The year 1974 got off to an eventful start for those in the southeastern part of Queensland.
Brisbane was hit by the worst floods in its history. A monsoonal trough caused by Cyclone Wanda brought about three continual weeks of heavy rain in January ultimately eventuating in the Brisbane River breaking its banks. The disaster area spread as far as Ipswich and Beenleigh.
Based in Stanthorpe, near the New South Wales border, Granite Belt Fruit Freighters were, as it happens, outside the danger zone but as a fledgling transport operator it was forced to run the gauntlet of detours caused by the disrupted road network. For the ensuing five decades the business has withstood not only the inclement vagaries of nature but fast changing economic climates, too.
“Before the drought in 2018 we were up around the 16-truck mark,” says Glen Abraham, Co-Owner. “That drought hurt the district a lot and it forced us to sell off half our fleet.”
What may have been a crisis for another business was looked upon as a great opportunity to downsize recalls Glen.
“We restructured from that moment and bounced back to where we are now,” he says.
Over recent years the sweet spot for the fleet in terms of units has been between six to a dozen trucks.
“That has fluctuated the last decade,” Glen notes. “We hover around 12 to which it stands at this day.”
Granite Belt Fruit Freighters now operate several B-doubles but they weren’t always a prominent exponent in the application. That has changed in recent years as the business sought adaptations, culminating at first in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, before having to navigate the impairments effected by a sustained and costly drought.
“We have progressed more into B-doubles now by making a few changes and tweaking our operations here and there to run things more efficiently,” says Glen.
Being in Stanthorpe on the New England Highway, the family-owned fruit and veg runners move produce from their own farm district in-season between December and May. Stanthorpe, among other attributes, is one of the few areas in the Sunshine State to have recorded snowfall. It’s been a freezing cold winter, according to Glen, although it hasn’t snowed – yet.
“The temperate conditions are ideal for growing apples, wine grapes and vegetables in the summer months,” he says. Granite also grows capsicums, tomatoes, and leafy vegetables.
Moving produce from Stanthorpe to Brisbane was the origin point of the business and as it progressed it added an offseason return leg to and from Sydney.
The transport business was founded by Abraham’s father Dudley and John McClure in 1974. Prior to that a small 4-tonne V8 Dodge truck was employed to cart produce to markets including those of neighbouring farms. There was a Labor Cooperative in the region run by John who Dudley fell into partnership with. One of their first business decisions was to invest in a bigger truck to service the growing demand. They purchased a 1418 Mercedes-Benz for $1250 with a 38-foot McGrath flattop trailer.
A transport division was soon born. Dudley was 32 years of age.
In fact, the first load they moved to the Brisbane Market was required to undertake a major detour around what was then the direct route which was submerged under water.
“Blunder Road was completely cut off,” recalls Dudley. “My brother-in-law, who had done a bit of truck driving came with me as I didn’t even have a trailer licence at that stage.”
The following year the business, to offset the quieter winter months, started delivering to Sydney. It was 15 hours driving time for Dudley in those days.
The first big truck was a L-Series Ford Louisville with a 903 V8 Cummins. That was purchased around 1978. Soon Ford LTLs were added to the fleet.
“Then we progressed to International,” recalls Dudley. “We purchased a couple of them. There was an Eagle and then a couple of T-Lines and an S-Line.”
During that period an old Flintstone Mack was purchased. The plan was to extensively refurbish the vehicle.
“It got banged up, so I went down to Port Macquarie where I sourced a rusted-out cab which I fixed up,” Dudley says. “Eventually the truck got brought to grief up near Caloundra. That was the end of that pet project.”
The Kenworth brand was introduced in the late ‘90s. Dudley was dealing with Kevin Hurley from Brown and Hurley, who, for a long time, kept a comprehensive list of all the trucks sold to Granite Belt Fruit Freighters over the years. There have been a few.
“Since we started getting the first Kenworths we’ve stuck with them for the last 20 years,” Dudley says.
To commemorate the milestone of its 50th anniversary, Granite Belt Fruit Freighters last June welcomed a new Kenworth T610SAR into its fleet. The truck is powered by a 580hp Cummins X15 running through an 18-speed Eaton RoadRanger.
The new truck is already working linehaul Brisbane-Sydney pulling a refrigerated B-double.
“The T610SAR ticks all the boxes for us. It’s a bonneted truck with plenty of room inside it,” says Glen. “They still come in under your length specifications and you can have all the horsepower you require. They’re just a good all-round truck for us and driver comfort is good.”
On an average week the truck will travel to Sydney three times. That amounts to just under 4,000km. They will look to get up to 230,000kms a year out of this vehicle, eventually.
In total, Granite Belt Fruit Freighters have 12 Kenworths in the fleet and two 12-pallet Hino rigids.
“For new purchases the T610 is what we look to order,” Glen says. “They have the durability. We know they’re going to last.
We’ve got some T610s that have done 1.4 million kilometres and there’s not a rattle in them — they’re still going strong.”
Glen admits that they generally keep their trucks longer than most.
“Powered with the Cummins engine, they’ve got that driveline sorted out,” he said. “They’re a resilient truck.”
Granite Belt Fruit Freighters were one of the first fleets in Queensland to receive a T610 Aero when it was first launched to market.
“We’ve tried a few different brands but always fell back to Kenworth,” says Glen. “We haven’t found a need to move away from it, not counting a couple of second-hand trucks purchased at a good price over the years.”
In 2005 Dudley bought out the stake John McClure had in Granite Belt Fruit Freighters. Both his sons, Glen and Rodney were keen on trucking, eager to join the family business when they left school.
“I made them get an apprenticeship,” recalls Dudley. “Rodney did cold chain working on refrigerated trucks at Thermo King in Brisbane while Glen did a diesel apprenticeship with the local diesel mechanic is Stanthorpe.”
By the time Dudley had assumed control of the operation his sons were ready to join him. They both now effectively run the business.
On top of the regular run of deliveries made into markets concentrated around Brisbane and Sydney, Granite Belt Fruit Freighters also services the big supermarket chains.
In the offseason they will transport tomatoes and capsicums, as they are now, from as far north as Bowen.
They often load out of Gatton, where they cart spuds for Nolan’s Transport or in Brisbane at places freight is transhipped from trucks that have originated in the major produce regions of North Queensland. It’s Granite’s job then to forward the freight on to Sydney.
“We bring whatever we can out of Sydney coming home,” says Glen. “There was more opportunity to keep the trucks active by going to Sydney.”
The B-double work to Sydney, during the latest phase of the business, has subsequently paid off. There’s no doubt escalating fuel prices, driver shortages and the fluctuations prone to global financial markets can be a bridge too far for the smaller fleets.
The strong second-hand truck markets, like the one now synonymous with supply shortages during COVID, have had an allure. They’ve certainly served a purpose when the fleet has outgrown demand.
“We’ve had some close calls financially over the 50 years where we’ve had to sell off different things at various times to keep going,” admits Dudley. “But you ride through all the storms. We’ve always seemed to come through.”
Playing to their strengths has been a big part of the company’s enduring story. Part of that is in having a strong identity and in not trying to be something they are not.
“We’ve always done the right thing by the prime contractors,” says Dudley. “We’ve had good relationships with our bigger customers. Other than our local work, we’ve never tried to commission prime work. We’ve always looked to subcontract out of someone.”
Dudley knows, firsthand, the risk of growing too big, too fast. He naturally urges caution.
“You see it all the time when a fleet grows quick. It doesn’t matter what assets you’ve got,” he says. “You’ve got to make sure cash flows all the time. We’ve been able to do that.”
He adds, “We’ve kept things steady and ridden the highs and lows.”
