PROFILE
LIVING THE DREAM
With a strong reputation for great service and an immaculate fleet, Hayllar Transport has reason to celebrate the arrival of a new T610SAR – Words by Warren Caves, images by Torque it Up
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mall rural town values and community spirit, along with a new Kenworth 610SAR are sound drivers of business for Hayllar Transport of Narrandera.
The town of Narrandera is located on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, approximately 550 km southwest of Sydney at the junction of the Newell and Sturt Highways. With a population of approximately 3800, this is predominantly an agricultural area serviced by the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area developed in the the early 1900s. Narrandera is also the birthplace of Marie Bashir, the former governor of NSW, born here in 1930. Hayllar Transport was originally started in Narrandera by Lenny and Ruby Hayllar in 1963, and is still operated from that original location by their son and his wife, Bernie and Joanne Hayllar.
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In the early years, Bernie worked driving trucks for his father Lenny, when shock absorbers on trucks were unheard of and air conditioners were reserved for public servants in fancy city offices. In those days the work covered regular runs to Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin in anything from a 1418 Mercedes Benz, Ford Louisvilles and later on with International TranStars and K-Series Kenworths. As a change from driving, Bernie had a slight break for five years or so and went into truck sales. Due to Lenny’s failing health, Bernie returned to work with his father, eventually starting to purchase his own vehicles around 15 years ago and finally taking over the whole operation when his father passed away.
LIVING THE DREAM Hayllar Transport today employs 10 local staff and is currently operating with 6 prime movers, 2 rigid trucks and 14 trailers. The trailers are made up of curtainsiders, flat-tops and extendable flat-tops, and the fleet operates predominantly between Narrandera, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and anywhere in between, moving general freight, oversize loads and produce to the company depots in Sydney and Melbourne. Speaking to Bernie recently, it was obvious that both he and Joanne are proud community members and are optimistic about the future of their town. Hayllar Transport is a regular sponsor of local sporting events such as the rodeo, football and basketball teams. “They (the town) look after us, so, we, in return, look after them wherever we can,” said Bernie. This local support network is evident with the local Elders logo emblazoned on an immaculate trailer that was coupled to Hayllar Transport’s latest equipment acquisition, a Kenworth T610SAR. The Elders trailers (there are two) were the result of Bernie approaching the local Elders retail centre and asking if they were keen on having a presence on these new trailers. Both trailer curtains featuring a rural livestock theme were produced by Rice Graphics of Wodonga and are quite striking in appearance. “We utilise satellite tracking in our trucks and have done so for the past 14 years or so. This enables us to effectively manage our trucks and equipment but also ensures that our signwritten trucks from our sponsor’s point of view are being operated professionally out on the road,” explained Bernie.
work between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide carting general freight, flour and timber, and averaging around 4000 to 5000 km per week. The Cummins X15 engine is set to 550 horsepower and sits in front of an 18-speed Eaton Roadranger manual transmission. At the time of our visit the truck had around 30,000 km on the odometer, so it’s a bit too early for accurate fuel economy figures, although Bernie says it appears to be encouraging up to this point. Bernie and Jarrod are both pleased with the new design of the T610SAR. “We traded in our 408SAR, and these 610 models are worlds ahead as far as comfort, space and cab layout go,” said Bernie. While the new truck has been well accepted into the fold, the start was a little rocky, as, with just 10,000 on the clock, the truck was wheeled into Cummins in Leeton with the X15 diagnosed with suffering from a failed camshaft. Bernie, who I’m sure was disappointed at that stage, has become a little more pragmatic with the passing of time, and as a result of the way in which the issue was addressed. “Cummins’ head office rang me and said, before I even had to ask, we don’t think you should have to have a camshaft replacement this early on in the piece, so we would like to put a new engine in the truck for you” said Bernie.
The latest T610, purchased through Inland Truck Centre in Wagga, was recently inducted into the fleet and is driven by Jarrod Murray, who has been with Hayllar Transport for eight years. Jarrod is working the truck on single-trailer
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PROFILE
“Kenworth also offered a loan truck through their PacLease programme, of which Cummins was to cover the cost. With some minor adjustments of workload this was not necessary, and we had that truck back on the road in just two days, which was amazing. This was honestly the best service I have ever had from a manufacturer,” Bernie added. The T610 is now back on track and working alongside the company’s existing fleet that includes a trusty W-model and three K200s. “We invested in the K200s for their versatility. We can easily use them in B-double work and also find that with cabover-designed trucks we can use them with our extendable drop-deck trailers for oversize work and run at 22 metres total length without being restricted to daylight hour travel. This is not possible with a conventional-cabdesigned truck,” said Bernie. There is a noticeable comradeship amongst the local businesses, which group together to have freight moved by local companies. This obvious show of support to companies such as Hayllar Transport is the backbone that supports the local area and produces a steady flow of loads that need transporting to and from the major cities.
Hayllar Transport has had to be innovative in its equipment design to increase cost effectiveness, and this is evidenced in one of their Freighter trailer designs from MaxiTRANS. In a first of its kind for Freighter Trailers, a 48 ft curtainsided trailer was built (nothing out of the ordinary there), but the unique feature of this trailer is that is was designed and manufactured with a roll-top roof design. Bernie explained that this design allowed the company to transport bulk, bagged flour from Narrandera to Sydney and load raw steel material back to Narrandera for a local manufacturer. The flour is loaded by forklift, the traditional way from the side via the curtain opening. However, the steelworks only load by overhead crane. With the roll-top roof design and a rear door opening, the dogman can load steel via the crane while maintaining an unobstructed view of the process. A handy by-product of this configuration for steel loads in the removal of the need for tarping. “The only other way we could have transported steel other than tarped on our flat-tops was by the use of the Prairie Wagon designed trailers, which didn’t lend itself well to transporting our other freight,” explained Bernie. It’s this kind of collaboration with manufacturers, and inspired design and thinking from operators to think outside the box and improve efficiencies, that keep everyday operators competitive with the big players in the transport game – well, that, and a lot of hard work.
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