When it comes to heavy haulage in Australia, Kenworth Trucks have you covered. They’re built to handle the most demanding operating conditions. That’s just one of the many reasons why Australian Portable Camps choose to work with Kenworth Australia and CMV Truck Centre.

Frank and Gino Martino of Australian Portable Camps (APC), have worked with the CMV Truck Centre team for more than 15 years and in that time, they have taken delivery of two batches of 12 trucks. In late February, Paul Crisp, CMV Truck Centre Sales Manager, and our team had the pleasure of delivering another 12 impressive Kenworth trucks to the APC team.

Paul and Derek Johnston, APC Workshop Supervisor, worked together to determine the right Kenworth Trucks for the demanding and harsh conditions APC work in across Australia.

“Australian Portable Camps build portable mining camps. We build camps for mining infrastructure and we go out to any site around Australia and build a camp. We take buildings, we do the water treatment, we do everything and that’s where the trucks come in handy. All of the infrastructure gets made here and is carted to WA, QLD, NT - everywhere,” explains Derek.

Watch the video to see the incredible convoy making its way to Monarto, and read on to find out more about the special delivery and these impressive rigs.

“Derek is in charge of servicing and maintaining APCs fleet and he was entrusted in purchasing APC’s next batch of trucks,” explains Paul.

For Derek and the APC, the choice of Kenworth was easy. 

“Kenworth are Australian made, they’re the best trucks. We’ve had and used them before. They’re reliable, they’re great,” says Derek.

Paul worked closely with Derek and the APC team who ultimately decided on eight K200s and four T659s, which will play an important role in their daily operations across Australia.

When it came to selecting the K200 and T659, their capabilities for heavy haulage made the choice easy.

“These trucks have been specifically designed to handle the toughest conditions Australia can throw at a truck and APC’s applications – to run camp set ups, operating between Monarto and the Pilbara and everything in between. These trucks will handle anything that Australia’s conditions can throw at them,” Paul explains.

“We chose these trucks because they’re built for where we want to go. They’re comfortable, they’ve got the right suspension, they’re just a fantastic truck to drive,” adds Derek.

The 12 trucks are powered by 15L Cummins engines, paired to Eaton UltraShift transmissions and are on Meritor Drivelines with dual diff locks and cross locks. To ensure they can transport the range of buildings and equipment APC require, they’re rated to 114.1 tonnes.

Bullbars have been manufactured and fitted locally by Chris Barron Engineering, conveyer guards have been engineered and fitted in house by the CMV Truck Centre team and Ice Packs were fitted by Clare Valley Auto Electrical.

The delivery

It’s not every day that you get to deliver 12 trucks at once and the CMV Truck Centre team were extremely proud to convoy the trucks from Cavan to APC’s site at Monarto for the special handover.

“A day like today is very unique. Driving up in the 12 truck convoy from Cavan through to Monarto was fantastic. We probably spent too much time on the UHF to be honest. We had a lot of truck drivers who were driving inbound very jealous. We turned a lot of heads it was a lot of fun.

“A delivery like this one is particularly special to us. Working for CMV Truck Centre and the CMV Group, we are very lucky to be working for a family owned, South Australian business. We’ve had 15 of us come up to APC today we’ve been greeted with great hospitality. A handover like this from one family owned South Australian business to another is really special,” says Paul.

It wasn’t just special for the CMV Truck Centre team, the whole APC team gathered at their site entrance to watch the convoy arrive, and it was certainly an impressive sight to see the 12 prime movers making their way down the road.

“Seeing those 12 trucks come down the road it was amazing. It’s certainly been worth the wait. It was exciting to see the shine come down the road – it was fantastic,” explains Derek.

Lining up the 12 prime movers at APC was undeniably an impressive sight and it was fantastic to have the whole APC team join us as we presented the keys to Frank, Gino and Derek before a special morning tea.

When asked about working with Paul and the CMV Truck Centre team, Derek couldn’t be happier and knows that we’ll support him well after the delivery of these trucks.

“Paul and the guys, they make it so much easier for us. Everything was smooth, any questions he answered them – he really worked well with us. He was a really easy guy to work with.

“We choose CMV Truck Centre as they’re an Adelaide based company. They’ve looked after us and anywhere we’ve had any issues around Australia they’ve looked after us. The guys are just fantastic. Kenworth – Australian built trucks – who wouldn’t want to use them.”

These impressive rigs will be put straight to work across Australia and according to Derek, APC’s drivers are very keen to get behind the wheel, and we don’t blame them!

“Our drivers are fighting already – I want this one, I want that one. We’ve got guys who started driving back from Western Australia yesterday to bring the old trucks back to swap for the new trucks,” laughs Derek.

We look forward to seeing these new rigs on the roads and in action across Australia. Paul and the CMV Truck Centre team would like to thank Frank, Gino, Derek and the Australian Portable Camps for their support and we look forward to working with them well into the future.

Explore the Kenworth K200 here.

Explore the Kenworth T659 here.