Truckies always have a story to tell, especially when it’s got to do with their rig, so to be featured in the Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs is an honour.
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Where the memory of his grandpa lay is where Tom Carr’s interest in trucks was sparked.
He was a man who appreciated a good Kenworth (as Tom says, he was “obsessed”), so when his dad became a truckie 20 years ago, Tom decided at the age of 28 that it was now also his time to follow in the family footsteps.
Already running a steel company, Tom was using contractors to ship out steel to various sites around Victoria and New South Wales.
“I just got to a point where I thought, ‘Well, I’ll buy my own truck’,” he says.
“I had come from a transport background, so I already had an interest.
“I didn’t get my own truck for a while because we were so focused on the steel business for a long time.
“Everyone who knew my family, myself and the business, once we got a truck, they just threw so much work at us.
“We didn’t even buy it to do freight, we did it for our own company, but then that one truck turned into four trucks, and a standalone business now called T&K Haulage.”
And boy their trucks do not disappoint.
Run by Tom and his wife Kristen, T&K Haulage recently purchased a fourth rig to add to their collection, rolling three of their striking trucks through the gates of the Lights on the Hill truck show in Gatton.
“This event is so good for the trucking community, to show their respect to those who have passed on the roads, but that’s not all it’s about.
“It’s for anyone that has retired or has been in the industry before.
“I took one of my little daughters with me and put the car seat at the front of the truck.
“She loved it, just honking the horn all day, so it was good fun!”
The pride of the fleet is a T404 with a Caterpillar engine.
“All the trucks are Cat powered,” he says.
“Dad had the same and that’s where my love for the shape came from.
“We also have a 104B big cab, a 608 Kenworth and our newest one is a 408.”
Each truck was bought second-hand, and while some may shy away from second-hand trucks, Tom was keen to restore these old machines to their former glory.
“I had to rebuild the 404, it dropped the liner 18 months ago.
“So that’s had a full rebuild and a tune up from a bloke in Sydney.
“It’s at 650 horsepower now.”
T&K’s beige, black and white rig are all different in design and style, but one commonality they share is that they’re nice to look at.
“They were all my kind of style, but we’ve had to change a lot of things,” he says.
“We’ve added a lot more stainless, bigger pipes and more scroll work, and obviously our names are on the door.
“Ideally, as we grow, we’ll get our trucks painted the same colour.
“At the moment, I like their style and that they’re so different, but similar in a way. We just added our flare to already cool trucks.”
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