Named Muttley and adorned in TradeMutt’s colourful ‘Razzle-Dazzle’ print, this new Mack Super-Liner first hit the road a few weeks ago in support of mental health group TIACS.
The newest addition to the Martins Stock Haulage fleet, the Mack Super-Liner definitely stands out in the crowd – and that was always the intention.
Following Muttley’s maiden run, Big Rigs spoke to general manager at Martins Stock Haulage Adam Ross about the truck and the message behind it.
Martins Stock Haulage now operates from three depots: its main headquarters at Scone, along with Oakey and Dubbo. While its main operations are centred around cattle and sheep transport, it also has a dangerous goods division too.
Muttley is based at Oakey and is being used to transport cattle all over Australia. Featuring a 58-inch sleeper cab, it’s a true workhorse, pulling a mix of B-doubles, B-triples and triple road trains.
Company driver, Aaron Girdler, is behind the wheel of the new truck. He took it out on its maiden run in mid August, heading up to the outback town of Tambo, before loading up with cattle and heading back down to Dinmore in Ipswich.
Due to the recent heavy rains in Queensland however, it returned covered in mud!
“It definitely came back ready for a wash,” said Adam. “Aaron absolutely loves the new truck and he’s right on board with its message. All of his work shirts are in the same Razzle Dazzle print, so he’s super proud to be driving it.”
TIACS (This is a Conversation Starter) is a professional mental health counselling service for tradies, truckies, farmers and blue collar workers. It was founded by TradeMutt, known for its range of eye-catching workwear, aiming to get people talking about mental health.
Martins Stock Haulage was started in 1958 by Gordon Martin when he began carting pigs and calves in the Singleton and Maitland areas of Queensland. From that first truck, the business has now grown into one of the country’s largest livestock carriers – with a fleet of 85 prime movers and around 270 trailers, travelling right across Australia.
While Gordon is still very much hands-on in his business, his son Jason Martin took the reins as a company director in 2018.
For many years, the company has been known for its vibrant yellow trucks, with all new prime movers coming into the fleet sporting the well-known Martins livery.
With the delivery of this new Superliner, it’s only the second time the company has deviated from its usual colours.
The first time came when Martins took delivery of its very first new Mack in August 2023. The pink Super-Liner, named ‘Pink Diamond’, was designed in support of women in the industry. Now, 12 months later, ‘Muttley’ joins the fleet, adding another pop of colour.
Though the fleet has traditionally been all Kenworth – including Martins’ milestone 350th Kenworth purchase, which came in the form of a Legend SAR, one of three of the same model delivered earlier this year – Martins has also been adding several Macks into the mix too.
Purchased from Western Truck Group, the Mack line-up is now made up of four Titans and eight Super-Liners.
Adam said, “Both Kenworth and Mack produce a very good product. We originally started looking at Macks through Covid. Western Truck Group have been very good to deal with – it’s a very well-oiled outfit,” said Adam.
Adam joined Martins Stock Haulage 16 years ago as a truck driver, eventually working his way up through various managerial roles and into his current position. Prior to that he had spent several years as a truck driver. “I’ve always had an interest in trucks,” he said.
Fittingly, Adam says the whole idea around the theme of the new Superliner came about by simply starting a conversation.
“Men’s mental health is something that has always been important to Jason, so this truck is his baby,” explained Adam.
“We’re a family owned and run company. All our staff are part of that extended family. A lot of men have difficulty talking about things that are going on in their lives, and this is particularly true of drivers, who are often away from home for periods and spend a lot of time alone in the cab. Jason’s seen a lot of this over his career, and we want to make sure we look after our people. Mental health’s a big part of that.
“After we did the pink truck, we wanted to do something around men’s mental health. At the Dalby Stock Horse Show, we ran into the team from TIACS and floated the idea, and that’s how it all came about.”
While there are many mental health organisations out there, Adam says TradeMutt and TIACS was a perfect fit for the new truck and the message the company wanted to spread out on the highways.
“We did a fair bit of homework and found that the boys at TradeMutt and TIACS have an open book policy, so you can see where all the money they raise is spent,” Adam added.
“It all goes back into their business, supporting guys through tough times. They’re so passionate about what they do and we thought, what can we do to help? So we got on board with this truck, to spread the message that it’s okay to ask for help.”
Prior to the new truck, Martins Stock Haulage had already been supporting TradeMutt for some time through its Funky Friday shirts.
“That Razzle Dazzle print is the same as the shirts we wear on Fridays, so that’s how we chose that print. We thought it would look pretty cool on a truck. On Fridays, anyone who comes to work not wearing the shirt donates $5 to the charity. But all our staff are on board and absolutely love wearing them,” said Adam.
Vice president of Volvo Trucks Australia, Tom Chapman, was behind the idea, with Ben Dare of Western Truck Group coordinating it all.
Bailey Print Group was tasked with wrapping the truck. Though they were more accustomed to wrapping vehicles on a smaller scale, as this was the first time wrapping an entire truck – Martins couldn’t be more pleased with the result.
Then the truck was off to The Bling Man for some finishing touches.
“The truck looks brilliant,” said Adam. “We’re in love with it and couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out.
“When we approached Bailey Print Group, we just told them to make it look cool and didn’t give them any restrictions. We also swapped out the grey interior for blue. It looks spectacular – and in the sunlight, it looks even better!
“The new Mack definitely stands out and starts a conversation. On its first run, our driver Aaron had so many people pulling him up, wanting a photo with the truck and wanting to know what it’s all about.”
If you or anyone you know would like to access TIACS and speak to a professional mental health counsellor, text or call 0488 846 988 Monday to Friday (8am to 10pm AEST).