Australian Portable Camps is a unique company born from a unique dream. Its history is rich and began with the arrival of Frank Martino to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory in 1968.
Frank took a risk when he came to Australia. Looking for success as a chef by trade, he found work in the kitchens of Tennant Creek’s mining and construction camps. The risk appetite proved hard to satiate, as Frank’s time around these camps seemingly inspired him to run one by himself, and to do it better. So, his idea eventually became Australian Portable Camps in 2001, around 33 years later.
Frank had relocated to Monarto, South Australia, to establish the modular construction company. In the years that followed, it took off.
Australian Portable Camps has grown both in size and capability, now servicing a plethora of industries across the country.
“We can build portable camps for any sector that needs them,” says Australian Portable Camps Transport Manager, Mick Tilley. “While we predominantly service the mining industry, our abilities also extend to gas companies, solar power installers and more.
“A lot of this work is remote, particularly up in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. But our operations stretch across the country. We can do camps anywhere, including overseas if requested.”
These operations include the construction of offices, gyms, kitchens, sewers, spiritual rooms and more for portable camps which require a lot of material to be moved through particularly rugged terrain. Because of this, Australian Portable Camps has accrued an extensive yet particular fleet of trucks and trailers to move modular home freight quickly and effectively.
“Our trailers are mostly bogie 45’ extendables along with some tri-axle trailers which can carry up to 20 tonnes for our modular buildings,” Mick says. “We also use some curtainsider B-doubles and a couple of super tilts and mega tilt low loaders.”
Parts of this fleet have recently been undergoing some significant changes. Australian Portable Camps is in the process of fitting JOST JSK37CZ fifth wheels and Loc-Light sensors across all 25 of its dollies – one of the business’ many planned moves to increase safety.
“We’ve been assessing all of our operations to find ways that we can improve safety for our workers and the road users they’re around,” Mick says. “We’re trying to achieve this by modernising our equipment. Our fifth wheels seemed like a very good place to start.
“I approached JOST around six months ago and we’ve since fitted their fifth wheels onto eight of our dollies. We have a goal of replacing two each month.”
JOST’s JSK37CZ fifth wheel and Loc-Light sensor assist with trailer coupling processes by displaying the status of a fifth wheel coupling through both visual and auditory indicators.
Visual alerts are shown through the sensor’s LED light which flashes different colours depending on three points of connection. A successful fifth wheel coupling will include a trailer’s skid plate making contact with the fifth wheel plate, its kingpin being correctly located in the fifth wheel’s jaw and the safety latch being in the fully locked position. This is represented by a green ‘Go’ light. An unsuccessful coupling will be represented by a red ‘No-Go’ light and a sharp alert sound.
This intuitive and thorough coupling process is what drew Mick to choose the Loc-Light system for Australian Portable Camps’ fleet.
“I think Loc-Light is an exceptional product,” he says. “The visual indicator is very clear and it makes it easy for drivers to know when the dollies are coupled. Loc-Light provides great peace of mind to our operation.
“The fifth wheels and Loc-Light sensors have slotted nicely into our existing safety checks too. When our trucks leave our facility, our own security team conducts visual inspections to make sure our trailers are coupled right. Now, with the sensor’s clear green light display, this check is even easier to complete.”
Australian Portable Camps, in addition to implementing Loc-Light sensors, has also chosen to customise its fifth wheels.
“We’re changing the legs that the fifth wheels come with,” Mick explains. “We’ve changed from the E-type to the C-type to ensure that the fifth wheel legs are the same heights across all of our dollies. We’re very eager to standardise this so that we can bring more harmony to our equipment.”
Mick says the comprehensive bolstering of Australian Portable Camps’ fleet couldn’t have been done without JOST.
“JOST and Grant De Bais in particular have been a massive help in this process,” he says. “They were able to supply us with high-quality equipment without any issue. Grant even came to see our operations, speak with our team and see what everything looked like up close.
“JOST has provided great advice and support throughout this fitment journey, and there’s a lot more to do.”
This rings true for Australian Portable Camps, particularly as Mick is on the hunt to find more systems he can refine and improve within the company.
“It’s all part of our big push to change how we do things,” he says. “We’re committed to becoming safer and more efficient wherever we can be. Changing our fifth wheels is only the first step.”
