Hand painted scrolls, lines and Woody Woodpecker, blinged up chrome and more make this Kenworth T909 stand out from the pack.
Purchased by Geoff Harvey, who runs Dubbo-based G & R Harvey Haulage, together with his wife Robyn Harvey, the truck hit the road in early April – with Geoff behind the wheel.
Geoff, 53, has named the truck ‘Hell Bent and Glory Bound’ and says he couldn’t be more stoked with how his new ride has turned out.
Like many who catch the trucking bug, Geoff was around trucks from an early age, with his father, grandfather and uncle all involved in the transport industry. During school holidays, he’d be around the trucks, any chance he got.
“I guess I just like the big shiny trucks,” said Geoff, who got his truck licence at 21 and hasn’t looked back. “I did a heap of different driving jobs over the years, working for different blokes – a lot of it was interstate. I went all over, even across to WA.”
It was back in 2006 that Geoff decided the time was right to go out on his own and buy his first truck, and with that G & R Harvey Haulage was born. “That truck was a second hand Kenworth T404 and pneumatic cement tanker. I bought that with a contract I did for about six to seven years.”
Since then, Geoff has had a few trucks in his fleet, with the number changing over the years, depending on demand.
Currently, he has three recently purchased Kenworths – the new 2025-model T909 he drives, pulling an AB-triple to cart things like grain and fertiliser, together with a T609 and a T604. “It’s all tipper work – just myself and two other drivers. I’ve only recently bought the other trucks, so one bloke has been with me about five months and the other about six weeks,” explained Geoff.
“These days I like staying closer to home where possible. I don’t travel interstate as much as used to. The work is mainly throughout New South Wales, but we’ll also travel into Queensland and Victoria when we need to.”
In fact when Big Rigs called, Geoff was in the truck, travelling through a small town called Fifield, in Central NSW, on his way to pick up a load of grain.
The flash new T909 replaces Geoff’s older T909, a 2013-model called ‘Hillbilly Deluxe’.
“I wanted to do something to celebrate our 20 years so thought it was a good time to buy myself a new truck. The other one was also getting older,” he said.
Powered by a 600hp Cummins X15 E5, pulling out 2050lb/ft of torque, and paired with an Eaton 22 series manual transmission, Geoff says his new set of wheels is great to drive. The ISRI Pro leather driver’s seat is comfortable, while the 50-inch bunk provides ample space on those longer trips, when needed.
Other features include a full double chassis rail, Hendrickson PRIMAAX suspension rated to 131 tonne GCM and a Meritor RPL driveline with 7.3 tonne steer axle.
Asked how he came up with the truck’s name ‘Hell Bent and Glory Bound’, Geoff said, “It was just for a giggle, I got in my truck one day and thought that worked for the new one.”
As for the tough-looking character on either side of the bonnet, he said, “I saw a picture of Woody Woodpecker one day and thought that would look really cool. David Petty from Monster Signs in Dubbo hand-painted that, along with the scrolls and line work. I was originally going to just put stickers but he talked me into getting it done like that. He did it all by hand and it’s turned out great.”
Monster Signs was also responsible for the custom Woody Woodpecker gearstick engraving too.
David and his team worked over the Christmas period to complete the traditional scheme on the truck – with a video they shared on Facebook racking up over 2 million views, before the truck was even handed over.
Armoury Group was responsible for the chrome work, adding custom stainless steel touches such as the wrapped tanks, bunk trim and drop visor, special order toolbox lids with Legend treads, low mount smooth drive guards, stone guard roof lights, rear sleeper flush lights and chrome wheels.
“Armoury did all the stainless for me. It’s the first time I’ve used them and they were really good to deal with. I worked with Nick Waddell at Inland Truck Centres to work out what we were going to do and then Armoury Group helped us bring it all to fruition,” Geoff said.
Armoury Group Project Manager, Nathan Greentree, said it was a pleasure working with Geoff Harvey on his special anniversary build. “While it did take longer than originally expected, we were very pleased to deliver this truck to Geoff and the team at Inland Trucks Dubbo looking so good. With a combination between Armoury standard parts, along with a few parts tailor made specifically to suit Geoff’s needs, we ensured this classic white cab/red chassis combo still manages to stand out from the crowd.”
As Nick at Inland Truck Centres added, “This build really was a team effort. Each supplier went above and beyond to ensure the finished product was first-class.”
While AJ’s supplied the bull bar, Dubb Vegas Detailing brought out the mirror shine on the steps.
Then inside, Kenworth was responsible for the crimson diamond pleated leather interior, offset with sandstone buttons, with ‘Harvey Haulage’ factory embroidered on the rear sleeper panel.
Custom Air completed the interior fit-out, with a special order crimson trimmed under-bed panel with Slave AC system outlets, TV, sound bar, microwave, inverter and a Custom Air diesel air conditioning system.
Seeing ‘Hell Bent and Glory Bound’ come up as well as it has, Geoff couldn’t be more thrilled with the end result. “My wife tells me this truck will be the last one I buy, but you never know,” he laughed. “After all these years I still enjoy driving and getting to meet new people. The work changes every day – it’s always different places and different people.”