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Tractors promise productivity for trailer movement

Perth-based freighters Centurion Transport says they’ve made significant productivity improvements at the loading dock with the purchase of new terminal

Perth-based freighters Centurion Transport says they’ve made significant productivity improvements at the loading dock with the purchase of new terminal tractors.

The Perth-based operation have purchased two new Daysworth Ottawa model 50 terminal tractors, replacing two older model workhorses.

The company says the tractors are delivering fast, reliable trailer movement as it manages a busy daily schedule.

Centurion specialises in providing freight and logistics services to leading mining companies and remote communities across Western Australia.

“Over the past 39 years the company has grown from a small family company into a diversified, service oriented organisation with a broad customer base,” explains Workshop Manager Davis Read.

The company has maintained a growth strategy over the past decade and recently opened a new $40 million freight terminal and workshop facility in the Perth suburb of Hazelmere.

With other depots located in Kununurra, Broome, Port Hedland, Carnarvon, Derby, Karratha, Newman, Tom Price and Kalgoorlie, the company runs more than 600 pieces of equipment with its on-road fleet dominated by triple road trains and b-doubles.

“Primarily most of our work up north is by standard road train configuration of three full length trailers with two dollies and the prime mover,” Read says.

“The trailer fleet includes flat tops, drop decks, tautliners, fridges and pans – it’s quite an array of styles.”

With the movement of road trains through Perth restricted, trailers are broken down and reassembled after loading at a marshalling area north of the city.

The mining boom has generated huge demand for Centurion’s freight services and the company now registers hundreds of truck and trailer movements through the yard daily.

“We have in excess of 30 loading bays and a three acre trailer park site,” he says.

“The terminal tractors prime role is to manoeuvre trailers from the park site for loading and unloading.

“They are running 10 hours a day, six days a week and are making in excess of 100 trailer movements each day – in the vicinity of 50 to 60 each terminal tractor each day.”

Mr Read said the company had previously used two old terminal tractors and “a couple of Scanias that have been around forever and a day” but said the new Daysworth’s offered much greater productivity.

“With the new tractors we simply find the trailer and put it straight on the dock and the job is done – we’re down to minutes for movements rather than half an hour and that sort of time,” Read says.

“In our old yards which were much tighter we’d also noticed the manoeuvrability of the vehicles – they could get trailers into tight areas with their short wheel base and front wheel cut.”

The drivers have also been very impressed with the Daysworth’s drivability, visibility and cabin with easy access rear sliding door for trailer hook up.

The ergonomically designed Daysworth Ottawa cabin features an air suspension seat, safety grab rails, a generous rear non-slip deck and a high cab roof with 50 percent more visibility and stand-up headroom compared to other brands.

“The drivers are very happy with them,” Read says. “The guys get in them in the morning and flick the key and they could be working to seven or eight at night.

“They are driving them for eight to 10 hours a day and with an air conditioned cabin and automatic transmission it is very comfortable.

“The lifting mechanism is very quick and the access in and out of the cabin to hook up the airlines is terrific. Their visibility when backing or manoeuvring trailers is brilliant.”

The two terminal tractors have made good business sense, according to Read.

“On Fridays, which is our busiest day, we are loading more than 100 trailers alone so that’s at least 50 trailer movements for each terminal tractor,” he says.

“They just make economic sense; they’ve been a great investment. We made some minor adjustments to them to suit our situation, but since we turned the key for the first time they have not stopped.”

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