Ask Chris Tuck, driver for Stoitses’ Transport in Albury what he thinks of the latest DAF 85CF he uses to collect and distribute milk through the high country of NSW and you’ll get an earful.

“They outperform, outdrive, outsteer and outbrake anything else I’ve driven,” said Chris. “And that comes from a driver that was dedicated to American products,” he added.

It’s a well known theory in transport that if a driver is happy then the job gets done faster and more efficiently and that’s certainly evident at the Pauls Dairy in Albury NSW.

Brian Haberfield, Manager of the Albury depot has also been impressed by the brace of new DAFs that joined the fleet some six months ago.

“They work in a tough environment running into off road situations collecting milk from farms. We need the technical ability of cross and inter-axle diff' locks just to get in and out of some of the farms we visit,” said Brian.

The DAFs start out with the right specification. With 430 hp, a 16-speed ZF synchro' gearbox, 46,000 lb. diffs and eight airbag suspension they are a heavy duty truck with European standards of ride comfort.

“Bonneted trucks don’t turn or manoeuvre in the tight, boggy farmyard conditions we encounter every day,” Brian said. The DAF cabover gets the traction it needs off road but provides the comfort levels a driver expects these days when on road,” he added.

The daily routine for the Stoitse DAF duo is no easy local drive. One DAF runs two trips daily to Bendigo, notching up over 200,000kms within its first six months. Meanwhile, the second DAF 85 heads for Strathmerton, Finley or Tumbarumba to Biggera, returning to Albury through Corryong to jointly shift an estimated 50 million litres of milk per year.

This year celebrates the 70th anniversary for the Haberfield Dairy since Jock and Anne Haberfield founded their company in 1931. Originally just a milk delivery run, Jock and Annie started with a 1928 Model “A” Ford truck, some crates and bottles, all purchased for 300 pounds.

Although members of the Haberfield family still work in the business today, ownership passed to the Parmalat Australia company in 1996 with the company also purchasing the Pauls operation in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The responsibility for collecting and distributing milk for Permalat Albury today lies with contractor Peter Stoitse Transport Pty Ltd. of Welshpool, Victoria.

Managing Director Peter Stoitse said he had been extremely pleased with the way the DAF’s had so far stood up to the tough job of farm and highway work.

“The route these trucks travel is no easy freeway drive,” said Peter. The severity of conditions in accessing some farms is similar to that of running gravel trucks. You also need really good cab access for the driver and very good visibility as you are often working in very confined areas to reach milk silos,” he added.

“They run out fully laden at 42.5 tonnes, carrying 26,000 litres at maximum weight and have to cope with mountain country complete with snow in winter. Although one way running is unladen, we’re very happy with fuel consumption figures that are as low as 37 l/100 kms.

“Reliability has also been very good without any maintenance problems surfacing so far,” Mr. Stoitse added.

Both the new DAFs are powered by the DAF XF 12.6 litre, turbocharged and intercooled, 24-valve six cylinder diesel which produces maximum power of 430 hp. Peak torque of 1,900 Nm is rated at 1,050-1,500 rpm.

The specification includes Kenworth Airglide 200 suspension for the bogie drive axles and long travel parabolic springs for the steer axle. The transmission is a ZF 16-speed all-synchromesh unit.

All DAF trucks come with a 2 year / 500,000 kilometre warranty covering the complete chassis and driveline and both units for Stoites Transport were supplied by DAF Melbourne, Victoria.

DAF Trucks Australia is a division of PACCAR Australia. PACCAR Inc is a worldwide manufacturer of heavy and medium-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF and Foden nameplates.

For further information contact:
Neil Willox
Marketing Services Manager
PACCAR Australia
Phone: (03) 9721 1500
Email: neil.willox@paccar.com