Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo 2016

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Owner/Driver  /  October 26, 2016

Bright weather, Wall of Fame inductions and a rise in truck numbers were the highlights of the 2016 Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo

This year’s Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo, only the second running of the event, saw a significant rise in trucks turning up.

Local owners, operators and drivers arrived to support the event. Deniliquin is in the middle of a productive agricultural area which relies on the transport industry.

This year’s event, held on September 10, took place on the banks of the Edward River.

The previous night, close on 200 people attending a dinner, which saw the first two inductees onto the Deni Wall of Fame.

Fourteen people were nominated and David ‘Sherbie’ Grimison in addition to Alan and Kate Murphy were inducted. Sadly Kate passed away in March.

Deni Truck Show committee president John Creenaune says three independent judges selected the inductees.

"Everyone was worthy of winning and the remaining 12 are automatically re-nominated for 2017," John explains.

The wall is being constructed in a parking bay east of Deniliquin and will be officially opened in the next couple of weeks.

Prominent speakers at the dinner included Maggie Welsh from TransHelp, Paul Fellows winner of the John Murphy Memorial Safety Award from TruckSafe, and Brendan ‘Bumper’ Farrell from Burrumbuttock Hay Runners.

John Creenaune says it was a battle to get Bumper to the dinner on time.

"He had broken down up the top of Townsville. It took a bus trip and four air flights to get him here, arriving just in time for tea," John smiles.

Bumper also opened the truck show on Saturday morning before heading back to Townsville.

"Isn’t the transport industry fantastic? Bumper had a bit of a gearbox problem and by the time he gets up there it will be ready to go again."

The auction was one of the highlights of Saturday.

The public attended in good numbers and were able to get up close and personal with trucks, operators, police with vehicles, the Rural Fire Service and many other industry suppliers with a range of vehicles from new trucks and to bull bars and semi-trailers.

Well washed

One of the first to line up on Saturday morning was Aaron Hayes in one of Mahoney’s T909s. The previous day Aaron was at a Deniliquin wash bays, removing the road grime and bugs.

Aaron had just delivered a load of hay and took the Saturday off to attend the show before heading home the next day. Mahoney’s are based down in Colac in Victoria and their white prime movers with green tippers are a common sight.

"I’ve got a couple of mates on the organising committee here and came to support them and get behind a good cause" he says.

Aaron has had the T909 for two years, the first of that model he has driven, and loves it.

"Generally I’ll be pulling tippers carrying anything that will tip out the back," he explains.

"We basically cover Victoria and the lower half of NSW.

"All the gear is well looked after so it is great to come and show it off."

Helen’s wheels

Helen Dann takes a lot of pride in her well-travelled Mercedes-Benz. Helen didn’t have far to travel to the shower, however, being based at Mathoura, about 20km south of town.

"It’s a poor woman’s Kenworth," she laughs. "It will do until I get a Kenworth."

The Benz is an ex-Shell fuel truck and came with green guards so Helen has kept the green running through the truck.

Helen has been driving trucks since she was 17, getting her licence in NSW.

"I moved to Victoria and swapped it for a Victorian licence so I could start driving trucks sooner," she explains. "You have to be 21 in NSW.

"I was very keen to get behind the wheel; I love trucks and driving them," she adds.

Helen was one of the 14 nominees up for induction into the Deni Wall of Fame. She has already been inducted into the Alice Springs Wall of Fame.

"I’ve run three trucks, I had a business and today I have the Benz.

"I’ve had it for a year. We use it for farm work, carting hay at present."

Helen says she has a dream of one day going ice-road trucking. "It’s one of the things on my bucket list."

One of the 909s

Mitch Grey rolled up to the show in one of Wade Hannasky’s T909s. Not only was it an opportunity to show off the truck, but also to catch up with a few mates.

"This is our newest one and identical to three other 909s in the fleet," Mitch explains. "They are traded at 700,000 and are a great truck. You can’t go past it for our work."

Hannasky, based at Echuca, hauls livestock, which Mitch enjoys. He says he has known Wade for many years.

"Between the family farm and this it keeps me busy but I love it," he says. "The Australian border is pretty much where I go – everywhere."

Toy show

Lindsay McKenzie drove an old Kenworth SAR up to Deniliquin, also using the occasion to catch up with his daughter Leonie.

A former Deniliquin resident of most of his life after a truck driving career of 44 years, Lindsay now lives in Traralgon in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

"I retired four years ago and built myself a toy," he says of the SAR. "Leonie’s life is up here and it is a chance to come and say hello to a lot of mates."

The SAR is on historical plates and is in immaculate condition, a far cry from when he first laid eyes on it.

"It was a bit of a mess but we brought it back up," Lindsay says. "It’s got all the good gear, is B-double rated and has air bag suspension."

Despite the SAR, he admits he is a ‘Mack man’.

"I always had Superliners but when it came to just having one to play with, I chose an SAR simply because it was affordable in comparison to a Mack."

Winning Cat

Laura Annette had brought up D&K Walker’s Cat tip truck to the show. After helping out in Walker’s landscaping business in Kilmore, Laura’s love of trucks and passion to drive now sees her driving the Cat.

"I first started driving for my uncle, driving his little boom lift and it went from there," Laura says. "Driving the Cat is challenging but I don’t mind a challenge and can handle the manual gear box.

"I can’t reverse the dog trailer but I’m learning," she smiles. "You’ve got to start somewhere and I am enjoying it."

The truck show was a chance to show the Cat off, which picked up the Best Truck 4-9 Years trophy, and have a weekend away.

Laura’s boss, Brad Walker explained that Laura nearly drove him crazy, wanting to have a go in the Cat.

"I gave her a go, took her out a few times, teaching her on our little rigid," Brad recalls.

"Laura is very good and after a while we tried with the trailers with lighter loads and she is good enough to be going by herself.

"She’s competent and a real good steerer!"

Purple people meeter

Kieran Pascoe has his bright purple Mack Super-Liner on show at Deniliquin. Based in nearby Finley, Kieran’s truck certainly stands out in a crowd.

Kieran keeps the Mack busy pulling a tipper road train around NSW, mainly running up to the north of the state.

The Mack is four years old with Kieran picking it up in October 2012 and completing 491,000km since.

"It has performed really well with plenty of horsepower while being good on fuel," He smiles. "It’s fully automatic, it has got to be with the MP10 and its 685hp. I’m actually extremely impressed with the auto."

Due to work commitments Kieran missed last year’s Deni Truck Show.

"Everybody should support anything to do with the locals, and this is a really good truck show," he adds. "It’s run very well and it’s good to be here."

Along the Murray

The Frankling Transport team, based at Koondrook on the Murray, drove the 90km to Deniliquin show off their three Kenworths.

Owner and driver Darren Frankling says the company specialises in bulk cartage, especially grain.

"Deni and the local area has a lot of trucks and it’s a good indication of the transport in this area by just how many trucks have turned up here," Darren says.

He is looking forward to a good season with a favourable harvest predicted.

"Everything is positive at this stage as long as the rain knows when to stop," he says.

Frankling driver Evan Whitbourne attended the dinner on Friday evening and came away impressed.

"They inducted a couple of local transport identities here onto the Wall of Fame and it went off very well."

Frankling Transport went on to win the Best Fleet award.

Back in numbers

The O’Loughlin Excavations’ trucks arrived from Cobram, the team forced to give them a final wipe over after driving through a rain shower along the way.

"That’s the joys of trucking," says John Hill. "These get down and dirty but it’s good to have them all cleaned up."

John came to the inaugural Deni show, and enjoyed it so much he came back with two trucks from the company’s five-strong fleet for this year’s event.

"It’s another great day; a ripper," he adds. "We’ll enjoy it and catching up with other drivers.

Deniliquin Truck Show Winners

Truck of the Show: Matthew Clarke, Tongala Vic, 2010 Kenworth K108

People’s Choice: Leo Kelly, Edenhope Vic, 1984 Kenworth W Model

Muscles Gray Memorial Award: Clinton McKinnon, Narellen NSW, 2006 Kenworth T904

Best Truck Under 3 years: Gray’s Transport, Finley NSW, 2016 Kenworth T950

Best Truck 4-9 years: D&K Walker Transport, Kilmore Vic, 2010 Cat CT630

Best Truck 10-25 years: Clinton McKinnon, Narellen NSW, 2006 Kenworth T904

Best Truck 26-39 years: John Kerr, Bendigo Vic, 1988 Mack Superliner

Best Truck 40 years & over: Neil Scott, Deniliquin NSW, 1936 Maple Leaf Tray body

Best Rigid: Duanueo Kemp, Cranbourne North Vic, 2003 Kenworth T404ST

Best Local Truck: Sam Armytage, Deniliquin NSW, 2011 Kenworth K200

Best Fleet: Frankling Transport, Koondrook Vic

Picture gallery - https://www.ownerdriver.com.au/events-news/1610/deniliquin-truck-show-and-industry-expo-2016