trucks themselves. Crawlin’ the Hume is a biennial truck run which unites old highway runners and truck enthusiasts of all ages. The trucks left Campbellfield, on Melbourne’s north, early on Saturday morning, April 16. Thousands of people waited along the old highway to greet the Kenworths, Internationals, Macks, Dodges, Whites, Peterbilts, Volvos, Fords, Mercedes, Atkinsons, Reos, Bedfords, Commers, Chevrolets, Diamond Ts, Austins, Studebakers and Fodens. One of the oldest trucks was David Daws’ 1923 Mack AC which he carried behind his 1961 Mack B61. David says it would have been impractical to drive the AC on the old Hume. “It only does about…

6 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

SOLID rock

The locals call it the “lion of the plains”, a stunning geological formation which rises up from the surrounding grazing and cropping country between Wagga Wagga and Albury in southern NSW. The Rock Hill towers over the small town named after it, which caught global attention in 2014 when legendary Aussie rockers AC/DC launched their 15th studio album Rock or Bust there. Peter Thompson’s fleet of five ‘Thommo’s Express’ trucks is based at The Rock. So it was appropriate that Thommo should enjoy the privilege of towing a trailer full of concert gear for AC/DC’s ‘Rock or Bust’ Australian tour behind his rugged-looking 379 Peterbilt. “I loved it,” says the AC/DC fan, who adds the transport was well organised. “I met some nice blokes there.” Peter is referring to other…

4 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

show stopping argosy

Elwin Bell senior, a 74-year-old showman, has been travelling highways and byways all over mainland Australia for as long as he can remember. In that time he’s had to be good at improvising with trucks and trailers. For example, travelling up the infamous Clyde Mountain in southern New South Wales in the early 1960s with his showman father Roy, the big end went in the old truck they were driving. Elwin drove one of the other convoy vehicles to Goulburn to get new bearings, which they then had to fit into the old engine five times before getting it up the mountain. When Roy Bell kicked off with a boxing tent in 1924, the Hume Highway was dirt, the only bitumen was between Melbourne and Geelong, and his wife could…

4 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

Doctor on case

In 1985, the dispute between Queensland’s Premier, Joh Bjelke Peterson, and the Electrical Trade Union (ETU), resulted in Brisbane’s CBD having the majority of emergency power generators in Australia – giving Fuel Doctors its first client; the State Government. Government buildings have dozens of underground emergency fuel tanks with thousands of litres of diesel, stored year after year, oxidising and degrading to the point of compromising the infrastructure they support. Ninety per cent of refined fuel is consumed within 90 days of manufacture and 90 per cent of fuel in emergency power generators is rarely consumed within 900 days. These facts were the basis of Fuel Doctors’ business plan in 1990. The preservation of the “asset” – being the fuel, and the preventative maintenance and integrity of the “infrastructure” –…

2 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

looking for a used Peterbilt?

>>QuickSearch To find these products online, go to Tradetrucks.com.au and enter the TA code shown below in the Keyword search panel Peterbilt 379 EXT “Majestic” KTA Cummins, 15 speed, for details call David Larsen VIC 03 9791 9132 $150,000 + GST 1988 PETERBILT 377 Series 60 detroit, 15 spd, pete air track. Tare: 9150kg. Double skin rock body with a 2 way tail gate and tarp NSW 0412 632 390 $65,000 1996 PETERBILT 378 C15 Acert, Recon 18spd, 63” unibilt double bunk, 40,000 pound Eaton diffs, Low air suspension NSW 0412 632 390 $132,000 1994 PETERBILT 378 (6X4) PRIME MOVER 15ltr Cat 3406E, 3 stage eng brake + loads more. VIC 03 9303 2222 $108,000 + GST…

1 min

Deals On Wheels Australia|Issue 402

free car with a used truck

Daimler Trucks Brisbane has come up with a novel way to clear out its end-of-financial year stock of used Kenworths and FreightlinerArgosys, as well as having the buyer’s family become part of the decision-making process. Until the end of June, or until sold out, Daimler Trucks Brisbane is giving away a new Hyundai Accent, plus a free Waeco fridge. In these tough economic times, the Ipswich Road, Rocklea-based dealership is getting on the front foot and, as it says, “thinking outside the square”, according to its used truck sales manager Craig Wallis. Daimler Trucks Brisbane is part of the huge AHG group, the latest motoring group, which has 179 car and truck franchises throughout Australia and New Zealand. Importantly, those customers purchasing a used Argosy or Kenworth can pick up…

1 min