Freighter Outback cotton trailer Review

Sadly, this Kenworth T909 was delivered several months back. However, as the heavy rains hadn't eased much over the long winter and flood waters had just receded, it had spent much of the spring parked up.

Nevertheless, after many false starts, I finally caught up with Jason Hayne and the Kenworth T909 he drives for Andrew Keely's Myamba Contracting at the Moura Cotton Gin as arranged on the outskirts of town. Jason had not long climbed in it and admitted that he was still getting used to it.

He told us that road trains are restricted to only two trailers here in the Central Highlands region.

Moura is a small town predominantly servicing the surrounding coal mining activities and the farming community. Remnants of the local coal industry adorn the surrounding parks. The town was established in 1936 as a farming centre near the sizeable pastoral property of Moura Station.

The run from Moura out to the cotton farm today would take over two hours, half an hour or so to load, and then two and half hours to return.

This morning's route would take us 150 kilometres west along what's officially known on maps as the Dawson Highway to Rolleston. However, a few more apt names for this track could be the Broken Windscreen or Busted Spring Highway, which better reflects the current condition of the road. And what undoubtedly happens to your vehicle if you're brave enough to travel on it.

Ok, we've had our whinge about the state of the road… time to get back to cotton cartage.

At Rolleston, we'll veer south along the Carnarvon Highway for half an hour before taking a hard left onto a dirt track that will take us into the heart of the Arcadia Valley, where cattle and cotton farms thrive.

Forty minutes or so into the trip, Jason eased off the throttle and guided the T909 into the tiny Bauhinia Roadhouse, where he would fuel up the Kenworth's three 450-litre tanks. This morning he reckoned he'd have to pump in at least 1150 litres, which would add $2,622 to his fuel bill at today's price.

It took roughly 15 minutes to fill the tanks, which meant there was time to order a sandwich and grab a coffee.

Testament to just how tough these Australian-made Kenworth trucks are was right here in the roadhouse parking lot. Here an old W-model from the eighties and a classic T950 from the nineties are both still toiling away after years of pounding away on these notoriously bad roads.

Not far out of Bauhinia, the terrain changes as the road crests part of the Great Dividing Range. The countryside is unusually lush and green, with thick vegetation after the extraordinarily long wet season.

While Jason jostled with the bumps on the back to load, it's worth running over a few features of his new T909.

Under the bonnet is a Cummins Signature dialled in at 620 horsepower, and punching out all of the advertised 2050 ft/lb torque. "All the horses are there, and they're big ones, too," Jason added with a smile.

The power is transferred to the ground via an Eaton RTLO22918B 18-speed transmission. The final drive is Meritor RT52-180 at a 4.89:1 ratio riding on Kenworth eight-bag air suspension.

"The fuel economy in this is good, too," Jason said. "At the moment, I'm getting 1.6 kilometres to the litre, whereas before this truck, we worked on a 1:1 basis. So, it's just about saving a truck payment a month with better fuel economy when compared to our old truck."

Drivers also benefit from the upgrades to the T909. Firstly, the HVAC (Delphi heater, ventilation and air conditioner unit), which is already a proven performer in the cabover models, is now standard across the conventional legacy range.

The Delphi unit provides improved efficiency and airflow and a better in-cab operating environment – keeping drivers and passengers warmer in winter and cooler in summer. In addition, an integrated serviceable filtration system helps provide a dust-free cab environment.

The doors come with standard electric windows across the entire range. These doors provide improved door handles and central locking.

The standard keys have been upgraded in heavy-duty steel for enhanced durability. In addition, there are wider padded armrests with integrated window and mirror controls for increased comfort and convenience.

While Jason was getting the T909 ready to load, Paul Hatch, from Hatch Farming, who operates the loader, showed us how the iPhone's barcode scanner saves time and paperwork in this year's cotton harvest by scanning each bail's barcode.

Incidentally, each bail is approximately 2.4 meters wide and 2.3 meters in diameter and weighs about 2.5 tonnes.

Half an hour or so after arriving at the farm with the tarps now tied down, Jason stirred the big Cummins under the hood into life and poked the T909's nose back towards the Moura cotton gin.

The Freighter Outback trailers behind this Kenworth T909 are no ordinary trailers either. They've been designed and built in Australia to withstand the worst that the country's roads can throw at them, and they don't come much worse than this track.

We're told that when Freighter engineers were designing the Outback trailer, they understood that a new approach would have to be adhered to in order to meet their goal of outstanding reliability and durability. For example, experience reveals that if a part is loose or vibrates, it will eventually fall off. Likewise, if it's cantilevered, it will eventually crack.

So the Freighter Outback trailer comprises massive main rails and more cross-members that give the ‘Outback’ its core strength. It has heavy-duty coaming rails that are 25 per cent deeper than standard rails, along with Freighter's VE50 heavy-duty spring suspension explicitly designed for outback road conditions.

In addition, it has a heavy-duty tow coupling, dual tyre carrier and lockable toolbox, all designed to withstand the rigours of the off-road use found in outback Australia.

Australia's cotton industry is a lucrative one indeed. Continuing the remarkable post-drought resurgence for Australian cotton, the industry is now predicting this year's national harvest will be the largest ever recorded, producing over four million cotton bales.

Cotton Australia's production forecast estimates that 1,785,000 bales will be grown in Queensland, while NSW will account for 2,271,000 of the national total, giving a harvest worth around $2.3 billion.

While most people will remember the start of this year as flood, cyclone, flood, the season has actually produced excellent cotton growing conditions allowing for some recovery of crops that went underwater.

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Growers unaffected by the floods are telling us they expect to harvest their personal best crops in many areas and that productivity is driving the national crop forecast upwards. For example, the previous record Australian cotton harvest was before the drought back in 2000/2001, when around 3.6 million bales were produced.

It was late afternoon when Jason finally pulled the first trailer onto the weighbridge at the Moura Cotton Gin.

Then a few moments later, he rolls forward to weigh the second trailer before he heads around to the unloading bay.

Jason pulls the tarp forward and folds it into a purpose-built carry rack mounted on the trailer's headboard. He admits it saves a lot of time at the other end if he spends a few minutes packing it neatly while unloading. He added that it's vital to ensure that all the ropes are tied tightly, so they don't get caught on anything on the return leg of the journey.

Model: Kenworth T909
Engine: Cummins Signature
Power: 620hp (462kW) at 1850rpm
Torque: 2050lb/ft (2780Nm) at 1100rpm
Main Transmission: Eaton RTLO22915B 18-Speed
Air Cleaner: Dual Cyclopacs with raised air rams
Fuel Filter: Fuel Pro and fuel/water separator
Air Dryer: Dual Turbo 2000
Front Axle: Meritor MFS73LA 7.3t capacity
Front Suspension: 7.2T Multi leaf
Power Steering: TRW Ross TAS 85
Rear Axles: Meritor RT52-180
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.56:1
Rear Suspension: Kenworth Air Bag
Brakes: HD (P-type) drum brakes with auto slacks
Sleeper: 50” Aero flat back
Windscreen: Two piece flat
Turntable: Jost JSK37
Seats: Charcoal HD Extreme air suspended driver’s seat
Bumper: Polished Alloy Stoodly Bull bar
Battery Box: Chassis mount
Extras: Severe Service Kit, lower radiator pipe shield, remote diff breathers, extended grease lines to clutch, Icepack 2000S sleeper A/C.

Model: Outback
Chassis: Heavy-Duty I-Beam
Combining Rail: Five-Inch
Rope Rail: One-Inch diameter
Toolbox: Two x side mount
Water Tank: 20-litre alloy
Suspension: Freighter HD spring
Lights: LED multi-volt
Extras: Fire extinguisher