Western Star 6900 cattle roadtrain: Review

The Gulf Country is one of Australia’s last frontiers. It stretches from the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in far North Queensland across endless plains, spectacular river systems and vast saltpans into the Northern Territory.

This remote region is where Australia’s outback meets the ocean at the southern end of the Arafura Sea around the Gulf of Carpentaria.

For livestock carriers like Colin Smith of Lethbridge Livestock Transport, based in Hughenden roughly four and half hours west of Townsville, the end of the Wet signals the start of their busiest season.

Travelling at this time of year provides additional hazards; the bitumen is often only ten feet wide and the shoulders are very soft after the long wet spell. Long stretches of dirt become slushy mud with deep wheel ruts and the creeks and rivers, dry for most of the year, can suddenly rise metres without warning.

There are no strict ten-minute interval time slots up here, loading times are simply referred to as daylight, smoko, lunch and the like. Another oddity of the area is that everyone is known as Old Joe. It’s necessary to know this before engaging in conversation or you’ll be overcome by confusion and before long you’ll want nothing more than to meet this Old Joe character who not only drives every piece of machinery in town but bakes the bread and butchers the cattle.

“You remembered how to get here then,” Colin Smith grinned and extended his hand. Colin’s 6900FX was in the service bay of the local Western Star dealer in Townsville.

“The service is nearly finished so we should be gone by five,” Colin explained. “The trailers are at the assembly compound on the way out of town. That’ll put us at Charters Towers roadhouse by around 8:30 for tea.”

This Western Star 6900FX packs some impressive specs too. Upfront is a Cummins Signature rated a 620hp, that is coupled to an Eaton RTLO22918B which in turn runs the power through Meritor RT52-185G final drives with a 4.88:1 ratio. On top of that, it is rated for triple road train work up to 140 tonnes as well as B-Doubles to 110 tonnes which makes it a very versatile unit.

Fifteen minutes later, Colin hit the 6900FX’s starter and the big Cummins under the hood spun into life. The two trailers were hooked together; Colin backed up to the lead trailer but stopped just short of it so that he could generously smear the turntable with grease before completing the hook-up procedure.

The big Cummins hummed effortlessly along the Flinders Highway heading towards Charters Towers.

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This was my second journey in Colin’s 6900; the last time was in 2015 when it was brand new. Five years and around 750,000 kilometres later, the big Western Star is still raising dust on the roads in Queensland’s Outback. In that time Lethbridge’s Livestock Transport has grown from a single roadtrain operation to four roadtrains.

In remote Queensland, livestock carriers are extended several concessions not enjoyed by general freight carriers due to the nature of their businesses. One of these concessions is allowable driving hours.

Under the fatigue management programs driving time is extended to 16 hours for a loaded truck. This is so that cattle can be transported from their place of origin to either holding pens or their final destination without being left standing in the crates while a driver takes his required rest period. In most cases, cattle must be unloaded and spelled in holding pens after a maximum of eleven hours spent in the crates.

The second concession pertains to weight. Cattle carriers work on a volume loading system as opposed to the gross weight restrictions enforced on general carriers.

Again, this system is in place for the wellbeing of the cattle rather than any economic advantages it may afford livestock carriers. Six decks of cattle (triple Road Train) would typically have a gross weight of around 140 tonnes when fully loaded with big steers.

Off in the distance, a faint glow indicated that the roadhouse wasn’t far away, time for a feed and a coffee. After enjoying a hearty meal, Colin estimated that we’d reach Hughenden shortly before midnight.

A few hours later, the 6900FX’s lights peered into a black emptiness broken intermittently by bolts of lightning glowing on the horizon. Indicating that the storms were close to home, Colin commented that it wouldn’t take much rain and tomorrow’s job would be cancelled. Occasionally, a few drops slithered their way down the windscreen as Colin engagingly explained the finer points of cattle cartage in the Gulf.

“The cattle just stand there at 90km/h. That’s the main reason for having the Cummins engine; I need to go up hills (jump-ups) at 90 to maintain the same pace. Maintaining that consistency reduces trip times considerably.”

The condition of the cattle deteriorates if they are left on the truck for more than ten or eleven hours. Many of the places Colin carts to require an overnight stop to spell the cattle. They are fed, watered and reloaded at daylight the following morning.

The lights of Hughenden finally came into view and the engine revs dropped. The 6900FX quietly idled through the sleeping streets to the depot where Colin parked it over the pit in the shed. “I grease it every time that I come here,” Colin said. “The way I look at it, grease is free. If you need to replace something on the side of the road out here, just because it wasn’t greased, that’s what’s expensive!”

Early the next morning Hughenden was just as I remembered – quiet. The only sign of life was a mangy old cattle dog that paused momentarily to glance at the newcomer in town before bowing its head and continuing on its way.

By mid-morning Colin had finished pumping grease through the truck. He’d discovered a loose wheel bearing on the dolly during the check-up and within minutes the wheel was in the air and the adjusting nut nipped up. After a quick cuppa, the gear was packed away again before heading to the station to load.

“You do know that you have to open the gates when you sit in that seat,” Colin laughed as he stopped in front of an old gate on the station. A chap can get pretty fit opening and shutting gates for a roadtrain. Walking back to the cab after shutting the gates is a journey in itself.

The ringers had the cattle penned in the yards so Colin wheeled the Western Star around and pulled the lead trailer alongside the ramp. The front half of the top floor of the lead trailer acts as a ramp to load the top deck. At the rear, a series of doors open and fold to form ramps, one for each deck, for the cattle to walk through to get into the next trailer. The principle is the same when the third trailer is connected.

A ringer opened the gate and the cattle ran up the ramp, a few needed a gentle poke with an electric wand before they would head towards the back of the second trailer. The cattle ran on steadily and before long the top deck had filled. Roughly half an hour later the ringers mounted their horses and waved as Colin pulled away from the yards.

These particular cattle were bound for the export ship at Karumba, roughly 800 kilometres to the north-west.

Some of the stations are now fencing paddocks that run along the road after incurring mounting stock losses due to increased traffic. However, fencing material is expensive; steel droppers cost $3.50 each, so it won’t happen overnight.

Overhead lights lit the yards at Karumba wharf. Colin pulled in alongside the ramp as stock agents, ship hands and graziers wandered in and out of the tiny weighbridge office. Colin signalled the bridge operator to turn the lights off because cattle won’t walk off a truck into bright light. With the lights off, the cattle ran into the holding pens where they are weighed before being placed in a large yard for the rest of the night. They are loaded onto ships at daylight.

Daybreak found the ground soaked from overnight rain. There were dark clouds on the horizon and a few spots of rain still hit the windscreen as Colin headed for home.

“Looks like the Wet wants to stay about for a bit longer. We’d better hurry home or we could get stuck here indefinitely!”

Greatly improved roads and regular air services have tamed the age-old tyranny of distance in the Gulf country to some extent.

In early pioneering days, it took nine months for supplies of flour and other provisions to reach Karumba and neighbouring Burketown from the southern east coast capital cities.

Likewise, moving cattle once took a heavy toll on both cattle and drovers because of the time required to move them over even the shortest distances. The infamous drover Captain Starlight, who did a dash with 1000 duffed cattle down the Strezlecki track, took many months in 1870 for a journey now covered in mere days.

In this remote frontier, inhabitants rely on operators like Colin and the durability and reliability of his trucks to endure the harshness of untamed Australia.

Truck Specs:
Make:Western Star
Model: 6900 6x4
Engine: Cummins Signature
Horsepower: 620hp (462kW) at1600rpm
Torque: 2050lb/ft (2779Nm) at 1100rpm
Gearbox: Eaton RTLO22918B 18-speed
Front Axle: Meritor FG-941 6.5T
Front Suspension: Taper leaf 7.5T
Steering: TWR TA85
Rear Axles: Meritor RT-52-185G
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.88:1
Rear Suspension: Neway AD252
Main Driveline: Meritor RPL25SD
Interaxle Driveline: Meritor RPL20
Brakes: WABCO Antilock Braking System with traction control
Fuel Tank: Alloy 4 x 473 litres
Cabin: Steel conventional cab. E-coated
Interior: Vinyl Trim with diamond stitching on door & back panels
Seats: Premium driver’s seat with armrests
Bumper: King Bullbar
Extras: 68” Stratosphere ‘walk-through’ sleeper,Twin CR Turbo 2000 air dryer with
Heater, Jost JSK37 Fifthwheel.