PR Cootes has recently taken delivery of a Kenworth T410 twin-steer tridem from the Hallam Truck Centre.
Colloquially named ‘the Rock Bandit’, the T410 joins an exclusive fleet of Kenworth units last month.
There are 30 truck and dog combinations all of which are dedicated to the task of transporting quarry materials for PR Cootes in and around Pakenham, Victoria.
These materials – consisting of a wide range of packing sands, aggregates, crushed rock and rubble – all require strong and durable trucks to transport them over long journeys.
On average the vehicles are travelling up to 2000 kilometres every week.
According to PR Cootes Workshop Manager, Andrew Clarke, the T410 has been doing the job required of it, and doing it well.
“The T410 has been excellent in our fleet,” he told Prime Mover.
“We’ve been really happy with its performance and surprised by its capabilities. The tare weight is surprisingly low for a bigger prime mover, at 12 tonnes,” said Clarke.
“We ordered a slightly bigger body than normal for this truck, since the payload is quite large at 21-tonnes. It’s proven great for jobs handling large material quantities that you can’t access with trucks and dogs. It’s extremely versatile.”
This reliability is a big reason for PR Cootes’ steadfast alignment with Kenworth.
“Kenworths suit what we do,” Clarke added.
“They’re tough, rugged, well-built trucks that can handle the rough sites we service as part of our line of work. We’ve been using them for 20 years.”
In addition to its on-site capabilities, the T410’s design was reportedly something of a collaborative effort.
The truck is equipped with an auto greaser manufactured by Groeneveld, a tipper body by Hercules, stainless battery, toolbox covers wrapped tanks and tank trips by Longhaul.
Both a custom-made centre console and set of UHF radios came courtesy from Hallam Truck Centre’s pre-delivery team.
While pleased with the truck’s performance, Clarke and the PR Cootes team were also extremely pleased with the delivery service from Hallam Truck Centre, which was able to deliver the truck to the fleet some three months in advance.
“Hallam Truck Centre has always been good to us,” Clarke said.
“Their customer service and product support has been truly excellent. They take great care of us — even getting the Kenworth to us in May, when we were expecting it in August. They’re fully committed to us which is great.
“Hallam Truck Centre’s level of duty and care is another reason why we exclusively deal with Kenworth. We know that when we get them from Hallam Truck Centre, we won’t be disappointed.”
Clarke said his dealings with Hallam Truck Centre representative Josh Dilworth was another highlight of the entire T410 delivery process.
“Thanks to Josh, everything ran smoothly,” he said.
“From concept, to build, to delivery – it was all very seamless because of Josh’s communication and the information he provided. He was a massive help to this delivery.”
