Blingworkin: Kelly Muir and C & A Forrest Haulage’s Kenworth T909

Words: Chris Smith · Photography: Toast Graphics

Kelly Muir is one lucky truckie: she steers a Kenworth T909 impressively customised by A & I Custom Chrome Truck Accessories for C & A Forrest Haulage.

Kelly Muir is one proud truckie, and why shouldn’t she be, every workday she gets to steer the wheel of this highly customised 2012 Kenworth T909.

The T909 is the jewel in the crown for Carl and Ann Forrest. Their business C&A Forrest Haulage in Lidsdale, NSW, currently runs six trucks, two International Eagles and four Kenworths, primarily hauling coal in Lithgow from the Western coal fields to the power station.

Carl drives and looks after the workshop while Ann ensures the paperwork and the books are all kept up to date. Carl at 49 has been in the industry for 29 years starting out in a K100 Cabover Kenworth. His admiration for Kenworth trucks is still strong and when he was looking for a new truck the T909 was an obvious choice. All he needed to do now was get it specced the way he wanted and then send her to be customised.

Carl says the T909 was bought from the factory and sent to the tipper manufacturer Sloanebuilt Trailers to get the hydraulics sorted before being sent over to A & I Custom Chrome Truck Accessories for its customisation. The time taken for the customisation was a modest five weeks but Andrew Heathcote from A & I says the job grew as the weeks progressed.

In fact Andrew says the list of customisation doubled from when A & I first started the job.

“When we first started we went with the headlights, the guards, the elephant ears and the visor, then it grew to the custom guards and the rear bar, and then he wanted lights and we added lights and more lights,” he says. Andrew says on the trip home to Lithgow after Carl’s weekly inspections his mates would urge him to put lights here, more stainless there and so on.

He says he would come to see the truck on the Friday and by Monday morning there would be something extra to add. “Monday morning Carl would ring me and say lets add five more things the boys have talked me into it on the trip home, and this happened over a four week period,” Andrew tells Australian Custom Trucks.

The thing about this T909 is that it works in the harshest of conditions hauling coal and yet it still looks immaculate two years on. The customisation truly sets this working truck apart from the crowd.

To the front bumper A & I added LED lights. They also added stainless steel headlight backings as well as custom bonnet blinkers.

The actual headlights were changed and visors were added on to the headlights. The strikingly handsome grille is made from 16 vertical grille bars, which offset the swan emblem adorning the bonnet.

Stainless steel hinge covers were added as well as a smoke bug deflector.

Stainless air cleaners, stainless steel pipes and stainless air ram intakes were also fixed to the truck. Elephant ears were added as well as the very tough looking custom boltless drop visor.

A & I added flare guards and traditional lights on the roof. The battery box, toolbox and steps were all taken off and chromed. Custom mount guards with overlayed stainless, front and rear deck plates and a rear bar that was made specifically in Australia were also added. Adding to the look are 7” exhaust stacks.

The tank runners were done with more lights as well as adding LEDS to the kickers.

The tanks themselves were wrapped in stainless. Tail lights with stainless steel bezels were added along with mirror covers with lights, wing extensions with lights and cover plates, side sleeper extensions and stainless steel smooth guards. Stainless mudflaps and guards offset the steer tyres.

To add to the safety of the truck and protect the investment A & I added stone protection under the guards. “We did rubber stone protection underneath the guards, it is something we do that no one else does,” explains Andrew.

“We are also doing a rubber inner on the inside of the guards to stop the stones protruding through.” Andrew also added that the bottom step had been dropped 40mm, for better functionality and aesthetics.

“The step was lowered to give it a more traditional look as well as making climbing up and down a bit easier, that’s something that is not normally done,” he says. The cab is adorned with mirror lights and stainless steel door handle covers which finish off this working truck.

About The Driver

For driver Kelly Muir by her own admission she has landed her dream job. Kelly has always wanted to drive trucks.

“I just followed my dreams, it is something I have always wanted to do,” she confesses.

“You have got to be in a job that you love and it is something that I have always wanted to do since I was little.” Kelly and husband Jamie, who coincidentally is also a truckie used to have their own trucks and like many couples he ensured that Kelly was able to drive, teaching her when the moments arose.

It is Jamie that had inspired Kelly to get her licence. Jamie has been a truckie for 20 years and the two have been married for 19 of those years.

“I blame hubby for that, he has been a truckie for 20 years and I have enjoyed the industry and followed in his footsteps,” she tells Australian Custom Trucks. Kelly’s job is to shuttle coal from the Angus Place Colliery to deliver it to the Mt Piper Power Station.

Working on a private road not many people get to see the T909, however that doesn’t stop Kelly from making sure it looks good though, washing it weekly with an extra special clean when it heads to shows. Cleaning the rig has become a family affair. The truck has been to a few shows already in Melbourne and Sydney and is preparing to go to a few more closer to home.

“When the kids are over they all get the sponges, chamois and polish cloths, my daughter actually polished it the last show we went to,” she says. Kelly is very grateful for the opportunity that her bosses have given her, they’ve turned her dream into a reality.

“I would like to say a big thank you to Carl and Ann because without their support I wouldn’t be doing what I love, I really am living my dream.”

Rear Vision: where are they now?

Do you know where this truck is today, or have an update on its story? We would love to hear from its owners, drivers or anyone who helped build it.