Gavin Sutton seems to have no particular loyalty to one brand of truck. It’s whatever is most suited for a particular job, which explains Gavin recently taking delivery of the Number 693 Kenworth Legend SAR which shares its dedicated accommodation with his magnificently restored 1989 Mack Super-Liner.
The majority of the current fleet of Gavin Sutton Transport are Volvos and Kenworths, both of which are normally replaced at around 700,000 kilometres.
Living in Tamworth, Gavin worked for a number of local transport businesses including Howard Haulage, Timberline Transport and Carey’s Freightlines as he developed his expertise in the management of transport operations. Subsequently, Gavin Sutton Transport (GST) was created when Gavin bought out the transport section of a local earthmoving business in the mid-2000s.
Two trucks which he still operates to this day were part of that deal. Initially, it was mostly float work involving machinery for hire companies and government entities but this has transitioned to becoming predominantly flat tops and drop decks as the business has expanded and diversified in a different direction.
Today, Gavin has 22 trucks, including several with truck-mounted cranes, and more than 50 pieces of trailing equipment and operates throughout the eastern states of Australia.
“It’s taken lots of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of seven-day weeks to get to this point,” he says.
Relocating pieces of machinery remains an important part of the low loader division while much of the company’s growth in recent years has come off the back of transporting pre-cast concrete components such as pipes and culverts for Humes which has a manufacturing plant nearby in Tamworth.
Pre-cast pipes and other building components can be transported from as far away as Humes’ plant in Townsville to be delivered to Adelaide and Melbourne.
Over the past four years the massive Inland Rail project has seen up to 18 GST roadtrains per day delivering pre-cast concrete items to the Moree section of the project.
“When a job like the Moree section finishes you might have to tread water and do other things until the next one comes online,” says Gavin. “We have to maximise the investment in the gear plus my staff get used to constant work. A quiet time can make you rethink things and also have a bit of a clean-up of surplus equipment, and it can be a juggling act, but we are fortunate because we have always owned a lot of our gear.”
For the Inland Rail project GST had Vawdrey build 15 new trailers which was a sizable acquisition for the fleet. This type of infrastructure construction can be seriously affected by weather, as well as be influenced by the component manufacturer’s production schedule, and it hasn’t been unusual for GST to deliver loads to Daly Waters in the Northern Territory and then transverse 2,000 kilometres across northern Australia to Townsville to collect a load of pipes destined for Melbourne.
Other projects that GST will be involved with over the next couple of years include the upgrade of the Newell Highway, the new high level bridge spanning the Macquarie River in Dubbo, and the Coffs Harbour bypass.
Over time the prime mover fleet steadily expanded to include various brands, with Volvo currently the dominant badge.
“I didn’t favour one brand or another,” says Gavin. “My first ever truck was an old cabover Kenworth with a 6-92 Detroit in it. I don’t have a particular love for cabover Kenworths although I’ve got a K104B, an old K125 and a new K200 which is probably the best to drive because it’s an auto.”
As work began to escalate, Gavin needed a cabover truck in a hurry for B-double work and turned to a local dealer.
“I’d been friends with John Saint at the JT Fossey dealership just up the road for a lot of years,” he says. “If you’d said to me two years prior to then that I’d have four new Volvos parked in the yard I’d have laughed at you.”
More Volvo prime movers have since joined the fleet. Gavin’s egalitarian approach to his truck fleet is epitomised by the Kenworth Legend SAR.
“It never entered my wildest dreams that I’d ever pay around half a million dollars for a prime mover, nor wait nearly two years for it to come off the production line,” he says.
The Legend SAR features additional custom touches including the paint scheme and extensive stainless steel trim pieces.
Gavin was bemused that the Legend had almost 5,000 kilometers on the clock by the time it was delivered to his yard due to the truck being built in Bayswater, driven to Toowoomba to have an Icepack fitted, then driven to be custom painted in Brisbane, back to RC Metalcraft in Albury for some ‘bling’, then to the Brown and Hurley dealership in Coffs Harbour for its pre-delivery finalisation before eventually making it to Tamworth.
“It was nearly due for its first service,” jokes Gavin, “But the efforts of the many people involved have been worthwhile.”
In contrast with Gavin’s latest version of the Kenworth Legend is his award-winning restored 1989 Mack SuperLiner which started life performing express freight along the Newell Highway between Melbourne and Brisbane, followed for a period hauling mine explosives around Mudgee in New South Wales.
It then clocked up another 20 years following its conversion into a heavy tow truck operated by John Dunn based at Moonbi just north of Tamworth. Upon acquiring the Mack and aided by friends and staff, including his mechanic son Jake, Gavin stripped the truck back to its chassis and fitted new chassis angles, mudguards and new brackets for the fuel tanks which themselves were wrapped in stainless steel.
New front and rear suspension components were sourced and fitted.
A new 500hp crate motor had already been installed and the nine-speed Mack transmission was replaced with an 18-speed gear box.
“We wanted a direct box to slow it down a bit,” says Gavin.
Not just a pretty show truck, the Super-Liner was put back on the road pulling roadtrains every day grossing up to 90 tonnes. Currently back on single trailer registration the Mack still does the occasional load as well as attending truck shows.
Despite a new interior being sourced and fitted, Gavin says: “It’s a bit more comfortable driving the SAR.”
Future restoration projects include an International 3074 similar to what Gavin first drove on interstate routes, to be followed by a C1800 International powered by a 160 Cummins.
“I should have gone with the C1800 first and had a bit of practice, knowing what I know now,” says Gavin in relation to the effort expended on the Mack’s restoration.
Gavin Sutton not only has the ability to build a successful specialised transport operation utilising the latest in truck engineering and technology, but he can do so while maintaining his appreciation for road transport heritage — a rare thing indeed.
