• The Hawk this week pays tribute to the Aussie
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bicentennial celebrations and those denizens of the outback who haul Australia's goods from one end of the continent to the other. Ken Whitehead (right), an operator from Perth, Western Australia, and his co-driver Ken Whitehead (left) from Preston, England, are two of them.
A typical journey takes them from Perth to Port Holland on the north coast, a round trip of 3,800Icm (2,360 miles). They drive a Volvo F10 270 Turbo, fully appointed with two CB radios, radar, air-conditioning, luxury bunk, fridge (handy for the dealcoholised tinnies) and kangaroo guard (honestly).
Each man drives for about four hours then sleeps. They cruise at 125 lunph (78 mph) and carry 1,600 litres of fuel. They use about three quarters of that. During the entire journey the engine is kept running. Whitehead's Volvo — his company's name is Brambles Bullet Overnight Express — has done 1,021,400km (634,685 miles) and its gearbox has been replaced only twice.