Haulmark cattle trailer: Review

Blue Water Springs Roadhouse is roughly 100 or so kilometres north of Charters Towers, and that is where we were to meet up with Owen Schmidt, a little after day break.

We’d taken a shortcut out of Townsville up over Hervey’s Range Road, meantime Owen had to take the longer roadtrain route via Charters Towers with his three Haulmark cattle trailers.

Owen and his wife Liz run Schmidt Transport, a business that has grown far beyond their expectations.

"It had always been Owen’s dream to have his own cattle truck," Liz recalled.

"I was 23 when we bought our first truck in 1979; now we have seven prime movers and 36 decks of roadtrain trailers."

The term ‘deck’ Liz refers to is the livestock industry idiom used to describe the floor space on the trailer from front to back. Therefore a double-deck trailer has an upper and lower deck. Owen’s three-trailer combination you see here is what’s commonly referred to as six-decks.

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Traditionally when station owners order trucks to shift their cattle they will order the amount in decks – in this case six-decks, which is one triple roadtrain. It is not uncommon for larger numbers of decks to be ordered such as 24 decks, which is four triple roadtrains.

Meantime, dust was bellowing from Owen’s trailers as he slowed for the final cattle grid into Kilclooney Station, 70-odd kilometres down a dirt track north of Blue Water Springs Roadhouse.

This year the wet season was late – very late – and had lingered on, which meant that getting into stations like this was all but impossible. The two rivers Owen had to cross, the Burdekin and Douglas, had only recently receded under their bridges. Even so the cattle yards were still boggy.

Owen tucked his jeans into his ‘Dogger’ boots, headed into the muck and started herding cattle up the ramp. These yards, with their hardy timber construction, are a rare sight today – white ants and borers have necessitated the arrival of steel frame yards in many stations in these parts.

The large timber pen gate creaked as it had done for drovers in a bygone era, as Owen swung it open each time to let another mob of cattle onto the truck.

"Most of the work we do is into rough undulating country like the run we’re doing today," Owen explained.

"The roads are little more than four-wheel-drive tracks in some cases, where cattle might only be shifted out of the scrub once a year."

The specification of the trucks and trailers are as you’d expect for machinery working in this type of country: very heavy-duty. The rear suspension on the prime movers is Kenworth’s steel spring ‘Big-6’ and the trailers have heavy-duty steel springs.

Another feature of the Kenworth T6 is the beefed-up front cross member which, combined with the full length double-row chassis, ensures these trucks have a sturdy backbone.

"It’s the only way to go out here," Owen explained, pointing to the big spring pack in the lead trailer.

"The washouts and corrugations in the roads are so deep in places we have to stop the truck and crawl through them. Even then there is always a risk of breaking a spring."

"Kenworth’s Big-6 is paramount for vehicle stability," Owen added.

"Take some of the tight turns and the camber of the tracks. These tracks are often only pushed through the scrub with a bulldozer and if you’re lucky a grader might follow behind to smooth out some of the bigger bumps.

"They are very rarely surveyed, which is why a lot of them have negative cambers in the turns or the track tends to lean downhill. When this stock truck is loaded it has a pretty high centre of gravity and that’s where the six-rod-style suspension really pays off, as it is very stable with high loads in this sort of terrain."

Two of the T6 Kenworths are Cummins powered, one a mechanical triple 4.

"We purchased that unit second hand," Liz explained.

"The other Cummins has a Signature engine."

The older five T650s are Caterpillar powered, with C-16 and C-15 engines.

"Our oldest one is getting its engine rebuild," Liz revealed.

"It has done a little over 1.8 million kilometres and it is the first time it has been touched."

Maintenance the key
That sort of engine utilisation is something that both Liz and Owen put down to their strict maintenance schedules.

"We don’t believe in extended oil-drain intervals," Owen fervently added.

"Every time the trucks come back in the yard they are put over the pit and serviced. The dust and mud just get into everything; if you keep the grease up to all the parts then that goes a long way to minimising component wear and unnecessary breakdowns."

Liz underlined the importance reliability plays in their business.

"In our game we can’t afford breakdowns," she explained.

"Once the truck is loaded we need to get the cattle to their destination as quickly as possible. Given that the distance we now have to take cattle is increasing, it is even more important our vehicles are reliable."

People are often quick to brandish the phase ‘service’ and ‘serviceability’ in the transport industry. However, when it comes to providing sustained ‘service life’ and ‘serviceability’ to the owner, you would be hard pressed to find a more deserving recipient than Haulmark’s cattle trailer and dolly, in combination with a Kenworth T6.

Liz and Owen have seven fine examples, which have chalked up to 1.8 million kilometres for their business in the some of the harshest conditions going. That’s pretty darn good in anyone’s book.

In fact, and to further reiterate the respect that Haulmark Trailers has in servicing some of the most remote regions covered by the transport industry, it was awarded an Australian Defence contract to supply 2500 trailers under the LAND121 Phase 5B project.

Haulmark Trailers has built a strong reputation for providing quality transport equipment that is designed, engineered and developed to meet the varied needs of its clients. Even Haulmark’s commitment to maintenance focuses on quality, as it is capable of carrying out repairs to suit individual situations and client needs.

Many other transport companies recognise that Haulmark Trailers’ focus and commitment on manufacturing quality military trailers flows through to its civilian products too. Their products service anything from transportation of trucks to fuel stores and all the way through to armoured fighting vehicles.

Operators like Owen and Liz Schmidt understand what it means when Haulmark successfully creates individual heavy transport solutions – products that exceed the most demanding industry requirements such as those found within the Australian Defense Force.

"We’re very fortunate here in Queensland as our Livestock Association (LTAQ) has negotiated and implemented many concessions for our members," Liz said.

"We have what’s known as ‘Livestock Loading’, which is essentially where the truck is loaded by volume and not weight. And extended driving hours when the vehicle is loaded.

"These considerations have been initiated more so for the well-being of the animals. For example, when the truck is fully loaded the cattle are able to stand better in the crate. The extended driving hours mean that cattle are not left standing in the crates while a driver takes a rest break because a log book dictates it."

Liz and Owen have always been at the forefront of their industry, not only with the equipment they use but also because they've been instrumental in developing new procedures and efficiencies.

Their transport company was one of the first to participate in the trials of the innovative BAB-Quad vehicle combination in Queensland, and then be granted a permit for the use of this combination. The BAB-Quad allows two conventional B-Doubles to be coupled together with a converter dolly.

The implementation of these new combinations is driven largely by the productivity gains and safety improvements they offer.

"Where we pick up productivity with this combination is when we come off a Type-2 (triple) roadtrain route and enter a B-Double route, where we can spilt the combination and only need one prime mover to shuttle the trailers," Liz explained.

"Whereas if we were to use a traditional triple roadtrain, as we previously did, we’d then have to break up the roadtrain and need three prime movers to shuttle all the single trailers individually.

"This means we’ve reduced the cost to our customers and minimised the time the cattle spend standing in the truck."

Some time ago Liz’s efforts to the community and transport industry were recognized in 2006 when she was awarded the coveted Cummin’s Road Transport Industry Woman of the Year Award.

"It was a big shock," Liz admitted.

"It is not something I ever aimed for. The work I’ve done within the transport and livestock industry is to achieve a better industry for everybody.

And the hardest part of the job?

"It would have to be the paper work," Liz mused.

"Keeping up with not only the livestock paper work and the transport paperwork, but all the new regulations we have to contend with too."

As for the biggest challenge facing the industry, Liz was quick to answer.

"It would be drivers," she said.

"In our business we don’t only require drivers who are skilled with the operation of the trucking side, but we also need people who are skilled with handling cattle. And there is a real shortage of skilled drivers right across the industry."

Meantime Owen was now well on his way back to Charters Towers, where he would unload the cattle at the sale yards that night. Here they’d be dipped the next morning before being reloaded for the final leg of their journey to Longreach.

Engine: Cummins Signature
Power: 620hp (462kW) at 1600rpm
Torque: 2050lb/ft (2779Nm) at 1100rpm
Gearbox: Eaton RTLO22918B, 18-speed
Clutch: Eaton 2250lb/ft Easy Pedal Advantage
Front axle: Meritor MFS 7.3t
Front suspension: Taper leaf 7.5t
Rear axles: Meritor RT-52-185G
Rear axle ratio: 4.89
Rear suspension: Kenworth low-profile 6-Rod
Main driveline: Meritor RPL25
Inter-axle driveline: Meritor RPL20
Electrics: Power distribution box under sleeper
Brakes: WABCO ABS with traction control
Fuel: Alloy tanks, 6 x 450lt
Wheels: 6-spoke spider
Bumper: Alloy bullbar
Extras: 36in Stratosphere AERO-1 sleeper; twin CR Turbo 2000 air dryer with heater, Jost JSK37 fifth wheel, chassis checkerplate, dolly pull to rear of chassis, fresh water tank, Ice pack 2000

Length: 12.6m crate
Kingpin: 50mm
Sideplate: 10mm
Floors: 3mm and 4mm, with full drains
Side load: Front right 2 x 3 door (5ft)
Rear doors: 2 x sliding roadtrain ¾ opening through loads
Front doors: 2 x B-Double std through loads at front
Ramp: Full width electric / hydraulic ramp at rear with solar
Pen gates: 1 x ¾ slam shut pen gate bottom and top deck
Roadtrains rear: 50mm Ringfeder
Tyre rack: 2 x slide-in
Toolboxes: 2 x toolboxes (1 x Power pack)
Suspension: Steel spring
Wheels: Six-spoke spider
Axles: BPW