The "other" Granite

[kscarbel2]

“Our Macks handle some of the worst conditions you’re likely to encounter.”

Mack Trucks Australia  /  August 2017

Jonesway Transport carry pre-fabricated houses all over Australia. Managing Director Steve Jones tells us why he uses Macks for the job.

Some of the Aboriginal communities and mine sites scattered around the Northern Territory and Western Australia are in some of the remotest places on earth. Yet they still need the basics, such as housing, but how do you get it there?

Enter Jonesway Transport. As specialists in moving pre-fabricated houses, Steve Jones’s company carries modular homes all over the country, even as far as the islands in Torres Strait.

“We do a lot of things, but our main area is in moving what they call ‘modular houses,’” says Steve, “we’ve got approximately 100 trailers and dollies, about 60 of which are low-loaders especially designed for carrying houses.”

Wind drag? You don’t know what wind drag is.

A typical load for Jonesway Transport doesn’t weigh that much, but a five-metre-wide piece of house certainly generates plenty of wind drag.

“We’d love to get better fuel economy,” says Steve, “but there’s not much we can do about the wind drag, it’s like a big sail pulling against the truck.”

Welcome to Mack country

Steve’s fleet consists of 45 trucks, most of them Mack Granites and Tridents, and by his own admission, Steve’s a Mack man through-and-through.

“We love Macks—you should see our boardroom, it’s covered in Mack paraphernalia—but it’s a lot more than just an emotional thing. Macks are the right truck for the job and they can handle some of the worst conditions you’re likely to encounter.”

Tanami tough

When he talks about tough conditions, Steve isn’t kidding. A recent job saw them carrying houses to an Aboriginal community north west of Alice Springs along the Tanami Track, a road notorious for its difficulty.

“We had to go up the Tanami Track and then turn off it and head inland,” says Steve, “but the Macks just keep on going.”

Jonesway Transport also featured in an episode of the TV series World’s Toughest Trucker, in which they delivered an entire medical centre to Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, 1,200 km east of Port Hedland and 850 km west of Alice Springs.

Getting better all the time

Steve’s obsession with Macks goes back a long way and looks set to continue.

“Macks have a reputation for being Bulldog tough and I reckon we’ve demonstrated that often enough,” says Steve, “we stick with them, not just because they’ve always been tough, simple and rugged trucks, but because they’re also getting better all the time. 

“The people at Mack have always looked after us, and the trucks are ideal for what we want to do. We take great pride in our vehicles, but the work isn’t easy on the trucks. Mack have always been our truck of choice because they can handle.

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[Lmackattack]

so they make a sleeper version Granite in Australia ?    is this not a repete of the failed Titan offerings here in the states?

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, Lmackattack said:

so they make a sleeper version Granite in Australia ?    is this not a repeat of the failed Titan offerings here in the states?

No, not at all.  The Australian Granite tractor (it's also available for vocational), and a spectacular truck it is, is a rather unique product. It's their R-model in year 2017.

Whereas the US market Granite uses the VHD chassis, the Australian Granite uses the VN chassis.

http://img06.en25.com/Web/VolvoAUS/{23b2ee29-64e1-48d0-8b50-d52a1ffefcc2}_granite_distribution.pdf

https://www.macktrucks.com.au/trucks/

 

[bbigrig]

A Mack sales friend of mine had an issue years ago with regards to a deal for multiple heavy tractors going into a fleet he sells to annually. The customer needed 16k front axles on the over 10 tractor deal but could supply the needed heavy front axle for the customer woth the Pinnacle platform. He had to spec Granite tractors with the 16k front axle to be compliant to the customers specs. 

He ended up losing the deal to Western star who could supply the 16k front axle in a well priced pack of units.  

Would you believe the Granite tractor spec cost more the a similar spec Western star.  The Pinnacle with a 14k front was in the proper price range. As soon as the spec had to be turned to Granite he lost the deal due to pricing against Western Star last year.

I believe you can now get a 16k front on a pinnacle.  Good timing 

[kscarbel2]

50 minutes ago, bbigrig said:

A Mack sales friend of mine had an issue years ago with regards to a deal for multiple heavy tractors going into a fleet he sells to annually. The customer needed 16k front axles on the over 10 tractor deal but could supply the needed heavy front axle for the customer woth the Pinnacle platform. He had to spec Granite tractors with the 16k front axle to be compliant to the customers specs. 

He ended up losing the deal to Western star who could supply the 16k front axle in a well priced pack of units.  

Would you believe the Granite tractor spec cost more the a similar spec Western star.  The Pinnacle with a 14k front was in the proper price range. As soon as the spec had to be turned to Granite he lost the deal due to pricing against Western Star last year.

I believe you can now get a 16k front on a pinnacle.  Good timing 

It is a fact. I hear at least one such story a week. But what do you expect from the group of non-truck people who has been running the Mack brand?

[TeamsterGrrrl]

The problem is that Volvo management in smug Sweden thinks they should be able to tell a farmer in South Dakota that they don't need off road capability and a sleeper cab in a tractor that makes round trips of hundreds of miles from farm fields to urban grain elevators. Paccar understands that and is happy to provide whatever the customer wants, be it a DAF cabover of a W900 conventional.

[james j neiweem]

I think that the Granite axle back makes for a sharp lowboy tractor. Although it may be under powered for some applications.

[41180]

In defense mack now offers a 16k front option on pinnacles so you can get a 60 70 inch bunk with a 16 front now. Step in the right direction but still no 15 or 16 liter option