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FLEET OF THE MONTH
Firm foundations BRISBANE POSTS AND BEAMS OPERATES IN A SPECIALISED NICHE IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY AND USES HINO TRUCKS TO SERVE ITS CLIENTS. Greg Watkin has a 25-year history of
of areas around the Brisbane River has
starting to deliver nine metres and longer.
using vehicles from the Toyota-Hino
also prompted some, where possible, to
Timber is getting scarce, so we supply
family having started working out of the
physically lift the level of their homes to
more and more steel components”
back of a Toyota Landcruiser ute doing
have a better chance of being clear of
To be able to accommodate those
onsite welding. Since those early days the
any future floodwaters. Greg’s business
increased lengths the Hino trucks
business has evolved to meet the changes
Brisbane Posts and Beams currently
operated by Brisbane Posts and Beams
brought about by different circumstances
employs around 25 people and supplies
have extended chassis. The newest
and market opportunities.
steel structural components to builders
truck is a 2021 Hino 500 Series FE1426
Brisbane is the home of many
and renovators who are mostly in the
Standard Cab model fitted with a
‘Queenslander’ style of residential
domestic dwelling category, along with
nine-metre tray to enable it to carry
buildings and as they age many of their
providing the steel components required
the full length beams. The Palfinger
owners opt to have the original wooden
for larger architectural design homes, as
truck-mounted crane is the first remote
supporting poles replaced with structural
well as smaller commercial buildings.
controlled crane Brisbane Posts and
steel. Many also take the opportunity
“Everyone wants open plan living now
Beams has had.
to perform extensive renovations by
which requires a lot of big beams. Over
“This truck is a little bit bigger than what
‘building in’ additional rooms and spaces
the years they’ve gone from having a
we would normally get and it carries an
under the house. The occasional flooding
maximum six metre span and now we’re
extra tonne and the crane extends a little bit further,” Greg says. “We did that because a lot of our products are long and skinny without a lot of weight. For a single house it’s lucky if there’s a couple of tonne in it.” Standard safety features of the Hino 500 Series include a Pre-Collision Warning System which includes Safety Eye, Autonomous Emergency Braking and Pedestrian Detection in addition to Adaptive Cruise Control, Vehicle Stability Control, and Anti-Lock Brakes, Lane Departure Warning and a reverse view camera. The driver has the protection of an airbag. The Standard Cab 500 is supported by a 2020 Hino 300 Series 721 model which also has a Palfinger crane fitted. A 2014 Hino Dutro is kept on hand to fulfil any urgent tasks. One purpose of using their own trucks to perform the deliveries is the benefit of maintaining control right to the end user. Operating from their base at Everton Hills in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, the Brisbane Poles and Beams trucks cover an extensive delivery area which reaches to the Sunshine Coast down to the Gold Coast and out past Ipswich, with the
Hino 300 Series 721.
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Trailer Magazine NOVEMBER 21
occasional trip as far as Toowoomba.
