Meet Mactrans. The Queensland-based comany are heavy haulage veterans, which means this 200-tonne mining machine lift to Perth is mince meat
I’d once seen a driver grill a fatty pork chop on the sandwich press in the lunch room, so it shouldn’t surprise me that recent introductions with some wily trucking veterans were made over a dozen oysters.
But it did. Have you ever seen a truckie slurp back a dozen oysters at a country pub? Those grime-stained hands you shook earlier around the trailer now clasping at seafood?
I’m not an oyster man myself, but I sure do love the “who gives a rat’s” approach. Hardened by the independence that life on the road gives you, blokes like Athol are hard to come by.
There’s been rough times and hard times amongst it, but he’s still all right.
What I mean is, Athol’s vintage of truckie is an endangered species. The kind that started driving trucks around 13 years of age, born and bred on the land, and like Athol and many others from similar backgrounds, just “come to know them (trucks)”.
Athol’s boss – the owner of the iconic Mactrans Heavy Haulage, Mussy Deen – describes it as having “diesel in the blood”. However you label it, it’s a quality that has found Athol as the company’s longest-serving employee.
“When I started with Mactrans, Mussy had two trucks and two floats,” Athol recalls.
“I started with him just running up and down, back and forth, and as of January 2024, it’ll be 19 years I’ve been with him. There’s been rough times and hard times, but he’s still all right.”
Athol and Robbo are Mactrans’ men in the west, moving and delivering all the big WA jobs
Based on the two days I spent with Athol, I interprete those words as a compliment.
Then there’s Robbo. He’d have a differing opinion, but Athol says he’s his sidekick (we’ll leave it at that). Now in his 70s, Robbo admits he’s close to retirement – an old injury to his back has transitioned him out of the prime mover and into the driver’s seat of his Hilux. He’s Athol’s pilot vehicle driver.
In his youth, Robbo used to wag school to drive trucks. “Every time I clipped a gear I got a clip around the year,” he says. He started driving professionally around 1971.
The two met decades ago, as two truck drivers crossing paths on their way to or from another job. Now they’ve been working together for the past 10 years with Mactrans, and we’re following them on their latest journey.
Trucks are not just a job for me, it’s not just a money-earning piece of equipment … I’ve got a passion for the game and I love doing what I do.
Athol and Robbo are Mactrans’ men in the west. Both have been on this latest WA-stint nearing six months – moving, loading and delivering all of the big Western Australian jobs that come their way.
They planned to be back home on the east coast by Christmas if they were not too busy, but first, they’ve got a big move. A 200-tonne mining excavator from an embattled coal mine near Collie back to Perth.
Mussy Deen
While quite a few years younger than Athol and Robbo, Mactrans founder Mussy Deen is cut from that same cloth. A youth surrounded by trucks, Mussy would find himself helping out with servicing on his father’s fleet and driving in between school and on weekends.
“Around 13-14 was when I really got stuck into trucks. Diesel is in my veins, so to speak,” he tells me.
The challenge and the pressure to perform is what Mussy Deen loves about heavy haulage
“I was working for my old man up until I was 18 years of age. I then spread my wings and I went working for other companies before going out on my own after I saved a bit of money.
“Trucks are not just a job for me, it’s not just a money-earning piece of equipment or whatever. I’ve got a passion for the game and I love doing what I do.”
Pilbara Dog
Eyes light up when you mention heavy haulage – they’re the kings of the road, taking on some of the biggest and largest logistical challenges possible.
To Mussy, the challenge and pressure to perform is what he loves about his niche in the industry. “It’s big and the responsibility to the client is huge,” he explains. “Think about the chaining of the machine, how to load the machine, how to drive the machine.
It’s not a job you can sort of rush into and say, just throw the thing on and do a hundred miles an hour.
“It’s such a big thing to do before you even start loading and transporting.
“So, you look at the machine, go, right, that’s a 200-tonne machine. First of all, what comes through your head? How are you going to drive it? How are you going to chain it? Where are you going to position it?
“And then afterwards comes the excitement,” he adds. “Every day is a challenge, every single day you’re learning, it’s certainly a passion.
“You have a passion for what you do. You’ve got to love your job.”
Mactrans is known for sprinkling its magic touch on second-hand gear, including this Mack Titan
That passion he speaks of seeps into his gear. Known predominately for its fleet of Mack prime movers, which now is sprinkled with some Kenworths, one Bulldog in particular caught our attention.
Athol’s truck – the Pilbara Dog. “So, we bought that Mack Titan at an auction quite a few years ago,” Mussy says.
While it won’t shy away from a brand-spanking new truck, Mactrans is known for sprinkling its magic touch on second-hand gear.
“We looked at it and saw the potential that it could do up really nice, so we purchased it from a place in Adelaide,” Mussy says.
How are you going to drive it? How are you going to chain it? Where are you going to position it?
Mactrans shipped it back to Brisbane HQ, where it completely stripped it from the chassis rails up, painted it, rebuilt the engine, gearbox and differentials, and added a spectacular mural.
“It was a six-month process to get that sorted,” he adds. “Now the Pilbara Dog is based out of Western Australia with Athol.”
The move
Much of WA’s electricity is generated from the coal mines on Collie’s outskirts. The industry here has also seen its fair share of media scrutiny of late, not that Athol or Robbo take much notice of current affairs.
Their main focus? The busted-up 200-tonne Hitachi excavator, now positioned on their specialised Drake trailer combination.
Heavy haulage is a complex task. How are you going to chain it? How are you going to position it?
Using a five-dollar note as a toothpick, Athol explains the scenario.
“Well Harry, we’re moving this machine here. It’s got a damaged engine module, so we’ll be taking it back to Perth where it’s going in for repair.
“If all things go smoothly, we’ll leave here tomorrow morning at five o’clock and hopefully we’ll get into Perth before two o’clock tomorrow afternoon to roll it off.”
Things didn’t go smoothly. Come 5am the following morning, Athol, Robbo and the newly arrived Darren – the block truck driver – were nowhere close to leaving.
How are you going to drive it? How are you going to chain it? Where are you going to position it?
The restrictions, permits and requirements needed to haul such a machine is a job in itself, let alone the time needed to successfully dismantle it into transportable dimensions.
Even the machine’s handrails needed to be removed and stacked a certain way by machinery fitters so they could fit under bridges. Those handrails … had not been stacked correctly. Time for Athol to call the machine fitters.
Slow going
Heavy haulage is slow going. An accident or a hold-up at roadworks can chew up the day, and before you know it, you’re out of time. Plus, the convoy has a maximum speed of 80km/h.
But the scrambling to readjust and reconfigure the machine to ready it for departure made me tear my hair out.
An accident or roadworks can chew up the day, and before you know it, you’re out of time
I guess these are the demands of heavy haulage that Mussy spoke of, which prompted a conversation with Athol over oysters the previous night.
“It’s not a job you can sort of rush into and say, just throw the thing on and do a hundred miles an hour,” Robbo says calmly.
“I keep reckoning I’m going to retire, but I just hang around there to see what’s going to happen next,” he says.
Could he? I posed the question to him as we finally got the tick of approval to depart from the traffic escort warden.
I’m a diesel mechanic by trade, I could go back to the spanner? Stuff that, I’m over that. I got sick of whinging truck drivers, so I became one.
“What can you do?” he asks. “I’m a diesel mechanic by trade, I could go back to the spanner? Stuff that, I’m over that. I got sick of whinging truck drivers, so I became one.”
Gold!
Silly question, Harrison! Athol and Robbo are from that old-school trucking breed.
We were on the road by 7am and arrived in Perth before 2pm curfew. No holdups or roadworks in sight!
Success.
Athol has been driving for Mactrans for almost two decades, through rough and hard times
I left Athol, Robbo and ‘Darren the Block Truck Driver’ over a few handshakes, smiles and a new appreciation for the art of heavy haulage.
The trip was a success after all!
Maybe it was the oysters?
