ownerdriver.com.au AUGUST 2019 71
“You get there when
you get there and
you’re always on
time.”
He likes the newer turnbuckle chain dogs
compared with the dangerous old handle and
cheater bar, one of which “caved in” the forehead
of a mate when it slipped off. Luckily his mate
survived.
Allan reckons over the past decade the roads are
“a little bit better”, but he rates the main change as
higher horsepower and better gearing in trucks.
He loves his six-year-old “Volvodyne” as he calls
it, an FH16 with 700hp (522kW) and over 3,000Nm
of torque -- “plenty of grunt” – and says the
automated gearbox is “magic”. He says the Volvo is
comfortable of course, with plenty of room in the
XL sleeper cab.
He’s put approximately 160,000km on it in around
three years. The big twin-steer is rated at more
than 200 tonnes, with heavy duty steel suspension
and heavy duty hubs on the drive wheels. About
140 tonnes is the heaviest that individual Hogan’s
trucks carry – but of course sometimes they’re
involved in much bigger pull and push exercises.
Allan doesn’t give much hint of the pressure of
responsibility involved in heavy haulage.
“When you’re really big and wide you’ve got pilot