Owner-driver Scott Congram has bought his first new truck and a Kenworth C509 at that.
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Scott Congram has been on the road for 25 years, and an owner-driver for 20 of those years. However, it’s only recently that Scott bought his first new truck — a Kenworth C509.
It was worth the wait, especially as it is a stunning rig with years of experience put into its specification.
The new C509 has a 6.4m wheelbase and 60-inch (152cm) sleeper. It’s a world away from the family farm truck that Scott inherited, an International T2670.
Importantly, Scott wanted the new truck to look “old school”, with the paint scheme based on a traditional Kenworth design.
“I chose the colours and they were altered with the help of some family members,” he says.
“The painter, Barry Dixon Paint & Panel, and signwriter Dean Laws pulled it all together and made it into what you see today – the traditional old colour scheme.”
Under the skin, however, the Kenworth is ultra-modern with a Cummins Signature ISXe5 set at 600hp (447kW).
The Cummins is bolted to an 18-speed Eaton Fuller gearbox that delivers power down to Meritor diffs, riding on Kenworth six-rod suspension.
The cab’s 60-inch bunk design, modifications and air-conditioning were the work of CustomAir in Melbourne.
Scott says he expects to get 10 years work out of the new Kenworth.
“It is quite a basic truck but that’s the best way to have it. For where we go and what we do, we were after a strong truck,” Scott says.
Along with his brother and business partner, Craig Congram, Scott specialises in livestock transport.
“I have always hung around stock; it’s all I know. Walk on, walk off freight…it’s pretty good,” he says.
The Congrams cart sheep and cattle and while they go anywhere in Australia, they mainly cart in and out of the Riverina in New South Wales.
Based in Finley in southern NSW, they usually find themselves down in Melbourne weekly or, at some stages, twice a day.
“It is a great community here in Finley and the locals support us,” Scott says.
“One family in particular in town here got me through for three or four months while I waited for my new truck.
“They supplied me with a truck and if it wasn’t for them, it would have been very hard.”
You can read Scott’s full story in the August edition of Owner//Driver magazine.
Photography: Peter Schlenk