Wild Desert is a family-owned, well-servicing company that was founded in Roma, Queensland in 2005. The core of our business is providing and operating our well-servicing rigs for oil and gas producers including Santos, Arrow Energy and Beach Energy, but don’t be fooled – this wouldn’t be possible without our large transport department.
It all began with our very first truck, ‘Old Sulky’, a 1991 Western Star 4964 heritage with a 68-inch bunk. We purchased this truck back in 2004 and 18 years later, it is still here with us. Having just undergone a full refurbishment, it is about to meet the bitumen again.
Today, we are proud to own a fleet of 42 trucks consisting of Macks, Kenworths, Internationals and Western Stars, all equipped for long distance haulage and the rigours of the harsh outback conditions.
All our trucks tow various configurations of road train and B-double combinations, such as tankers, vac trailers, fridge vans, heavy haulage floats, flat tops and drop decks. Not to mention our bed trucks, or better known as rig trucks, which carry out the loading/unloading and spotting of the rig and camp equipment. These are a mixture of large off-road units and registered units, including the tough, well-known, K-Series Kenworth.
Our well-servicing rigs, as well as our mobile camps that keep our crews fed and well rested, can move around very frequently (on average every four days) and the distance can be anywhere from 2 to 800 kilometres.
These ‘rig moves’ consist of moving both the rig and the camp dongas, which as a combination, amount to roughly 20 loads. Given the remote nature of the well sites, road conditions can be so tumultuous that a 100-kilometre trip can take as long as four to five hours.
Rock, sand, floodplains, black soil, mountainous hills, and steep terrains are just a few of the challenging landscapes that our trucks and our drivers encounter along the way, all the while managing the 40+ degree heat.
Along with facilitating our rig moves, our trucks also provide general freight to the remote locations of our seven rigs and eight camps through a fortnightly ‘supply run’ of diesel, food, water, parts and general supplies.
While the Wild Desert transport fleet predominantly covers ground throughout Queensland and South Australia, there is still no place in Australia that we don’t go or haven’t been.
We pride ourselves on the maintenance and tidiness of equipment through our in-house trade team of fabrication, electrical and mechanical experts, as well as our valued, local partners including Lucas Truck Repairs in Toowoomba. We invest a lot of money and time into the refurbishment of our trucks and ground-up rebuilds. From bare chassis, to engine, diff and gearbox rebuilds, to complete cab refurbs and fresh paint. Our image on the road needs to match what we do and who we are.
But although our Wild Desert trucks look polished, make no mistake, they are workhorses. When the job is on, it’s on.
To take a drive on the ‘Wild’ side, contact careers@wilddesert.com.au.