FLEET FOCUS
EVERY DROP MOTORISTS AND PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS EXPECT, AS A MINIMUM, TO BE ABLE TO FILL THEIR FUEL TANKS WHENEVER A SERVICE STATION IS OPEN. THE LONG DISTANCES BETWEEN CENTRES OF CIVILISATION IN SOME PARTS OF AUSTRALIA OF COURSE PRESENT A CHALLENGE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF FUEL – A CHALLENGE WILLINGLY TAKEN UP BY HUNTS FUEL IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
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avid Hunt is a secondgeneration fuel distributor having started work for his parents Kevan and Ann in 1978 – originally with BP, then Ampol, and eventually Caltex following the two oil companies’ merger in 1995. In 1982 he became part owner and the Company KS & CA Hunt & Son Pty Ltd, trading as Hunts Fuel was formed. David is joined in the business by his wife Patricia, sons Jamie, Damien and Daniel and mother Ann. A proud Caltex Franchise Distributor, with its Head Office located in Jamestown, Hunts Fuel delivers bulk fuel to its network of retail service stations as well as to small and large businesses including primary producers, transport operators, civil works, mines, marine and rail, and local government entities. To keep the trucks busy for 12 months of the year, Hunts Fuel endeavour to have an even balance between retail and wholesale operations. More recently, in 2017, Hunts Fuel expanded to the Eyre Peninsula region following the acquisition of a number of Caltex equity operations which have since been absorbed into the business. With depots located in Jamestown, Kadina, Maitland, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln and Wudinna, Hunts Fuel now employs more than 30 staff. Fuel in Port Lincoln on the West Coast, where it was previously delivered to the local terminal by ship, now arrives by road from the Pelicon Point Terminal in Adelaide or Port Bonython Terminal in Whyalla by roadtrain. Hunts Fuel’s
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marketing area across the state includes the Mid North, North East, Yorke and Eyre Peninsula Regions and extends from Adelaide to Coober Pedy in the north and now Penong, Ceduna and Fowlers Bay to the west. Fuel trucks have progressed significantly since the second hand Bedford that Kevan Hunt received as a component of the package when he purchased his first fuel distributorship. At present, the tanker fleet consists of 12 Scania prime movers and one rigid tanker. The relationship between Hunts Fuel and the Scania brand extends back to the mid-1980s when a second-hand Super 80 which had previously worked as a car carrier was converted to become a rigid tanker. This was later followed by a new twin steer, bogie drive Scania 112H which David recalls having 1.2 million kilometres on its odometer when it was finally replaced. “That was a magnificent truck which was actually someone else’s cancelled order,” David says. “I was able to do a deal with Diesel Motors in Adelaide and the rest is history. It was one of the first intercooled models with 330 horsepower and we had an incredible run with it with no engine or even turbo problems while we had it.” The company delivers fuel with roadtrain combinations and single tri-axle tankers. “The trailers cost a lot to set up but can have a working life of 15 to 20 years if the maintenance is kept up and as long as the barrels don’t fatigue or crack” says David. “A new rigid tanker may take two months to be fitted up with the necessary pumps and other equipment at substantial cost,
