The continued demand for new housing in Australia has kept the construction industry running at an almost frenetic rate and suppliers need reliable transport operators to deliver the necessary components to the sites of various types of construction across the commercial, residential, and government sectors.
Utilising a crane truck can often avoid double handling of loads, or the need to book in a mobile crane to unload and place the components being delivered.
Business approach One such operator is Queensland-headquartered CNC Cartage Solutions, where husband and wife owners Chad and Chelsea Brown, along with their sons Jack and Max, specialise in delivering mainly building components using rigid and semi-trailer vehicles equipped with truck mounted cranes.
The family business has grown significantly over the past few years with additional company and sub-contractor trucks joining the always-immaculate fleet.
There are no shortcuts taken at the CNC operation.
“We do everything right, so we don’t have any issues,” says Chad. “And we’re always busy which is a good place to be with none of the trucks sitting around wasting money.”
The building industry can be a challenge as some sites become smaller and every boundary is being pushed to the extreme.
A full semi load of 12-metre-long floor joists may have to be unloaded onto a site which itself is only 12 metres wide which requires a high skill level from the driver/operator.
Complementing their own trucks, CNC’s business model calls for an increasing number of sub-contractors which may be full-time owner- drivers or smaller companies with several trucks.
Many of CNC’s own trucks enjoy a second life in the hands of a sub-contractor.
“We need the subbies because they turn up all the time,” says Chad. “We’re fairly specialised in the crane truck industry so they’re required to be competently trained and licenced.
“Our training is not typical of the industry where someone is turning up one day and driving a truck the next. We spend a lot of time on training our own guys as well as the subbies and put in a lot of effort to make sure they are good at what they do.”
New staff usually come along due to recommendations from existing drivers. In addition to obtaining their relevant credentials new drivers spend at least a month on the road with experienced operators which is quite an investment in time and money for the business, but definitely worthwhile.
Regular customers are typically suppliers to the construction industry, including national hardware chains and roof truss manufacturers. More recently sign companies are a growing sector of the business.
Roofing materials are also a significant part of the mix, with regular trips using semi-trailer crane trucks going as far away as Mackay in Northern Queensland, which is commonly a three-day return trip.
Portable buildings, usually for mine sites, are also frequently delivered by CNC Cartage.
“We don’t seek long distance stuff, but we seem to get plenty of it,” says Chad. “Drivers like it, but they don’t want to be away every night. Crane trucks don’t have big bunks and even though they’re legally sleepers we pay for a hotel room.”
The trucks return to their Narangba or Kingston bases empty as it’s not worth the extra time waiting around for a backload.
Chad prefers to get them straight back to Brisbane and on with their regular work.
Fleet mix
The combined company and sub-contractor fleet has doubled in size over the past few years and is an eclectic mix of Japanese and European trucks with availability often a factor in choice of brand.
Setting up a new crane truck is a complex project, with axle weights critical as is the ability to actually physically fit the required crane within the space available and still have it able to perform at its maximum capabilities.
Across all of the various trucks, one constant factor is that all cranes are from HMF. “A lot of that is about relationships.
West-Trans provide the cranes, and Tim Hill at Crane Tech do the installations and provide the aftersales service and repair care,” says Chad.
“We buy a lot of Fuso trucks. The Shogun, while it’s a more affordable vehicle, the specs of the truck are just about perfect for us. We don’t need to change wheelbases, and all the weights are spot on.
“The introduction of Euro VI put a bit of a spanner in works, and we bought as many Hino’s as we could in 2025 before the deadline just to make sure we had them in stock. We’ve got some DAFs being built now, as well as some Isuzu’s in build.”
Mercedes-Benz Actros
A recent addition to the fleet has been a Mercedes-Benz Actros 3246 8×4 prime mover supplied by Murwillumbah Truck Centre which is fitted with a 5020 HMF crane.
“The Benz is an excellent truck, yet it drives like a car. The steering is unbelievable,” says Chad. “For this build and in particular involving one of the bigger cranes all the specs of the Actros worked out perfectly. We chose the lower 320 horsepower variant due to weight which saved around 300kgs if we’d gone with a bigger engine.
“With that big crane everything was at its maximum limit such as the front axles, yet everything was just about perfect.
“Having Euro VI helped but that raises its own problems because the trucks are heavier so even though we pick up an additional 500kgs on the front axle, we’re already at the maximum because of everything else that’s gone into the truck.”
The twin steer axles on the Actros allow for 11 tonnes and with the crane and its fly jibs fitted, driving bobtail the truck is just under maximum mass on the steer.
Hooking up the trailer helps to counterbalance the weight and actually transfers takes a little weight off the front axles.
“Servicing is a big thing with the cranes,” says Chad. “We get it done at six monthly intervals, but they also have an annual inspection. I’m committed to compliance and making sure we’re doing everything right.”
In addition to the cranes’ servicing regime each truck is serviced every quarter. Major services are carried out by the dealers, while the minor services are performed in-house.
CNC is building a purpose-built workshop equipped with work pits, suspension testing shakers, and brake testers and Chad plans to have it completed by the end of 2026.
“We’ve outgrown old one and always knew it would be the case,” says Chad. “We do all the minors under NHVR Maintenance, servicing the trucks at 25,000km.
“We’ll do two minor services per year ourselves and when a major service is due, we send them back to dealers.”
Generally, the trucks are replaced between five and seven years, but some are being held onto a little longer due to the shortage of new units which translates to longer lead times for delivery.
Future plans
Looking towards the future, Chad has examined the possibility of electric crane trucks, but the current technologies and weight issues mean it’s unlikely to happen.
“We’ve looked at EV’s but we just can’t do it with electric. I’d love to have some sort of electric trucks in the fleet, but we just can’t make it work, yet.
“We’ve been looking at ways to power an electric motor to operate the hydraulics of the cranes. We might spend one to three hours onsite unloading so if we don’t have to have a diesel engine running to drive the PTO perhaps an electric motor could work and then it charges the battery as we drive with the diesel engine the rest of the day.
“Looking at it it’s a big outlay to get everything to work but I’d like to do it and be one of the first but there are other pressing things on at the moment.”
Next generation
The family business seems to be transferring into the capable hands of the next generation.
Elder son Jack Brown spends much of his work time in the office.
“Because he’s good with figures and at staying calm when things go awry,” says his father, Chad.
Younger son Max is a qualified diesel mechanic and controls the fleet and its maintenance programs.
“They’ve already got a sense of ownership of the business, and they want it to do better. They’ll continue to earn the respect of the older staff,” says Chad proudly.
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