Above:
Perth-based road-train operator Paul Wonbon
has been running from Perth to Kununurra in
the Kimberley for 10 years, so when he
bought a new Freightliner Century Class,
people took notice.
Pauls C-120 has a 140 tonne GCM rating, and
is powered by a 600 hp Caterpillar C-16
through an 18 speed Eaton gearbox to
Meritor drive axles on Neway air-
suspension. Tank capacity is 1,815 litres of
fuel.
He runs two-up with sons Tim and Ian,
and covers 6,000 km per week carrying
freezer, chiller and general freight north
and returning with fresh produce from the
Ord River Irrigation District. His truck
has notched up 110,000 trouble-free
kilometres in the five months since he bought
it.
Pauls previous truck was a Kenworth T950,
also with Cat power, in which he did 1.4
million kilometres. But the extra room in
the Freightliners wide cab and the big
sleeper played a large part in his switch to
Century Class.
"The new truck is a lot easier to drive,
lots smoother thanks to the air-suspension
and very comfortable," Paul says. "The air-
conditioning is beautiful and we need it that
waywith temperatures in the 48-50C range
up there right now. In fact the cab stays so
cool we need to use a doona when we
are sleeping.
"I think the Century Class is just a better
design. It has better visibility with the sloping
bonnet and Im getting better fuel
consumption than other guys with the same
engines in T904s and Western Stars," Paul
adds.
Paul started on the Kimberley run as a
company driver for Gascoyne's which
became WesFarmers and was recently taken
over by Tolls. Six years ago he became a sub-
contractor and was joined by his sons "a
couple of years ago".
They leave Perth Tuesday evening with
two trailers, picking up a third at Wubin, 230-
km north. They pull into Kununurra on
Thursday afternoon, leaving at lunchtime
Friday for the run south and drop their
trailers back in Perth at 5 or 6 am
Sunday morning.
That run goes regularly as clockwork but there
are occasional side trips like one to an
isolated aboriginal community recently to
bring them enough supplies to last out the
wet season. "They can get cut off for up to
six months," Paul says.
Six thousand kilometres a week with triples
is moving right along. Paul reckons he
has covered a million kilometres in the last
3.5 years alone during his 30-year accident-
free driving career.
Pauls move to Century Class reflects
the increasing importance road-train
operators place on cab comfort, ride
quality, inside space and cab
crashworthiness combined with US drivelines.
Freightliners 140 tonne GCM rated Century
Class and Argosy prime-movers are
spearheading Freightliners move into the
heaviest end of the Australian truck market.
Australian spec Century Class and Argosy
heavy trucks come standard with a 90 tonne
GCM rating and electrical systems built for
multi-trailer operations. They have been B-
double, B-triple and road-train doubles rated
since their Australian launch.
Freightliners are sold and serviced in Australia
by an extensive national dealer network.
Freightliner is a wholly owned subsidiary
of DaimlerChrysler
