Ballarat-based haulage company KT Preston can draw on over 60 years of sustained excellence as a container transport specialist. To maintain that high standard, the company called upon O’Phee Trailer’s marquee O’Phee BoXLoader to enhance its daily operation.
Established by Ken Preston in 1950, the eponymous business prides itself on being a one-stop container specialist, importing and exporting containers and offering general transport and warehousing to service clients in the Ballarat and Horsham area of Victoria.
“We are a true family business that started more than half a century ago,” says Tim Preston, Operations Manager at KT Preston. “To date, our main goal is servicing the community. We have preserved that attitude from generation to generation.” The third generation business currently employs 12 staff and controls a fleet of eight, comprising of both semi-trailers and B-doubles. Part of that fleet previously included a second-hand side loader, which was used to load containers onto every trailer. However, at the beginning of 2011, KT Preston felt it was time to make an upgrade in order to increase payload and efficiency. “After half a decade of using a side loader we felt we need a new and improved version to handle the increased volume of work,” says Tim.
Finding a solution proved to be no issue at all when KT Preston discovered O’Phee’s innovative O’Phee BoXLoader model. “It’s been 20 years since we first purchased an O’Phee trailer,” explains Tim. “We’ve stuck with them ever since because of the service and reliability. So when Mick O’Phee suggested the O’Phee BoXLoader would best suit our needs at the 2011 Brisbane Truck Show, we didn’t hesitate to give it a try. And, as soon as we brought it back to our site back in November, it went straight into operation.” The single/B-double and road train rated BoXLoader is the result of an international collaboration between O’Phee and French company BXL, which has gained renown in the European transport industry over the past 16 years. Equipped with light tare, high quality frame technology, the O’Phee BoXLoader uses BXL’s 35-tonne side loading crane. The crane is equipped with CAN Bus technology and oil pressure sensors measuring the position of lift arms, stabilisers, and the weight of the container itself to prevent any potential risk. The stabilizer legs on the trailer reach further than on a standard side loader, making the whole system stable.
According to Tim, the O’Phee BoXLoader is the perfect fit to their operation because of its double extension stabiliser, which can provide “excellent stability”, enabling it to handle containers of 20, and 40 feet. “Compared to our old side loader, the O’Phee BoXLoader gives us an lifting capacity weight of up to 35 tonnes. The safety features of the O’Phee BoXLoader also appealed to us because of its computerised loading system,” he says, referring to powerful software and computer system. From an operator’s standpoint, it can ensure a high technological level and a maximum optimisation of both crane and stabilizer performance. “People on the wharfs are so impressed by its sleek look and the smoothness it operates at.” More than anything, the O’Phee BoXLoader has already brought a sense of fluidity and efficiency to KT Prestons’ environment. The company can already feel the impact of the loader’s capabilities. “Using it has cut our operation time in half,” says Tim. “Before we brought the O’Phee BoXLoader in, loading and unloading a container would take six to seven minutes. Now we can be done in three minutes.”
