South Australian Bordertown based truck operator says Mack has become an integral part of its fleet since Peter Karger started Bordertown Haulage and Trading (BHT) in 1980.
The company, often referred to simply as BHT operates as far afield as Esperance in Western Australia and Townsville in north Queensland, with its tippers and dropdeck flat tops delivering grain, hay, gypsum, gravel and general freight across the country.
In 2006 Angus Karger, took over the business from his father Peter and says Macks have been around his entire life.
“I joined the business in 1982, the day I was born, there’s a picture of me when I was a baby, standing in Dad’s old R600 with my hands on the steering wheel,” said Angus Karger.
“So I was probably always going to get a Mack myself,” he added.
According to Karger it wasn’t a snap decision, with the company having tried trucks from a range of other manufacturers, but says that they were consistently found to be unreliable, expensive to maintain, or simply out of date when it came to technology.
However the truck operator said that when Mack introduced models that featured disc brakes and mDRIVE automated manual transmissions as standard, the decision made itself
“We’re only a small family business, but we’ve always been all-in on safety,” Karger junior added.
“We started out early on putting disc brakes on our trailers, and we were always looking for automatics, so when Mack brought out the Super-Liner it fitted our requirements perfectly,” he said.
BHT acquired two more Super-Liners, including Centenary models, all of which are we are told are maintained through Mack service agreements.
“I’m a diesel mechanic, but I know my limitations, so I look after a couple of the old trucks, but Mack do all our servicing, and that’s one reason they’re so reliable.,” Karger said.
“I like that Mack take responsibility for the whole truck, there’s none of this ‘that’s someone else’s problem’ stuff,” he said.
After growing up in the house that still sits in the front of the depot, Angus Karger went to boarding school, then joined the army in the year 2000 where he trained as a diesel mechanic. After six years of service in the Army, including a stint in Afghanistan, he returned and joined the family business in 2006.
Beside the Super-Liners, the stint in the Army might explain the presence of another Mack in the fleet: a 6×6 ex-army tipper , still in its camouflage paint, which Karger bought at auction.
“Yeah, I had my eye on it for a while, and one day it was up for auction so I took the opportunity, fixed it up and got it registered.”
While the tipper is used mostly locally, the other Macks roam far and wide.
“We’ve got them set up as PBS A-Doubles and a PBS rigid five-axle dog, so we can handle a pretty wide range of loads,” he said.
Karger explained that a typical journey could see the trucks travel from the depot in Bordertown, to somewhere relatively local like Geelong, or as far away as north Queensland.
“We’ve always had a lot of work coming in and out of Brisbane, a truck could be away for a day or two weeks, it all depends on the job,” said Karger.
Karger said that another aspect that he likes about the Macks is that they’re made in Australia.
“I like that these trucks come out of Brisbane, it’s Australian-made and that’s pretty rare these days,” he said.
“Mack has made it easy for us too, they know what we need and they make sure when we order a new one that it’s got the same specs as the last.
‘There’s no surprises, and we know we can rely on them,” he concluded.
Mack Australia vice president of sales, Tony O’Connell said that BHT is a perfect example of the kind of Australian family business that have made Mack trucks the icon they are in this country.
“A BHT Super-Liner B-Double going down the highway is a fantastic sight, and all part of the rich heritage of road transport in this huge country, and we’re honoured to be a part of it,” O’Connell said.
