The 60,000th Australian-made and designed Kenworth truck has been delivered to Wickham Freight Lines.
The Paccar-designed and built Kenworth T610 SAR prime mover rolled off the Bayswater, Victoria production line with co-founder Peter Wickham taking the keys.
Wickham adds the new T610 to a dedicated fleet of 160 Kenworth prime movers, as one of Australia’s largest privately-owned transport companies whose Queensland head office is shaped like a Kenworth K108 cabover.
The company’s fleet consists of mostly K200 cabovers, but now adds the milestone T610 with its Euro5 600hp/1850lb/ft Cummins X15 engine set to clock 250,000km annually up and down Australia’s east coast.
The 19-metre B-double will move meat and produce interstate with the reliability of an Australian purpose-designed rig – the key reason Wickham chief executive Darren Eather keeps coming back.
“We have bought almost 250 Kenworths, and we continue to buy them every year because it’s good for business,” he says.
“Kenworth trucks are more reliable, durable and cost effective to run – they can handle hard work, long hours and many years of service. It’s no wonder our drivers love them. The trucks are also safe and comfortable to operate, and they perform well under any conditions,” Eather explains.
The T610 comes with collision avoidance technology on top of a wider, taller and more spacious cabin over previous models to focus on driver comfort, which extends to advanced heating and cooling.
The 60,000th Kenworth comes with the 18-speed manual RTLO22918B Eaton Fuller gearbox with Meritor 7.3t MF573 front axles and RT46-160GP rear axles. Between them is Kenworth Airglide 460 suspension, an 860mm aero roof sleeper and four fuel tanks offering 1760-litre capacity.
Paccar managing director Andrew Hadjikakou says handing over the keys to an Australian-made Kenworth to such a loyal customer is a proud moment.
“It’s critical this country has a local manufacturer that understands the challenges facing transport businesses,” he says.
“Kenworth is the only local truck manufacturer offering full design capability, technical expertise and resources to application-engineer trucks for the most extreme on and off-road operations.”
“They (Wickham Freight Lines) are knowledgeable and passionate about the road transport industry and forthright with their thoughts and opinions, which has contributed to the continuous improvement of our trucks for close to four decades,” Hadjikakou continues.
“It’s been a win-win for both parties, and it’s the epitome of how we conduct business with all of our customers.”
