Kenworth has celebrated the achievements of Dave and Kevin Murada of Metal Transport Industries as part of its celebrated Kenworth Legends series.
The twin brothers were honoured at the ATA’s annual conference in Canberra last week, where they reflected on their long careers in the transport industry.
Dave and Kevin founded Metal Transport Industries 45 years ago with their brother Peter, who sadly passed away in 1992.
In the early days, they did a lot of interstate work, carting scrap metal for BHP, which is now BlueScope.
As time went on, they moved into heavy haulage, carting up to 90-tonne loads.
“At one stage with the scrap, we were hiring our dad’s machines to do our jobs,” said Dave.
“He had excavators with shears on them to cut scrap, and a loader machine that you put a magnet on, to lift the scrap.
“Because we moved machinery, we had people ringing us up to come and move their machinery, so the heavy haulage side slowly grew.”
The brothers, who are from Wollongong in NSW, enjoy the heavy haulage work because of the many challenges it brings
“You’ve got to have your wits about you when you get heavy and wide and high,” Kevin said.
“There’s a bit of pressure on you when you’re up and down the highway, especially with narrow bridges.
“There are so many damned if you do, damned if you don’t decisions that you have to make.”
While Dave spends more time in the office these days, Kevin still gets out on the road.
“I’m just not an office person,” Kevin said. “I think I did it a little bit in the 90s but it wasn’t for me.”
Dave joked: “You can imagine how well his office stint went.”
They are big fans of the Kenworth brand and said they were happy to be named Kenworth Legends.
“The Kenworth brand has been with the company since 1979,” Kevin said.
“We love the product, we’ve been around for a long time, we’ve survived and the Kenworth trucks are here to stay.”