Based in the small town of Finley, NSW family operated McNaughts Transport runs a 50-strong fleet of prime movers, with its Cummins-powered Kenworths being a staple of the operation.
The business runs combinations that include A-doubles, AB-triples, B-triples and B-doubles, with gross weights spanning 68 to 114 tonnes.
It has bases in Finley, Dubbo and Berrigan in NSW, providing general freight services that cover a wide range of bulk products including grain and fertiliser, and providing high-capacity storage facilities for these products.
The company also has a long-established relationship with one of Australia’s largest rice product producers.
McNaughts has grown off the back of a culture of looking after the people that do the work. It operates a highly visible and impeccably presented fleet but has been a quiet achiever.
Achieving cost-effect life from equipment and maintaining this equipment to the highest standards in the high gross weight applications is another strong focus.
Leading the family owned operation today is Daniel McNaught as CEO. He says a key focus is on business resilience, running the business on their terms and knowing the costs. If there’s a problem, it’s self-inflicted.
It’s also all about optimisation, looking for better solutions and working the trends better.
As a family company McNaughts works hard to attract and retain good.
Operations manager Darryn ‘Scoota’ McDonald had been with the company close to 30 years and seen it evolve from modest beginnings.
When he started with McNaughts, they had just four trucks – two T600 Anteater Kenworths with 435 hp Cummins N14 Red Head engines, a Western Star with a 525 hp Red Head, and a Kenworth cabover with a Big Cam 400 Cummins.
Today, the Cummins-powered Kenworths are in the hands of a man well-known and respected for his approach to maintenance, Brian Layton.
Brian previously worked for Ian Cootes for 24 years as workshop manager when the IR Cootes operation had a reputation as one of the country’s most immaculate fleets.
He rates Cummins’ support as “exceptional”, citing Cummins’ Newcastle, Wodonga, Laverton and Brisbane branches for special mention.
Discussing engine life, he believes operators are probably “expecting too much” in view of today’s much higher demands on equipment.
“Today’s trucks are running at higher gross weights while utilisation is higher to counter tighter margins, so engine load factors are consistently higher,” he said, pointing to the range of multi-trailer combinations McNaughts operates with gross weights up to 114 tonnes.
The company has settled on a standard X15 rating for its Kenworths – 600 hp with peak torque of 1850 lb ft – to achieve the best balance of performance and driveline durability.
“Engine oil changes are every 40,000km and we also do oil sampling at this point,” Brian said. “This gives us a very good picture of trends and when engine changeout is likely to occur.”
Drivetrain rebuilds are carried out at the McNaught workshop in Finley where four Filipino mechanics are based. “They’re doing a brilliant job,” said Brian, adding their recruitment has provided skill sets that are often hard to come by in a small town like Finley.
Brian noted that the Kenworths are far from basic-spec units. In recent times, the favoured models are the T909 and K200/220 and all have a fridge, microwave oven, TV, Icepak sleeper cab air conditioning and other options to ensure the drivers are well looked after.
“We’re looking at two lives with our T909s, refurbishing them at around 1.2 million kilometres and fitting Cummins X15e5 crate engines,” he explained, adding the trucks are still in excellent conditions after 2.4 million kilometres.
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