Nothing says celebration like a brand new Western Star

[kscarbel2]

Big Rigs  /  June 30, 2017

Some celebrate a milestone with a cake, others do it with flowers, the Easters however marked their milestone with a brand new Western Star.

More specifically Brisbane fleet family K.S Easter welcomed in their 200th truck, a classic Easter tangerine, 4800FXB Western Star fit with a Detroit DD15 and a Eaton 18 speed ultra shift gearbox under the hood.

"We celebrate when the circumstances call for it," Ken Easter said in his dry tone, allowing a slight smile to escape from his lips.

He was doing the Friday afternoon rounds of the depot on yet another busy afternoon, surveying the comings and goings.

While Ken said he knows pretty much all that goes on around the yard, turns out the added extras on the 200th truck were left as a surprise.

Thanks to the help of a few faithful suppliers and his sons Matt and Ken Jr. 

The Celebration 

"I looked after the pre-delivery on the finished and accessories, when we got her in I decided to do one or two things extra," son and Manager Matthew Easter said.

"We did it all behind his back as a bit of a surprise."

Unfortunately the team eventually had to reveal their secret, when the vehicle didn't arrive as promptly as the others usually did.

"Only a few knew what the truck looked like. It wasn't turning up, people started to make the assumptions.

"When we did tell him and he ended up getting pretty excited about it, he doesn't get excited too often so that was pretty cool," Matt said.

Some of the additions that were included involved adding the company name the the bumper, custom pipes, tank wraps, one off steps and grill.

The vehicle also comes equipped with hundreds of LED lights.

"We also added the names of all the suppliers that backed us, I really want to thank them all for the amazing work they had put into it," Matt said.

"They are products we stand by support, and in turn they stand by and support us.

"As the 200th truck and with all the work put into it, it was worth a bit of attention," he said.

As a family business the team saw it was a milestone that had to be shared with the next generation.

"I took my kids out of school for the day when it arrived, its one of those moments I wanted my kids to come down and be part of, put their finger prints on it," Matt laughed.

"My dad started business in 1976, my oldest brother Kenny is the general manager and in March my son Dylan (13) started working in the washbay.

"You got to know the bad jobs before you know the good jobs."

With a solid base of loyal customers and dedicated employees K.S Easter have continued to grow steadily over the past three to four years.

"Ideally our growth continues in proportion to the growth of our customers, steadily," he said.

The company growth has been behind the purchase of a section of land close to the depot, which they will develop.

The Star

A long‐standing customer of Penske Commercial Vehicles and the Brisbane Truck Centre, KS Easter has purchased 41 Western Star trucks over the last five years with more in the pipeline.  

"We have had a long relationship with Penske, the Brisbane Truck Centre and Western Star, and the 4800 and 5800 trucks have long been a winner for us," Eldest son and General Manager Ken Easter Jr (pictured above) said.   

"We have many Detroit‐powered Western Star trucks in our fleet which have covered millions of kilometres and we've always found them to be very reliable and fuel efficient, and have great driveability.  

"I have always had a soft spot for American equipment and have a real affinity for the brand so we are definitely looking to continue buying Western Star 4800 and 5800s."  

Penske Commercial Vehicles Managing Director, Kevin Dennis, said the long relationship with KS Easter was based on understanding the customer's business.  

"We have worked with Ken and his family for a long period and have taken the time to understand his requirements," said Mr Dennis.

 "As KS Easter celebrates their 40th year in the transport industry this year, we look forward to continuing to provide the trucks that keeps the business moving."

Vehicle and engine supplier

• Brisbane Truck Centre

• Western Star

• Penske

• Detroit Diesel

Accessories:

• Highway Lights

• Fleetmark Brisbane

• Briskair

• AJ's

The Driver

Still brand new, the Western Star has already attracted some major attention online and will no doubt be catching eyes for years to come.

Driver Shane Warne, described as a good bloke and "OCD with the way he looks after his truck", was lucky enough to secure her as his regular drive.

"I'm feeling pretty good about her, she looks great," Shane said.

"Yeah I'm pretty proud to have been able to look after this one," he said. 

Big Rigs caught up with him just as he was headed off to the Grafton Show, but not before his favourite co-pilot, his three year old daughter Caitlyn, was able to give it her tick of approval. 

"Caitlyn loves her, she loves trucks especially the lights." 

The cheeky three year old happens to love trucks so much she talks to her dad about them any chance she gets. 

"I was out on the road a few weeks back and I got a call in the middle of the night," he said. 

"I picked it up and she must have taken gotten on her mums phone  and managed to facetime me. 

"Turns out all she wanted to see was the lights," he laughed. 

"So I was out there in the middle of the night facetiming the truck for her to see." 

Unfortunately the Tangarine Machine missed on any of the Grafton Truck Show Gongs, with the K.S. Easter black Swede scoring a few.

.

[BillyT]

That's a "righteous looking horse" where's the "roo guard"

[kscarbel2]

Australian-spec Western Stars still look like respectable trucks.

Whereas in North America, they're promoting the hideous looking 5700 XE (below).

.

 

[fxfymn]

Apparently fuel mileage means less to the Aussies than it does to North American operators. If you want to make them streamlined they are all going to have the same basic shape.

[kscarbel2]

28 minutes ago, fxfymn said:

Apparently fuel mileage means less to the Aussies than it does to North American operators. If you want to make them streamlined they are all going to have the same basic shape.

With diesel twice as expensive as the US, Australian operators care a great deal about fuel economy, while they at the same time care about performance, reliability and durability. 

[fxfymn]

And yet every one of the trucks in the picture features a massive air dam for a bumper and sacrifices streamlining for external stacks, etc. so I'm guessing that this operator doesn't value high mileage so much.

My thought is that you can't blame Western Star for making and marketing the trucks that fleets actually want to own, not to fit our image of what a truck should look like. Unless you are a small niche builder you aren't going to be in business long if you don't make a product the customer actually wants to buy in sufficient numbers to be profitable.

[HeavyGunner]

On 7/1/2017 at 7:50 AM, kscarbel2 said:

Australian-spec Western Stars still look like respectable trucks.

Whereas in North America, they're promoting the hideous looking 5700 XE (below).

As far as fleet trucks go I actually kind of like this one. Saw one in white the other day and with its squared off shape it looks kind of tough...at least for a fleet truck. 

[Timmyb]

On 7/1/2017 at 8:04 PM, fxfymn said:

Apparently fuel mileage means less to the Aussies than it does to North American operators. If you want to make them streamlined they are all going to have the same basic shape.

That's why we pull B-doubles or road trains. Two semi's couldn't come near a road train for fuel economy. Streamlined or not. 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Australia also has overall length limits, which rules out long tapered body shapes for most rigs.