Darwin Logistics might be a new kid on the block, but it’s already made quite the impression to its neighbours.
The Northern Territory-based fleet has already transported 22,000 tonnes of ilmenite. A daily 15-hour round trip down the Roper Highway to the port in Darwin and back has also tallied up over a quarter of a million kilometres. This is appreciable for a company that was founded just one year ago.
The freight task of transporting ilmenite was primarily dedicated to three subcontractor road trains (one triple and two quad side tipper combinations) until Darwin Logistics began looking into getting a new super quad road train of its own. This was just three months after the business established.
“The Roper Highway to Port Darwin route is a very long journey for us,” explains Darwin Logistics Managing Director, Jake Eggleton. “We needed to maximise our payload and efficiency.”
Deploying a Performance-Based Standards (PBS) Duraquip HaulFORCE super quad road train of side tippers allowed the indigenous heavy haulage company to do just that. The super quad, coupled to a tandem drive Kenworth T909 prime mover, boasts an incredible 128-tonne payload.
“We’ve increased our efficiency by 30 per cent,” Jake says. “The payloads on our other quads are at around 100 tonnes, and we’re still using the same amount of fuel on the super quad for the 30-per cent increase. When you consider the fact that wages and fuel costs have stayed the same, it’s massive.”
The HaulFORCE super quad, running at 22.5 tonnes per tri-axle group, features a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of 181.5 tonnes. Every trailer and dolly was also licensed and shortened to maximise the final payload figure as much as possible. As a result, Darwin Logistics was able to achieve a total combination length of 53.4 metres end to end, just under the NT’s maximum road train length of 53.5 metres. The density of the ilmenite product played a significant part in this.
“We cart quite dense,” says Darwin Logistics Operations Manager, Matt Costello. “The product is two and a half tonnes per cubic metre and we’re able to place the product fairly well for our weights. Transporting a denser product has allowed us to use shorter trailers because we don’t necessarily need the length to be able to move weight around.”
Within its operations, the Duraquip trailer combination has been performing faultlessly. Matt says the side tippers empty the ilmenite without hang up or any complications.
“The super quad has been perfect,” he says. “The bins clear out effortlessly without any material getting stuck. I can’t complain about it at all.”
The Duraquip HaulFORCE’s on-road handling is just as superb. Paramount to this is the SAF-Holland equipment featured – a complete setup of airbag suspensions and disc brake axles.
“There are 94 wheels on this super quad,” Jake says. “We’ve got SAF-Holland Modul airbag suspensions and ZI9 disc brake lift-up axles on every dolly and trailer.”
According to Jake, the SAF-Holland Modul suspension systems have proven their worth in the super quad’s arduous journeys throughout the NT.
“The Stuart and Roper highways aren’t the best roads to go down, but the super quad has been running completely smoothly every day,” he says. “We’ve been very surprised with how well the combination handles. The low speed swept path performance is impressive even around tight intersections, so the stability of the whole unit in general has been superior.”
The versatility and power of the SAF-Holland disc brake axles have also stood out on the road train combination.
“The disc brakes are extremely good, even with the axles raised up,” Matt says. “We have 11 axles in the air and 10 on the ground to save wear and tear when empty, and the super quad tracks quite well compared to a trailer without them.
“The brakes pull the combination up really quickly. For ease of maintenance, longevity and consistent brake wear, you can’t go past them.”
Apart from standard inspections, the SAF-Holland disc brake axles and suspensions have required barely any service or maintenance procedures so far. This is projected to result in extreme cost savings for Darwin Logistics in the long-term.
“There have been no problems with the SAF-Holland products at all,” Matt says. “The axles and suspensions just had their first service that SAF-Holland covers. There were no issues or anything untoward.
“This is significant from an operational perspective because it means we aren’t having to face downtimes and increased costs for repairs.”
Aside from the success of the super quad and its SAF-Holland components, Darwin Logistics found the entire collaboration with Duraquip to be extremely beneficial. Jake explains that the trailer builder left no stone unturned when it came to tailoring the fleet’s high-productivity combination to its specific needs of increasing payloads and efficiencies.
“Duraquip were brilliant to work with,” he says. “They flew up here and worked with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator from the design of the combination all the way through to the on-road audit. They were great at taking care of everything.
“Duraquip were able to engineer something for us that came under 53.5 metres and still fit the purpose. The whole process was seamless, so we will definitely be going back to them for another super quad, and hopefully soon.”
