Rodney Young has personally steered his earthmoving business, Young’s Earthmoving, in the Pilbara for over 40 years.  His 30-plus dozers, excavators, graders and loaders are a familiar sight across the Pilbara and into the Kimberley. 

His trucks need to work at maximum capacity on sometimes very poor roads, so for the latest upgrade of his water tanker fleet, he picked the Iveco Trakker.

“I wanted something stronger than the usual,” he said after his latest unit arrived from Perth. “The 6x6 Trakker gives me 450hp and 2200Nm of torque, and because of the 33-tonne GVM we can put a large 20000-litre water tank on the back and get anywhere my machinery can go.”

He said the standard 6x4 water cart restricts the unit to graded mine site roads and allows no multi-role use when an incident occurs, such as a fire that needs immediate attention. “That’s when I need something to go where the rest of my gear is, usually in steep terrain,” he said. “I can lock up the diffs and head for the scene without worrying that I’ll get stuck on the way or worse still, stuck at the fire.”

Rodney’s 6x6 Trakkers are rated to 70-tonne GCM, which allows him to hook up an additional 32,000l semi-water cart, or a five-axle dog trailer and head for the bush to set up a work camp, giving him multiple options for his remote desert work. His first Trakker was the previous model, and his experience with the unit convinced him to order two more. 

Building and maintaining roads for shires and mining companies across the North-West is a tough job, and Rodney found that other brands in this weight range didn’t cope with the pounding his vehicles suffer every day. “They all start to rattle. The Ivecos are the only trucks that take the punishment I hand out.”

Iveco’s EuroTronic II 16-speed transmission is one of ZF’s smoothest gearboxes, although virtually all of the 1620km delivery run was at a steady 100km/h cruise. 

The Iveco Trakker’s ease of driving will allow a wide range of employees to drive the trucks, a key requirement for an outfit that tries to broaden the horizons of many young outback people who often have trouble finding work.

Durability is crucial to a truck’s total cost of ownership. That’s why Rodney has shifted his off-road fleet to Iveco. 

Contact the AV Trucks Sales Team here today.