Hauling time sensitive freight along Australia’s easternseaboard puts demands on management, drivers and trucks. Years of experience have seen K.S. Easter Pty. Ltd. rely on Kenworths to undertake its critical haulage needs ...

Time. You can measure it, you can tell what it is, but whatever way you cut it there’s never enough of it. Especially in the road transport industry.

Time management is a vital part of any trucking operation but, when you’re loading for overnight interstate delivery, time is measured in minutes. To do that with any chance of success you need transport equipment that can be relied on to perform at the highest standards – 365 days and nights a year.

When you’re operating your trucks at this level of perfection, stress isn’t confined to just the machinery. K.S. Easter Pty. Ltd. specialise in overnight parcel delivery.

Meeting with Ken Easter Jnr and his son, Ken Easter III in their offices at Wacol on the south-western outskirts of Brisbane your eye is drawn to a painting Ken purchased at a Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of Queensland (CVIAQ) dinner. The picture depicts Brisbane city with one of Easter’s trucks painted into the scene.

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Easter Time

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The scene is a familiar one for anyone living in the Queensland capital, as Easter’s trucks have long been part of the city’s landcape.

“We made the winning bid for the painting on the night,” Ken Jnr explains. “The thing that appealed to me was that all the money raised goes to the Leukaemia Foundation.

“The majority of the industry donates to the auction with many paying more than the item’s value.”

Kenworth is the dominant brand in the Easter fleet, with the company turning to the Australian manufacturer’s local engineering team to conquer over-length problems due to changes in trailer dimensions.

“We used to spend up to $4000 a month on fines,” Ken Jnr admitted. “It had got to a point where we had to look for viable alternatives.

For Ken Jnr, the successful formula to operating one truck, or a fleet of trucks, comes down to their cost per kilometre.

For Ken’s trucks, it’s the whole of life cost that matters most. “And for that you can’t go past Kenworth’s build quality.”

While many fleets adopt a wait and see approach to new transport technologies, K.S. Easter has embraced many of Kenworth’s latest advances to help it reduce operating costs. The majority of Easter’s fleet are equipped with Eaton AutoShift transmissions and have auto greasers and auto slack adjustors fitted.

For Ken this results in longer distances between overhauls and rebuilds, reduced on-road costs and improved resale values.

Based on its experience with the Kenworth T408, Easters had no hesitation in purchasing the new 2011 model T409 with the fleet taking the first four to be delivered in Brisbane.

“We got the really early T408s and the only problem we encountered was a little crack on the quarter guard ... you have to be happy with that!

“The T408s have been exceptionally good trucks.”

The recent global financial crisis has seen the company review all its operations with the aim of reducing costs where possible. All repairs and maintenance are now completed in-house, with savings also being made on new vehicle detailing.

“We still fit some stainless steel and lights but not to the same extent” explains Ken.

However, with the company purchasing 8-10 new trucks a year, the changeover from traditional sign writing to tape has halved its vehicle sign writing costs.

“Even the Pegasus mural is done in tape and it’s impressive,” Ken further added. “The flying horse was put on my first Kenworth in 1981 and it’s stuck. The amount of people who pass comment on it is amazing.

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other day – it had the flying horse on it!” laughs Ken.

According to Ken, the company’s Pegasus logo had its origins when he took his ’81 Kenworth to the sign writer. While there, he happened to spy the Steve Miller Band album cover ‘Book of Dreams’ that depicted the Pegasus.

The sign writer was using the cover to paint a similar image on a streetcar bonnet.

“That truck was something different,” Ken recalled. “It had aluminium wheels all around, which was unusual back in ’81. Joe Rizzo was the dealer principal in Newcastle at the time and that truck was the first of what is now probably over 100 Kenworths we’ve purchased.

“I could say that it’s the best product; it probably is, but if they didn’t work for us, we wouldn’t have them,” he emphasised. “Transport is a very competitive business and you can’t afford to take short cuts.”

Ken believes that he now has a winning formula; nothing in the fleet runs at maximum settings to achieve a good mix of performance, economy and component longevity.

“We had a plan to sell our trucks at three and a half years with 800,000 kms on them but, when the downturn happened, we switched to Plan B – rebuilding and repowering (our trucks),” explains Ken.

Transport in their blood. Three generations of the Easter family. Ken Easter (centre) with sons Matt (left) and Ken

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Having operated Eaton’s AutoShift transmissions for over the last seven years, Easter’s now expect over one million kilometres or more out of the brakes while the S-cams, king pins and shackle pins are all still in good order. Clutch springs showed signs of wear at around 1.2 million kilometres in the first couple of units with AutoShifts, so Easters pulled the first three auto transmissions out and re-raced them.

This preventative measure proved unnecessary as the transmissions were in such good condition that from there on an AutoShift service has been limited to replacing the rear main seal, machining the flywheel, fitting a new clutch and changing the oil in the gearbox.

The truck is then back at work the same evening.

“Some operators say they prefer the manual Roadranger transmissions to the Eaton AutoShifts but, once you get the engines programmed correctly, they’re a great thing,” Ken added.

“Since their introduction we no longer have a problem with damage to the clutch fascia, tailshafts or universals,” he continues. “I could change gears with the best of ‘em, but I don’t care who you are, if you’re a bit fatigued or make a slight mistake – any day, every time you miss a gear, you stand a chance of breaking something.

... Easter’s willingness to adopt newtechnology has seen the company embracethe latest ADR’s to reduce engine emissions.

“All the same, some guys take extra pride in their ride and

I love that. After all it has my name on it!” he laughs.

The Easter line-up is a mix of traditional livery and white

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“And now with the new UltraShift it’s probably as good as it gets. The extra price is well worth it in the end.”

Ken says the AutoShift transmissions also have a pay off when it comes to selling the trucks, with the company selling two AutoShift Kenworths with 1.4 million kms at Christmas 2010 and the buyer has already come back to Easters for two more because of the AutoShift boxes.

Similarly, Easter’s willingness to adopt new technology has seen the company embrace the latest ADR’s designed to reduce engine emissions. Ken acknowledges that while the majority of his clients are more interested in the price of his services than environmental repercussions, he says that fitting a particulate filter to the company’s new Kenworths is a step in the right direction.

For Kenworth the location of the particulate filter can be engineered to suit the customers specifications – either fitted under the step of the driver’s door or inboard between the chassis rails.

“We took our salesman, Scott Coleman’s guide as to where to put the particulate filter,” says Ken. “It (fuel capacity) doesn’t matter that much because diesel is the same price down south as it is here. That’s why there are only three fuel tanks; all the same, we still have a 1530 litre capacity.

Ken has a good relationship with the team at Brown & Hurley, Darra, saying that the Kenworth dealer has offered consistent support and advice over the many years he’s been dealing with them.

While two of his four new T409s are in the traditional K.S. Easter colours, the following two were delivered in white, as the company are a major tow operator for Star Track Express, who requires white prime movers.

The wash bay team keep the fleet looking good

All of K.S. Easter’s freight is time sensitive ... it doesn’t matter, each load is treated as though it has the highest priority.

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Most of Easter’s drivers have been with the company for many years, with Ken saying he appreciates the company’s ‘old school’ drivers, as they don’t give him any heartache.

“We don’t expect our blokes to polish ‘em,” he said of his driving team. “Just to keep them tidy. We have four guys in our wash bay, we have all the gear – rim polish, tyre black etc.

“All the same, some guys take extra pride in their ride and I love that. After all it has my name on it!” he laughs.

Ken operates the company as a familyorientated business. His official title is managing director, while his son, Ken III is general manager and his wife, Karlie is involved with human resources and the maintenance of the company’s OH&S standards.

“The rest of my family has been in transport. My father, Ken Senior, had a transport company, as did my brother and three of my uncles,” Ken said of the family’s strong ties to the trucking industry. “I bought Dad’s business ten years ago, but everything here is a result of what I personally started with – from scratch.”

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Ken’s first truck was a Volvo G88, followed by

an International 4200 Transtar and then came

the ’81 Kenworth. All three prime movers were

pulling tippers around Newcastle, however

the Kenworth added some versatility to his

small business and he was soon running

Sydney-Brisbane with time sensitive and

refrigerated freight.

As the business expanded, his base in

Newcastle became unsuitable for future

growth and he had to make the choice between

moving south to Sydney, or north to Brisbane.

All of K.S. Easter’s freight is time sensitive.

Either Star Track Express, Air Road or potting

mix bound for Melbourne, it doesn’t matter,

each load is treated as though it has the

highest priority. This level of commitment

and customer service can only be provided

by trained, professional staff and by operating

the best equipment.

All of K.S. Easter’s freight is time sensitive ... it doesn’t matter,each load is treated as though it has the highest priority.

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With the majority of Easter’s trucks running the

Pacific and Newell Highways, both the trucks

and trailers have to be able to maintain the

company’s first-rate service on third-rate roads.

“It’s a hard road but it’s getting better,” Ken said

of the Pacific Highway. “It says a lot for

Kenworth that they hold together.

“We’re hauling more and more loads out of

Melbourne and our plans are to continue our

expansion nationally,” Ken said of K.S. Easter’s

future. “We trust our Kenworths to work day in

day out and reach their destination safely. We

are proud of our work and strive to maintain a

safe and reliable service.”

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