Evans Petroleum is a staple business within regional Victoria’s petroleum transport space – a position which has been earned after more than five decades of operations.
The company, a trusted reseller of fuel and lubricants, was established in the town of Leongatha, in Gippsland, in 1970 by Reg Evans.
He and his wife, Mary grew the business over the next 15 years before passing the baton to their son, Stuart, and his own wife, Jenene. The operation is an airtight family business.
“I followed my dad’s footsteps right out of school,” Stuart recalls. “He showed me the ropes and gave me plenty of advice over the years. He would often tell me to not go around trying to be everything to everybody, but to do one thing and to do it right.”
Under Stuart’s guidance, this advice of staying loyal to one’s crafts spearheaded Evans Petroleum’s trajectory.
The business has since become a leader in Gippsland’s petroleum market, employing 150 people and servicing customers across wider Victoria.
“We’re the BP Castrol distributor for Gippsland and also around the metro bit as well,” Stuart says.
This idea of loyalty has also extended to Evans Petroleum’s business partnerships, chief among them being a longstanding relationship with Australian drivetrain manufacturer, Dana.
For decades, Evans Petroleum has happily engaged with Dana’s axles – like the D46-170 heavy-duty rear axles – and differentials.
Dana’s D46-170 heavy-duty axles are designed with durability in mind to support demanding journeys and applications, featuring a Gross Axle Weight Rating of 20,800 kilograms and a nominal Gross Combination Mass of 110,000 kilograms.
Additionally, the heavy-duty rear axle includes a driver-controlled wheel differential lock for maximum traction and an integral welded suspension bracket for increased strength and durability.
Importantly, the axles are built with an axle breather design that allows for unrestricted air-flow to minimise maintenance needs.
Evans Petroleum has been fitting its ever-growing fleet of tanker combinations to ensure the smooth and stable transport of its freight for years, and with great success.
“We don’t have much trouble with Dana’s equipment at all,” Stuart explains. “The axles have always been very sturdy, and I think throughout all our operations, we’ve replaced two diffs in 25 years.”
More recently, the demands of Evans Petroleum’s fleet have extended to farmland deliveries in nearby regional cities like Sale, for a variety of customers.
These orders include winter equipment like snowmobiles and generators. In more specific terrain like this, and with an added element of winter conditions, the stability offered by Dana’s equipment has been paramount.
“We run DAF cabovers and other trucks out to farms in order to complete deliveries for commercial accounts, quarries, and other businesses,” Stuart says. “That environment can be challenging to manoeuvre around, but the trucks we use have great turn circles and air-glide suspensions. The Dana differentials on those makes all the difference.”
The family business has expanded to the point where it has a depot in each of Traralgon and Sale to complement its main base in Leongatha.
With three depots constantly running, Evans Petroleum is doing delivery work for farms in the Gippsland region and even up to the Alpine country, Stuart Evans says.
These deliveries are complemented by other commercial accounts, such as quarries and “outside cartage” for the BP sites.
Stuart explains that the business operates rigids mainly for farm work, due to their adaptability to tight turning spaces and general manoeuvrability.
They therefore maintain six DAF prime movers and four of the Kenworths for this specific style of trucking and haulage work.
The Evans Petroleum main and biggest depot at Leongatha runs 15 trucks and five rigids, Stuart says, fully supported by two trucks and two rigids at Traralgon and four rigids based at the Sale depot.
The Sale rigids are specifically used for carting during winter, where they come in very handy for work throughout the highland country and snow fields, Stuart explains.
The Leongatha fixture is also prominent in linehaul trucking, with Stuart sharing that it maintains up to seven double-shift night shift drivers, and 10 to 12 day shift drivers, with each one covering about 200,000 kilometres.
With a large fleet to maintain and be constantly on the road to meet demand, Stuart says it is easier and more effective for the business to have the truck maintenance outsourced to a professional outfit.
He says they did consider running their own workshop, but considered all the factors involved, including space for workshop facilities.
As Evans Petroleum’s operations have greatly extended throughout Victoria, much of its maintenance for Dana equipment is completed through the Hallam Truck Centre, where the company purchases all its trucks.
“Since we’ve grown so much, we haven’t committed to running our own workshop in any one place,” Stuart says. “But we’re very happy with the quality of servicing we get from the Hallam Truck Centre, and local mechanic Brian McAlpine.
“That’s how we get servicing on Dana products, in the rare event that we ever need them. But the vast majority of the time, the Dana equipment is out on the road with our drivers. Those products are made for work, so we put them to work.”
As managing director, Stuart is happy in the knowledge that the business is a true family concern, with Jenene Evans as a company director and Stuart’s son-in-law as the CFO.
The business has certainly come a long way since those formative days in the 70’s, when Stuart recalls the business grappling with issues such as the global oil crisis.
It was also a formative time for Stuart, who left high school early.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But I know I sort of used to play with most airplanes. I went to be a crop dusting,” Stuart recalls.
That wasn’t to work out for the wannabe pilot, but it was sage advice from his father that got Stuart on track for a career in trucking.
“His advice was basically do the one thing and focus on that. Don’t try to do everything to everybody, every different topic. Be like, stay in the fuel industry and just do fuel and don’t try and do general and simple work and stuff like that. Just focus on one job and do it properly,” Stuart recalls.
From those words grew a steely resolve in Stuart to make the most of the fuel business, weathering the tough times and enjoying the successes.
“It reminds me of my mum used to say: ‘You gotta eat your brussels sprouts’,’ Stuart says fondly, knowing that going through the tough times has made him and business stronger.
No matter what is being dished up in the transport industry, whether it be levies, toll charges, PBS, Safety Management Systems and the Heavy Vehicle National Law amendments, or even e-trucks, there is sure to be an Evans Petroleum prime mover keeping the Gippsland moving.
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