ownerdriver.com.au AUGUST 2019 23
is with slippery or moving loads like f looring, timber or
fertiliser, loads that need constant attention and top-notch
restraint. With that in mind Ian has installed air-operated
automatic strapping systems to all his trailers. He jokingly
admits the ExTe system may require you to “take a second
mortgage”, although he adds he wouldn’t go back now.
“The drivers will always say, ‘wow, isn’t this good’ not ‘isn’t
this expensive?’” Ian says.
He worked closely with the team from ExTe and Freighter
Trailers when he chose to put them on his first trailer,
changing the design to allow the air-operated winches to be
fitted to a sliding rail system.
The ExTe winches are regularly fitted to logging trucks but
were a new concept for tautliners when Ian built his first
one. It was imperative that the winches be moveable on a
tautliner as load positioning always varied.
The winches are fitted with five tonne-rated straps and
plumbed directly into the truck’s air system. The self-
adjusting mechanism means that as the load shifts and
settles, the straps offer automatic retention.
“You don’t have to keep stopping to redo the straps,” Ian
says. “In fact, when you get to the destination, the straps are
tighter than when you left.”
The other driving force behind Ian’s purchase was the time
saved. Coupled with Freighter’s Ezi-Liner curtain system, Ian
calculates the drivers are saving hours and hours a week. But
there is downside though.
“I’ve never been so unfit in my life” Ian tells me,
highlighting the missing hours spent doing up straps. I’m
sure we can all cope with that downside.
Changing gears
It has been almost 15 years now since Ian ignored everyone’s
warnings and rose from the ashes in his CH Mack. He is
happy with his f leet of five trucks, admitting he now has
a good bunch of workers who look after the gear and, most
importantly, the customers.
There is definitely a lot more office work to do when
running a small business but Ian is still happily spending
his time behind the wheel because, at the core, that’s where
his heart is.
“Why I’m still here is for the love of the job, you know,
having a nice setup, having heads turn,” Ian says.
“I have no ambition to be a squillionaire. I’m not here
Top: Ian’s K200 stands proudly
with Australia’s Parliament House
in the backgroundAbove: Phoenix’s K104, with nearly
2 million kilometres on the clock,
delivers another load of bricks
from Sydney to one of ACTs latest
sub-developmentsLeft: The Freighter EziLiner
curtain system is another time
saving feature in the Phoenix
Trucking fleet