Troy gets dream Kenworth

[kscarbel2]

Owner/Driver  /  January 16, 2017

Working in a transport yard from age 10 gave Troy McLean a much-needed truck education before eventually getting behind the wheel. Now he’s in his own 2008 T908.

Troy McLean spent 13 years working as a driver but always had the desire to have a truck he could call his own.

That finally happened 13 years ago and he’s now doing runs in a 2008 Kenworth T908.

"I first looked at buying my own truck when I was around 21 or 22 years of age," Troy recalls.

"Things didn’t come together back then and I got talked out of it. Anyway, the opportunity arose so I jumped at it.

"We had looked at being owner-drivers a couple of times and hadn’t made the move.

"My wife Jackie said that if I didn’t do it this time, not to talk about it again," he laughs.

"I think Jackie had had enough."

That first truck, a 1994 Ford LTL Kentucky, had a 425 Cat under the bonnet.

Through word of mouth, Troy heard of a business that was seeking an operator to cart plasterboard. He did his first trip as an owner-driver and, pulling up in front of the company’s factory, approached after he’d heard they were looking for someone to do their cartage. He has been with them ever since.

Troy, however, had his heart set on a Kenworth, so the LTL was traded in on a K104 Aerodyne. This was joined by a new Western Star truck and dog tipper unit.

Under the name of TJ & JJ McClean, the couple employed a driver that Troy put to work on the Calder Freeway extension to Bendigo. Eventually a second Aerodyne joined the fleet but then Troy decided to consolidate and go after the truck he always wanted. He sold the two Aerodynes and Western Star and bought a T908.

It has a Cummins ISX EGR set at 620hp up front, an 18 speed manual gearbox with the rear end riding on Kenworth’s 8 bag air suspension.

Troy lives at Campbell’s Creek near Castlemaine and uses the 908 to pull a tautliner, doing either one or two trips a day between Bendigo and Melbourne.

"I had always been working towards getting a ‘9-0’. I just wanted that long bonnet," he says.

"It’s as good as I thought it would be. I just love it and it’s beautiful to operate, a real driver’s truck."

The T908 is impeccably presented and looks brand new, Troy admitting it’s fairly well pampered.

It gets washed and polished regularly, with either Troy cleaning it himself or son Bradley helping out.

Troy says Bradley, an apprentice panel beater, is absolutely "truck mad".

It’s a real family affair, with Jackie handling all the bookwork.

"I’ve never really done any of that side of it," Troy admits.

"Jackie has always looked after the office work.

"I just come home and put the dockets on the bench and she does the rest. She is the biggest asset I have."

With the T908 looking the goods, it was a no-brainer to take it to last year’s Rotary Castlemaine Truck Show.

"Jackie said as long as we’ve got a truck, it’ll be at our local truck show."

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