Australia’s two biggest states for land mass, Queensland and Western Australia, are also two of its powerhouses for natural resources.
CST Hire, a commercial vehicle hire business, not by accident, has hoisted its flag at sites in each of these markets where it has strategically targeted the construction and infrastructure industries from which it draws its customer base.
The company has swiftly built up a fleet in excess of 600 total vehicles including both trucks and light vehicles. Today it carries a variety of commercial brands with UD Trucks an increasing presence.
There are now, with the latest two trucks delivered in August, 30 UD units in total. While the majority are Quon twin-steer 8x4s, there is a small selection of UD Croners also available.
As a service-based business, CST Hire must be responsive to the needs of its clients who represent a fast growing and respectable portfolio and include the likes of Spiecapag Australia, Yurika Energy, Wasco Energy, Nacap, McConnell Dowell, Quanta Group, Clough Engineering, Uni-Span, Georgiou and Acciona.
The hire fleet they have need to access consists of a range of service trucks, tilt trays, water trucks, crane trucks, fuel trucks, buses and even utes in an assortment of different wheelbases and cab sizes. UD have been a key partner since 2017 when CST Hire introduced a UD Condor – its first – into Queensland operations.
When UD launched its first Quon 8×4 in 2019, CST Hire jumped at the chance to mobilise the new model whose chief attractions, aside from a wealth of safety features, was most notably the new electronic stability control, a requirement on many projects the business found itself catering to.
“Many of our customers were needing it on trucks and it wasn’t available on other brands,” recalls Todd Wilton, CST Hire General Manager. “So that was the main reason we were drawn to it. It was the first mainstream Japanese truck to receive stability control. Some European trucks had it for a while but that was the major attraction for us.”
The UD Stability Control functions via a sensor that detects conditions in which the truck can become unstable, such as curves, uneven or slippery road surfaces.
Remote areas of Western Australia often impacted by extreme weather and more recently flood events, can satisfy these challenging conditions at the best of times. To maintain stability, the system applies control appropriate to engine output and braking power to each tyre.
UD has made its Stability Control available on all models. It’s an important concession for customers given that many fleet hire businesses, including CST Hire, actively promote zero injury workplace cultures.
At CST Hire this is accomplished by a proactive approach to feedback from employees and contractors, both internally and externally and a continuous focus on improving the work environment as it relates, directly and indirectly, to safety. The acquisition of commercial vehicles can be filed under either category.
“The Quon has all the safety features expected of a modern truck,” says Todd. “All trucks come with a host of safety features these days and UD is at the forefront of providing these features as standard fitment.”
The new UD Quon incorporates into its architecture a Lane Departure Prevention function, Traffic Eye Brake, Driver Alert System and a Lane departure warning system. Under-run protection (front and rear) is another safety inclusion designed to reduce damage to other vehicles and their drivers.
Meanwhile, a highly rigid cab known as the SAFES CABIN, redirects collision impacts to the rear. Side-door beams, what’s more, improve safety by enhancing interior strength.
Just as CST Hire is conscious, as a company, about offering the best safety options available to its customers, the fleet must consist of quality, fully maintained and serviced vehicles and trucks. Both of its sites, not unexpectedly, run workshops where mechanics are fully trained and have over 50 years’ worth of combined experience.
“We strive to be a complete vehicle supplier in one of the most important sectors within Australia,” says Todd. “By listening to our clients and tapping our extensive industry experience we are developing a fleet of project trucks offering clients an efficient and cost-effective project fleet.”
The UD fleet runs on different engine displacement ratings ranging from the 360-horsepower to -410 and -430hp models. There’s no one size fits all powertrain.
The twin-steer UD Quon 8×4 is ideal for crane tilt combination trucks besides water carts, an application it also serves well within the fleet. CST Hire deploys these predominantly in infrastructure projects all around Australia, some of which are in remote areas, characterised by conditions that make serious demands of working vehicles.
That the UD Quon is a product proven for its reliability and comfort helps.
“It’s well equipped for the Australian market,” says Todd. “This is why our customers enjoy driving it so much.”
Head office is in Brisbane where Todd is also based. He’s been with the business from its inception in 2016. Prior to that he was working in an adjacent field on the Gold Coast hiring out equipment like motorbikes to tourists.
The company was founded by directors Nick Barnsdall and John Wilton, Todd’s father. It too, as is industry custom, began with a solitary truck before rapid expansion brought with it an influx of mobile assets.
“Being a small business, we were able to react quickly, and we managed to order stock and build trucks on spec and put them to the market and continue to evolve our product range from customer feedback,” says Todd. “Our versatility is one of our strengths.”
Even from the early days of business, it was clear that project spec vehicles were a niche with major upside as Australia undertook what today remains a massive and ongoing expansion to its infrastructure.
“Our trucks are sort of unique,” says Todd. “They’re not your standard flatbed which you can get anywhere. They have specialised modules on the back.”
The fleet offers short-term hire options for up to a week to longer-term arrangements which are its stock and trade for most of its customers. It also builds project-specific trucks upon request.
“Some of our customers come to us and say this is the truck we need for this project, and we’ll go and build it and go from there,” says Todd.
In order to facilitate these jobs, CST Hire relies on a network of bodybuilding partners that it engages with regularly. In Brisbane they partner with Mini Bodies Engineering and Crane Trucks Australia.
On the Gold Coast they use the services of Customer Truck Bodies while in Perth the main supplier is Welding Solutions. Demand continues to outstrip supply for the moment as the equilibrium that was once a luxury of the market prior to 2019 remains ever more elusive.
“There’s a major backlog for businesses waiting on body builders,” says Todd. “Some body builders are booked out 12 months in advance. The lead time on new trucks isn’t getting any better either. It seems like it’s getting worse.”
CST Hire is not resistant to buying from multiple brands to ensure it gets what it needs. This trend, increasing across the industry over the last 12 months, will unlikely abate any time soon.
“When it was really busy a year ago, we were able to pivot to other suppliers to get more stock in other brands,” says Todd.
“If we couldn’t get what we normally ordered we would pivot to a different brand to get what we needed. Manufacturer delays and supplier shortages have blown out lead times, especially when demand was so high, making it a tougher operating environment.”
That was compounded by having such a strong truck market in Australia. Demand, for the moment, is still strong.
“In terms of people wanting to buy them and also rent them there wasn’t enough to go around,” says Todd. “We have seen rental demand has levelled off now that the tax incentive has finished at the end of June and the incentive to buy new trucks has levelled off, too.”
Insofar as constraints on lead times have limited available stock, quarantine challenges and industrial action at ports haven’t improved matters for many manufacturers. UD is not, however, one of them according to Todd.
“We’ve had no issues getting stock from UD,” he says. “They have been a consistent supplier even in such a volatile market.”
Just over 12 months ago, CST Hire opened its Perth branch as part of a growth strategy. Having a permanent base in Western Australia has allowed the company to work its way into an important market for it going forward.
“We’re constantly growing the fleet and have the capability to supply short term and long-term hires, single vehicle hires through to project fleets requiring over 100 vehicles,” says Todd. “The WA market is a very busy one with lots of mining and mineral and energy projects on the horizon.”
