Toll adds first Western Star X-Series trucks to fuel division

Toll’s fuel services division has added five new Western Star 47X units.

The new trucks, which are part of a larger order of 15, have gone into the Rose Hill depot in Sydney where they will be based.

With a sloped bonnet and set back front axle, the Western Star 47X is powered by the Detroit DD13 engine running through a DT12 AMT.

They are rated to 70-tonnes and will be moving single trailers and 19-metre pocket B-doubles.

Toll have opted for a day cab as the trucks won’t be required to cover long haul distances.

Lachlan Mavin, Toll Fuel & Gas National Business Fleet Manager said the vehicles have been purchased on a contract maintenance scheme.

“That’s a lot better for the business unit so they know their cents per kilometre and know when to book it in for maintenance,” he said.

“It’s an easy transition,” says Mavin.

As part of the purchase plan, Toll allows that the vehicles will travel up to 200,000 kilometres annually.

These are the first of the new X-Series Western Stars to go into a Toll fleet.

The shorter wheelbase of the Western Star 47X offers an advantageous turning circle especially for the Sydney metropolitan area where the vehicles will operate in large part with some mid-regional destinations such as Bathurst and Canberra also likely involved in the network.

That would task the new Detroit DD13 engine, which is rated up to 525 horsepower, with trips across the Blue Mountains.

“It’s given us the opportunity to put the new truck into the fuel segment with all those safety features which is something we haven’t had for a long time,” said Shane Miller, Penske Australia Fleet Sales Manager.

“The customers are chasing those safety features, and we can supply them in the current vehicles.”

State-of-the-art safety systems like Active Brake Assist 5, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, side guard assist, tailgate warning and brake hold mode are initialised by a mix of radar and high-definition camera technologies.

Toll has also installed the Guardian technology from Seeing Eye Machines, MTData telematics and Toll’s own four camera safety system with a front facing camera, two on the sides and an internal camera in-cab.

“The safety features are really good and having the latest technology such as Blind Spot radar on the side meets our requirement,” said Mavin.

“They are extremely comfortable, the cab interior, for instance, is well designed and all the controls are easily accessible for the drivers.”

That also includes little details like the location of the cupholders according to Mavin.

“Feedback has been really good from the drivers,” he said.

“In and out, there’s easy entry to the cab.”

Penske Australia Product Specialist Michael Di Ramio attended the Rose Hill site for a run through with Toll’s driver trainer upon delivery of the trucks.

There are 20 prime movers operating from the Rose Hill site for Toll.

“The driver training has been excellent and the support from Penske Sydney has been really good,” said Mavin.

Additional training with the trailers has taken place to ensure they’re working in combination with the trucks before they are deployed on their first assignments.

These trucks also serve to expand Toll’s portfolio as it evaluates different vehicle combinations to find the ideal fit.

“We wanted to move along and build a relationship of aftersales support with the manufacturer,” said Mavin.

“We reached out to Western Star and they had something that was suitable for fuel.

“Availability was a big factor and after we put the 47Xs together in a combination that worked and we were satisfied with that we placed an order.”