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Kenworth’s bulletproof C5s are already a special truck. Tough, rugged and reliable paints a picture but doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. At home in some of the coun-try’s most hostile operating environments, the big Kenworth is Australia’s ultimate out-back, off-road machine.

Trucks don’t come much tougher. So you might have in mind a red stained machine coloured from a lifetime on bulldusted tracks, a veneer of mud cemented into the wheel wells and an imposing grille splattered with a variety of insects collected from all corners of the outback.

That’s the kind of operating conditions the C5 was bred to conquer. So what

happens to a C5 when it carries the responsibility of being Emerald

Carrying Company’s 100th Kenworth?

When a transport company sets some of the highest standards in the industry, you know its 100th Kenworth is going to be something special …really special

If you haven’t noticed any of Emerald Carrying Company’s (ECC) trucks go by, you obviously haven’t been looking. Native to Central Queensland, the company’s tradi-tional paint scheme is one of the best on the road. When combined with the fleet’s high standard of presentation, Emerald’s metallic-brown, red and gold combination advertises an unmistakable pride in the job and the equipment they operate.

Pride, care, respect and excellence is the company’s motto, so ECC’s 100th Kenworth was always going to be an exceptional truck in an already exceptional fleet.

A Cummins 615hp Signature E5 SCR hides underneath the C509’s long bonnet. Matched to a heavy-duty Eaton RTLO22918B 18-speed transmission driving Meritor’s RT52-185 tan-dem axles, the C509’s rear end rides on a Neway AD246-10 air-bag suspension. The truck’s impressive 6.25m wheelbase provides

the foundation for fuel and AdBlue additive, as well as Kenworth’s latest home away from home – its 60-inch Aero II sleeper.

Emerald Carrying Co. is a family-owned trucking operation run by the three Haylock brothers, Peter, Greg and David. The com-pany started off in 1966, when the bother’s parents, Bill and Joan swapped farming for a delivery business distributing goods coming into the town by rail.

The local rail service may have gone the way of Cobb & Co., but over the past 60 years the company has followed a path of continual expansion. Chief among them has been the development of a vital six-days-week B-Double freight corridor between its South East Queensland depot and its regional customers.

In the early 90s, the company initiated a bulk liquid haulage service with the tank-er fleet now operating out of terminals in Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville to service customers throughout central and western Queensland.

story + photos n australian truck photography

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“It’s a brilliant job, done by PJs (PJs Custom Spraypainting) in Brisbane. If you look at the wrist watch, you can even tell the time.”

The C509 is based in Townsville and driv-en by Troy Hamilton. Greg’s proud of the operation, his equipment and his staff, many of them long-time employees.

“We’re lucky to have some really good guys in Townsville,” he added. “I don’t like cities, but there are some good road train operators up there. You watch them come and go and it’s smooth, even the way they back up to the third trailer.

“They respect the gear, you know you can give them the best equipment and it will be looked after.”

While ECC100 looks a million dollars, and the whole unit is worth around that, it doesn’t live the life of a pampered menial. Most days it can be found running fuel on the dirt out to the Century zinc mine, a six hour journey north out of Mt Isa. This is iso-lated, remote country punctuated by flood-ing black soil plains in the wet and hard, potholed bulldust in the dry.

Alongside this, ECC has made substan-tial investments in statewide depot facil-ities, including the redevelopment of its Gracemere yard as well as, new depots in Mackay and Townsville.

“The Townsville depot is only six months old,” Greg Haycock said of the shift into the State’s far north. “We moved up there to fulfil some contracts we had with our customers, plus it gave us the opportunity to expand north.”

ECC now operates 90 prime movers, with 70 dedicated to B-Double operations throughout the State. Another 12 are hauling triple and quad set combinations with the remainder on single trailer duties. The fleet numbers and variations allow for flexibility during peak periods, and the units can be moved around to suit specific demand.

While ECC’s trucks are known for their high standard of presentation, ECC’s C509 received some special treatment. Of note is the outstanding mural painted on the back of the 60-inch sleeper.

“Mate, one of my son’s came up with the idea,” Greg said of the artwork. “The mural depicts my dad, Bill, who passed away in 2004.

Its other regular destination is the mine at Phosphate Hill, south of Cloncurry, around 1000kms out from Townsville.

While a lot of the ECC’s Townsville trucks spend their time supplying Mt Isa, Cloncurry and mines in the vicinity, they also run tri-ples out to Longreach, Blackall and Tambo.

The C509’s Tieman tankers are all short with the idea of using them for quad road trains in the future.

“With the tri-axle dollies they track so well,” Greg added. “Troy loves the C509, but it’ll probably be the only C5 in the fleet; we’ve a lot of T9s but this is something extra special!

“We think it’s great, but we thought our

first prime mover was the flashiest bit of gear around too.”

Bill and Joan Haylock came up to the Emerald region in 1958 to take on sheep grazing.

“They sold up and came to Emerald and bought the milk run in 1962,” Greg explained. “Later, in 1965, Dad purchased a carrying business that came with a three tonne truck and ute.

“In those days, we didn’t have a cotton gin here so the modules had to be taken to Biloela; we’d do that after work and on the weekends. In 1977, we started running to Brisbane with general, Emerald was boom-

ing with the start of the Gregory Mine and we’d won the contract to build a lot of the houses. We brought all the materials up; we would cart anything and everything. The company grew from there,” recalled Greg.

Their first Kenworths confirmed the com-pany’s arrival as a major player in the State’s transport industry.

“We had only dreamed of operating our own Kenworths back then, but in 1987, we bought a pair of T600As. We thought we’d hit the big time! They were good trucks. They had N14 Cummins in them and were bullet proof.

“We’d cart cotton down and bring back general, beer and groceries.”

Emerald is found in a very productive area

“Troy loves the C509, but it’ll probably be the only C5 in the fleet;we’ve a lot of T9s but this is something extra special!

Left: The C509 is basedin Townsville and driven by TroyHamilton

Above left: The mural on theC509 depicts the founderof ECC, Bill Haylock

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of Queensland and ECC have always been fortunate to have freight in both directions.

“They look after us very well,” Greg said of Brown & Hurley’s Rockhampton dealership. ”They know their product and they back it up. They’re big on relationships; it’s not here’s your truck and see ya later.”

Along with a couple of DAFs, Emerald now operate nearly every model in the Kenworth range. There are T359s and T350s on local deliveries in Emerald, T409 and T408s run-ning B-Doubles, K108s and K200s on general into Brisbane as well as B-Double fuel deliv-eries. Kenworth’s T604s, 609s, and T659s are found in Mt Isa doing road trains; its T9s are in all parts of the operation.

“Kenworths are extremely reliable, have a light tare and excellent resale. As well, driver acceptance is a big thing as a lot of our fleet is triple shifted with trucks having three driv-ers and running 24/7.

“Not all trucks can stand up to that.”The largest part of Emerald’s operations

involves fuel and oil cartage that com-menced in February 1994 with a bogie tri-axle B-Double.

“The fuel business took off when Petro Fuels bought the Caltex/Ampol Distributorship here and we went from one to three tankers in 1999/2000. We picked up our first contracts with the mines with BP and that launched us into the business we’re in now,” laughed Greg

“Fuel haulage is a very competitive business, very compliance heavy – it has big demands and it doesn’t come cheap.

“There’s no room in fuel haulage for rate cutters.”

No matter where they are, Emerald Carry-ing Company equipment is always notable for its neat, clean and polished presentation. The company is proud of the high standards it sets and, in return, its operators take a lot of professional pride in the rigs they drive.

“The gear is what our customers see every day and, if we can present it and ourselves well, it must pay off. We’d like to think so; everyone in the family has put the best years of their lives into the company and we’re.

fortunate to have some really good people working for us.

“A lot of those blokes love great gear and are proud to drive a Kenworth. ECC100 is a celebration of all that effort.”

As a flagship for the company Emerald Carrying Company’s C509 sets the stand-ard for the next generation of Haylock’s Kenworths, with pride, care, respect and excellence.

“Fuel haulage is a very competitive business, very complianceheavy – it has big demands and it doesn’t come cheap.”

ECC’s impeccable cabovers – Kenworth K108s and K200s – are put to work

on B-Double general freight and fuel deliveries