Rising interstate carrier, CS Asset, has taken delivery of a new Freightliner Cascadia B-triple.
The combination, which features a Cascadia 60 inch cab, the roomiest on the market, is spec’d for gruelling long haul journeys such as Adelaide to Perth, return, as well as Adelaide to Darwin, transporting general freight.
Owner Chamkaur Sodhi, established the Adelaide-based company in 2013 following five years behind the wheel as a driver having graduated from a heavy rigid licence to B-doubles and later roadtrains.
His current operations feature 35 prime movers, a majority of which are Mercedes-Benz Actros units, with some Kenworths, Volvos and Western Stars.
CS Asset also runs 52 B-double sets in addition to roadtrains.
Melbourne and Sydney are also on the B-double legs the business caters to overnight.
The fit-for-purpose Cascadia 126 is rated up to 98 tonnes gross weight and is already accumulating an estimated 6000 kilometres a week.
Powered by a Detroit DD16 600hp engine with a peak of 447kw and 2,708 Nm of torque, the prime mover comes loaded with the latest safety systems including Anti-lock Braking System, Vehicle Stability Control, Adaptive Cruise Control, Auto Head Lights and Wipers, Lane Departure Warning and Side Object Detection.
The truck is also fitted out with Guardian driver monitoring technology and forward facing and side view cameras which are alway live into the dispatch office located in Green Fields where the business runs its sizeable warehousing and distribution operations.
A 60 inch XT Sleeper Cab incorporating overhead storage with doors, premium cab lighting and between seat storage ensures the driver, who is reportedly thrilled by the new vehicle, with plenty of working space on his long journeys.
“I’m super impressed. There’s a lot more space in the cab which is important for the distances it covers,” said Sodhi.
Sodhi spends the majority of his time these days in the office, helping co-ordinate transport operations which have rapidly expanded over the last nine years.
“Road transport is never slow especially over the last year. It’s been anything but predictable,” he said, acknowledging supply chain challenges including flood disruptions earlier in the year that befell, many interstate trucking companies that rely on the Nullarbor and Central Australia transport corridors.
“It’s rarely the same day to day. There’s only so much you can control at the moment and upgrading our trucks is certainly one way of managing that as best we can.”
The new Cascadia is the fifth new prime mover to enter the CS Asset stable this year.
“The truck is going great and the driver very much is liking it,” said Sodhi.
“It pulls the weight behind it like you would expect from a new American prime mover. It’s got the guts of a North American truck but the comfort of a European vehicle,” he said.
“For the driver it’s the best of both worlds.”
Sales Executive Ghautum Dhillon, courtesy of Daimler Trucks Melbourne, helped facilitate the delivery.