Mine Haul Logistics, based in Western Australia, specialises in bulk haulage to mine sites, rail sidings and road work locations where it transports a variety of products such as iron ore, large rocks and road base.
Since establishing around 20 years ago, the company has accumulated a fleet of about 150 trailers, built up by a range of B-doubles, side tippers and triple road trains. A large portion of these are from Tristar Industries.
More recently, Mine Haul Logistics purchased two 32,000-litre water tanks from Tristar, which, since being put to work, have been very beneficial to the business. The new units are fitted with Tristar’s standard close-coupled hydraulic motor and pump, Fuwa K Hitch axles, spring suspension and an optional extra feature of two additional vertical magnum sprays.
In their operations, the water tankers travel off-road through the Pilbara region of WA for road works and the watering of haul roads by Mine Haul Logistics. In these very demanding and remote operating conditions in the north-west, Mine Haul Logistics owner and Director, Paul Donnelly, says they work extremely well and suit the application.
“They’ve been brilliant, they haven’t missed a beat,” he says. “We’ve had a really good run out of them so far. They don’t crack up or need repairing, and there’s no issues at all.”
Paul believes Tristar’s water tankers are manufactured to perfection, with every possible outcome thought through in the design process of the builds.
“I’ve been around every make you can buy, and I think theirs is the best,” he says. “The way they design them is just great. Whether it be with all the pipework, or how the sprayers are mounted at a few degrees lower so the wind doesn’t carry the water away, they build them right. You couldn’t be happier with them.
“We’ve got ours so we can load share as well. The hydraulic operation is at the rear of the trailer for the load sharing, so you can pump water from one tanker right through to another tank.”
Image: Tristar Industries.Tristar’s water tankers are available in sizes from 28,000 litres to 38,000 litres and are built specifically to cope with rough conditions. The barrels are made entirely out of a 5mm 350 MPa grade plate with a 8mm 350 MPa grade belly plate, with the chassis being made out of a 700 MPa grade high-tensile steel.
On its water tankers, Tristar uses a nine leaf spring as opposed to an eight leaf one for increased durability. The bodies are also lined with an epoxy tank liner for potable water, meaning they are quite durable internally as well.
The tankers are manufactured in the Northern Territory to withstand Tristar’s own remote work in Darwin. This, Paul says, is the reason why they have been built so well – because they constantly being tested and proven in real-world applications on a regular basis.
“Everything’s right about them because they use them themselves,” he says. “They see what needs fixing because they’ve got them in their own operations. Tristar improves things on them all the time, so they know what is good and what’s not.”
Due to Tristar developing such a top-tier solution, Paul says Mine Haul Logistics has also attracted extra attention with jobs because of the equipment it uses.
“We get a lot of water cart work because people know we’ve got them,” he says. “They do the job. They’ve got really good paint on them as well which lasts with what we do. When you’re using corrosive water in the goldfields or where it’s worse than ocean area, they withstand.”
Paul has been purchasing trailers from Tristar for quite some time. He first came across the product many years ago when someone who had hired some trailers from Tristar visited his site. As he explains, the units weren’t compatible with the owner’s trucks due to his hydraulics set up. Paul had some that could work, though, so they both swapped trailer sets.
“I let him pull those and I used his Tristar trailers,” he says. “I liked everything about them – the way they tipped, their hydraulics, and how they sat up nice and high. So, I rang them and I got on the bandwagon.”
Since dealing with Tristar for the several different trailer combinations which followed, Paul says the company has always catered to his needs.
“They’re really good to deal with,” he says. “If you do want something, such as spare parts, you’ve only got to give them a tingle and they’ve got it that day. They’ve always got stock, which is good, but one thing which stands out is their people. When you ring up to explain what you’ve got and what you want, they’ve got a clear view of everything and it all happens. If you need a trailer they will let you in, and it’s not too big of a wait time.
“Ricky Jones, the person there that you generally deal with, is really good. He’ll answer the phone on the weekend and talk to you, whereas there’s not many companies that will do that. He has a good knowledge of the product and knows what you’re talking about too, so we find him to be really good.”
As Paul looks at expanding the fleet even further, he says Tristar will be considered for more durable solutions.
“We offloaded a bit but we’re back buying again this year,” he says. “We’re probably going to buy another 30 trailers.”
Fast fact
All of Tristar Industries’ water tankers are manufactured in Darwin, Northern Territory, to withstand the type of work the OEM does in its own operations. Overtime, this has allowed the business to constantly improve on its product to offer a complete solution.
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