K&S Freighters in Bunbury, WA, has taken delivery of 12 new Scania R 560 V8-powered prime movers, which will be used primarily for 27.5m road train combinations between Bunbury and Perth.
K&S ordered the Scanias following the successful deployment of several R 560 V8 vehicles at its depot in Wagga Wagga, NSW, where the prime movers were operated as B-doubles between Albury and Brisbane over the past year, each covering around 300,000 km annually.
“K&S operate a road train transport business in Bunbury and has been planning to replace some vehicles,” says Steven Alberse, Scania National Fleet Sales Manager. “The replaced vehicles were early models, so for the drivers the switch to Scania has also brought significant benefits in terms of safety, driver comfort, and in-cab ambience, not to mention access to connectivity technology such as Bluetooth.”
The five prime movers that are being used on the logging and wood chipping activities are pulling walking-floor trailers and have been fitted with hub-reduction axles to give the vehicles greater ability to cope with varying conditions in the forests such as in the wet season when the hilly logging routes can become boggy.
All of the vehicles have had a new alloy bumper fitted by Advanced Herd Bullbars, which will provide additional frontal protection without increasing the 27.5m overall length of the combination.
“We were able to have the chassis painted in K&S red at the factory, which will ensure the trucks continue to look smart throughout their projected long stay on the K&S fleet,” Steven says.
The prime movers were handed over to K&S Operations Manager Tony Grasso, and K&S Maintenance Manager, Cliff Fennell, in Bunbury in early February, and were put to work immediately.
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