Australian trailer manufacturer MaxiTrans recently helped refurbish the first Freighter Drop Deck EziLiner, giving it a new lease on life after 15 years of service. Complete with its Peter Brock “King of the Mountain” mural on the curtains, the trailer held center stage during a car show in Campbelltown, Tasmania, in support of mental health awareness.
The revitalized vehicle belongs to Highland Haulage headquartered in Tasmania’s Central Highlands, where owners Mick and Chris Linger deliver personalized freight service to customers with “impeccable equipment maintenance and presentation,” believing all gear must be kept in “showroom condition,” Mick said.
“It is too good a trailer to get rid of,” he said.
“Around the time I was thinking about refurbishing the trailer, a close friend of mine, Steve Donovan, told me about a car show he was organizing to raise awareness for mental health. Sadly, Steve’s son took his own life, and the car show, ‘A Day out for Don,’ was named in his honor.
“Steve is a massive Holden and Peter Brock fan, so an idea evolved that I refurbish my old EziLiner Drop Deck as a memento to Steve’s efforts in raising awareness of mental health.”
Based in the picturesque town of Deloraine at the foot of the Great Western Tiers, Highland Haulage has grown from a single-truck operation in 1990s to a premier Tasmanian freight forwarding, shipping, and transport operation. Highland Haulage’s fleet of Kenworth and Western Star prime movers and Freighter trailers concentrate on providing general freight and specialized refrigeration services from Tasmania across Bass Straight to all mainland centers.
“Our business is not just about trucks,” Mick said. “We provide a total transport solution.”
Even early in the company’s infancy, Mick wanted to ensure his fleet could provide efficiency as well as maximum cubic capacity. As a result, he was interested in the Freighter Drop Deck design as it optimized deck lengths to suit standard pallet sizes and maximize load volume, MaxiTrans said. He also was impressed with the EziLiner’s ease of use.
Innovative design
The trailer’s design replaces the use of multiple buckles and straps with a single high-tensile synthetic cable running through a series of arcs along both decks of the trailer. This generates the vertical tension on the trailer curtains, providing efficiency gains in respect of time savings per load/unload cycle.
Since its introduction in 2008, the EziLiner has received positive feedback from owners and drivers who say that the simple use of a lever to tighten and loosen the curtain has made it easier to operate and avoid the repetitive nature of opening and closing buckles and straps.
Since Mick was interested in using technology to increase load/unload efficiency, he contacted is local Freighter dealer with a simple request.
“I want my drop deck trailer to have the EziLiner technology built into it,” he said.
Fortunately, Freighter engineers had foreseen this opportunity and were in the final stages of developing a drop deck version of the EziLiner. Whereas a straight deck EziLiner allows for standard parallel mounting points for the EziLiner’s arc cable and tensioning hooks, a drop deck trailer has two horizontal plains that add a bit more engineering challenge to achieve the consistent tension levels required for the curtain.
Freighter engineers overcame this challenge by incorporating two cable guide rollers at the drop point of the trailer that simultaneously ensures the continuity of the cable from the top to the lower deck while maintaining the required tension levels.
But after 15 years of service running to all points of mainland Australia, Mick’s EziLiner Drop Deck started showing signs of wear.
Full refurbishment
Mick was adamant the refurbishment was carried out by a reputable shop to bring the trailer back to new condition. So he contacted MaxiTrans to see who they suggested should complete the rebuild.
“The team at MaxiTrans in Victoria were terrific. They took the time to explain that they offered an in-house refurbishing service,” Mick said. “I explained to them I intended to use the trailer as a display piece with the Peter Brock mural on the curtains and the deadline for its first public showing at the car show.
“I also added that I wanted a few extra touches, such as the polished rear door handles.”
MaxiTrans service centers specialize in trailer servicing, repairs, and restoration work. It’s all part the company’s ongoing commitment to servicing the needs of customers, from the time a new trailer is ordered from the dealership to providing support for the life of the product across Australia.
“Mick was fantastic and easy to deal with. He knew exactly what he wanted to achieve,” Jason Keddie, MaxiTrans general manager in Victoria, said in a release. “He was involved throughout the whole process and got to know our team quite well.
“We completely overhauled the trailer, giving it a new lease on life. The trailer was stripped back [and] sandblasted before we gave it a new paint job. New curtains were fitted, air brushing completed, and [it was] finished off with new LED lighting.
“Along with all kinds of trailer servicing, our team is experienced in full refurbishment, including everything from replacing walls, rear frames, and floors, that may have been the result of damage caused from a rollover or burn out.
“It was great working with Mick on refurbishing his Freighter trailer in time for the Day out for Don show. Seeing how happy he is with the end result is what it’s all about.”