Matthew Kenny enjoyed driving Garden Grove Haulage’s Kenworth T408, but he’s much more at home in the company’s colourful new T909.
In 2012, South Australian company Garden Grove Haulage became the first transport operator to introduce five-axle dog trailers into the state. The fleet now has three of the highly productive combinations which utilise performance based standards (PBS) certification for route access.
The fleet is also one of the most visually striking in South Australia, the colour livery on the trucks and trailers depicting tropical sceneries.
Matthew Kenny drives a near-new Garden Grove Haulage Kenworth T909, hauling a five-axle dog trailer, after stepping out of a T408 truck and dog.
Matthew says he was happy to have the T408 from new in 2011, but the 909 is something else again.
The new rig has a little more bling, and is the first truck in the fleet to have painted tanks. As part of its customisation it has wombat flaps and mudflaps under the factory fitted bar.
The Truck Factory in Adelaide fitted the additional stainless steel and extras, including additional lights, tank trims, mirror covers, elephant ears, grill bars, bug deflector and stainless steel V-drop visor.
The bunk on the 909 is a standard 36-inch (91cm), but is more user friendly than the 408 mid-roof bunk, plus it’s around 10cm deeper. Being almost 2m tall, Matthew finds it a lot easier to sleep in the new bunk.
The fridge is under the bunk and Matthew says a TV is on its way.
For the artwork, the trailers are wrapped by Matt Bowering from Panagraphix, who also designs the murals which are painted on the truck cabs.
Matthew called the 408 ‘Sweet Dreams’ and his name for the new 909 is ‘Workin’ On a Dream’. The rig is still very new but Matthew couldn’t be happier.
For more on Matthew Kenny and the Garden Grove Haulage fleet, see the January 2015 edition ofOwner//Driver.
Photography: Peter Schlenk