North Queensland's leading produce carrier has recently taken
delivery of its 200th Kenworth. Australia's premier heavy-duty
truck supplier, Kenworth Trucks presented Blenners Transport with
the keys to their 200th Australian designed and built Kenworth.
Blenners Transport's milestone truck is a Kenworth K200 with a
550hp Cummins ISXe5 engine and a factory-installed Brown and Hurley
50th Anniversary detail package.
Managing Director of PACCAR Australia, Mike Dozier handed-over
the K200's keys to Blenners Transport's Managing Director, Les
Blennerhassett at a recent ceremony held at the Kenworth Bayswater
plant in Melbourne.
Mr. Dozier congratulated Les Blennerhassett, saying that
Blenners Transport's 200th Kenworth was a major achievement and
should be recognised as a proud milestone for the family-owned
transport company.
"The production and delivery of Blenners Transport's 200th
Kenworth marks a tremendous milestone for the Blennerhassett
family, the Blenners Transport organization, and for Kenworth,"
said Mike Dozier. "It's appropriate that Blenners' 200th Kenworth
is the flagship K200 cab-over, as it's the preferred choice of
truck for many Australian produce carriers.
Mr. Dozier said that Kenworth trucks had been with the
Blennerhassett family from the beginning, and their 200th Kenworth
is testament to the strength of Kenworth's Australian engineered,
designed and manufactured model range.
"That Kenworth trucks continue to be the mainstay at Blenners
Transport, and have been for 27 years, is evidence of Kenworth's
strong engineering and high production values. As well, it's also a
tribute to the committed support of Kenworth's nationwide sales and
service network.
"Kenworth understands the daily demands Australian road
transport must face," Mr. Dozier explained. "Our trucks are
designed to meet those unique challenges and Kenworth is dedicated
to building trucks that offer Australian road transport class
leading efficiency and productivity. We thank Blenners Transport,
and the many transport operators like the Blennerhassett family,
who have allowed Kenworth to support their businesses over many
years."
Les Blennerhassett's journey started nearly 30 years ago on a
North Queensland banana farm, when he and wife, Judy began trucking
their own produce to market. From the beginning, Kenworth have been
a vital part of the Blenners Transport operation.
"We got our first Kenworth - a T650 - back in 1988," Les
Blennerhassett recalled. "That was the start of our relationship
with Kenworth and with Brown & Hurley.
"We now have a mix of Kenworth models; some K200s on B-Doubles,
and T609s and T409s on linehaul and road train work.
"They're a strong, proven truck," Les said of his 27 years of
operating Kenworths. "Our customers demand reliable, scheduled
deliveries, which means we must operate the best possible equipment
available... that's Kenworth.
"The drivers love 'em and Brown and Hurley are very professional
people to deal with."
Blenners specialise in the transport of fresh produce, bananas,
mango's and avocado's from North Queensland to Melbourne, Sydney,
Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane with return loads to Brisbane and
North Queensland.
Blenners Transport took delivery of its latest K200 at
Kenworth's Bayswater plant in Melbourne. Blenners Transport's
200th Kenworth is also a limited-edition 50th
Anniversary Brown and Hurley Kenworth - one of only 50 Kenworths
that have been built to celebrate the dealership's half century of
Kenworth sales, support and service.
These individual Kenworths are exclusive to the Brown and Hurley
Group's network of dealerships and all have been sold.
"Ours is number 27," Les said of the Brown and Hurley 50th
Anniversary Kenworths. "Which is exactly the number of years we
have been dealing with Kenworth and Brown and Hurley."
Len Roberts, Dealer Principal at Brown and Hurley, Townsville
can remember back to 1988 when he sold Les his first Kenworth.
"Tony (Tony Burton, KW Sales at Brown and Hurley, Townsville)
and I sold Les his first truck, a Kenworth T650. He was a banana
farmer and needed a truck to cart his bananas to market.
"I consider Brown and Hurley to be a positive partner with its
customers and Les is a great example of that - he started as a
customer and is now a good friend.
"His son, Roger completed his diesel mechanics' apprenticeship
with us, then managed Blenners' maintenance department for 7 years
and he now manages the company's southern loading from their
Brisbane depot.
Over the past 27 years, Blenners Transport has grown to become
one of North Queensland's most trusted names for refrigeration and
produce transport. The company operates a national fleet of 80 line
haul combinations, including singles, B-doubles and road
trains.
The Blenners Transport head office is strategically located in
Tully, the centre of North Queensland's major produce growing
region, and is complemented by depots in Brisbane, Mackay,
Townsville, Innisfail, Cairns and Mareeba.
Kenworth trucks are designed and manufactured in Australia to
meet the world's toughest applications. Kenworth, a division of
PACCAR Australia, is market leader in heavy duty trucks in
Australia. Its trucks are also exported to New Zealand and Papua
New Guinea. PACCAR Inc, a Six Sigma company, is a global technology
leader in the design, manufacture and customer support of
high-quality light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks under the
Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. PACCAR also designs and
manufactures advanced diesel engines, provides financial services
and information technology, and distributes truck parts related to
its principal business.
For further information:
Andrew Mills
Marketing Services Manager
PACCAR Australia
Tel: (03) 9721 1500