Have You Herd?

In-depth

4 Feb

Tamworth business moves livestock with Fuso Fighter

Tamworth livestock hauler Mckyla Hull of JM Pastoral has hit the road in a new Fuso Fighter complete with a fresh stock crate.

Mckyla selected a quality livestock crate from JM Welding, a company she owns with husband John which, in the interest of family unity was no doubt an excellent decision.

Despite her unique position, Mckyla waited for her build slot like other JM Welding customer but was thrilled with the result when it was ready to hit the road after six months.

“No jumping the queue for me. I had to wait in line like everybody else,” she said. “But it was worth the wait and it was so nice when it was finished.”

Mckyla Hull loves truck driving, which probably should not come as a surprise. Her father Darren drove a livestock truck and Mckyla and her brother spent a lot of time washing it, as well as going for the occasional ride-along. These days, her ‘mostly-retired’ father comes along every now and then and shares driving duties with Mckyla to make sure she doesn’t run out of hours on her logbook. “Dad loves that I ended up driving a livestock truck.”

Given the livestock industry has been so traditionally male-dominated, it is no small achievement. Mckyla and John buy and sell cattle, which accounts for some of her cargo, but most of the work for the JM Pastoral transport arm is moving cows, sheep and goats for others all over New South Wales.

Her old Fuso Fighter served Mckyla well, but it had recently notched up 800,000km and was ready to leave the road and take on a new role as a farm truck.

“It was a great truck that never let me down and it also went like a scolded cat which was nice. We didn’t have to touch the engine or gearbox or even change a clutch, but given its mileage I didn’t want to take the chance that it would give up out in some really remote location.”

So she headed into JT Fossey in Tamworth to buy a new Fuso Fighter. Partly because she knew how reliable the Fighter is, but also because her family has known salesman, John Saint, for decades.

“John is such a great guy and we have always had fantastic service from the guys at JT Fossey, they are always keen to help,” she says.

Her Fuso of choice was a 1627 Fighter, which gets along using a 270hp/784Nm 7.5-litre six-cylinder turbo diesel linked up to a nine-speed manual. Having previously had a manual gearbox, Mckyla saw no need to change up to an auto. “Less to go wrong and I’m more than happy to change the cogs myself,” she said.

When her turn came, the Fighter was fitted with a JM Welding 24-foot single deck anti-bruise stock crate that features in-floor drainage, a drop ramp and a rear-slide gate. It can carry around 80 to 100 sheep, 35 smaller cows (weighing approximately 200kg) or 18 large cows. Mckyla covers a lot of ground moving stock to all corners of the state. “One of the best things about my job is travelling to all these wonderful places. I just love it,” she said. “The Fighter also comes with a manufacturer warranty that covers the truck for five years or 350,000km (whichever comes first), and that gives me additional peace of mind.”