Mighty Fine Ride — Egan and Sons’ Kenworth T904

Darren and Melissa Egan’s 2003 Kenworth T904 remains a hard-working and beautifully presented rig.

Words by Chris Smith. Photography by Chris Smith.

It’s been a while since I was in Bega and it is incredibly disturbing how quickly time flies. What seems to be a month or so ago is almost a year and I am glad I have been in contact with Darren and Mellissa Egan following a very quick trip to the South Coast Convoy for Kids last April.

Bega put on some lovely natural light at the conclusion of the convoy and truck show last year, which meant some beautiful pictures were taken of their truck, a 2003 Kenworth T904.

My thanks go to Melissa and Darren for helping to compile all the facts to go with the story!

Darren has been an owner driver for the past 30 years, buying his first truck at the young age of 21.

He reckons that trucking is in the blood and he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and two uncles in the vocation. He tells ACT the family had operated a Chev truck in the 40’s and 50’s.

Like many truckies of the era Darren learnt the craft of working on the heart of the beast before taking the reins.

In other words, he worked on motors before becoming a driver.

After completing a diesel mechanic apprenticeship with Victorian Caterpillar dealer William Adams, Darren was getting itchy feet and had an opportunity to purchase a 1977 LN8000 single drive Louisville prime mover powered by a 3208 Cat engine.

He worked it doing local container and wharf work for a few years before a change of jobs required a bigger truck.

His next purchase was a 1982 S2 Kenworth with a Detroit Diesel 6V92TA powered engine, 15-speed Roadranger, DS401 diffs on Reyco suspension with a 36-inch Kenworth sleeper and long-range tanks.

“It proved a very reliable and capable truck,” Darren tells ACT.

The work involved carting refrigerated and frozen goods for a major supermarket chain across country Victoria and southern NSW.

“The S2 did around 800,000km in a four and a bit year period,” Darren tells ACT.

However, as is the case in transport, sometimes a contract isn’t renewed and when the job came up for tender, the company Darren was subbying for didn’t get it.

Darren, like many truckies before him, looked at another option.

This resulted in buying a flat top trailer and he began doing interstate, mainly working for Turners Transport out of Sydney and Newcastle and loading whatever he could find the rest of the time.

Twenty years ago, in 1998, he began working for Bobbin Transport. He must have made an impression because he married the bosses daughter Melissa, a local Pambula girl. They married in 2003 and have four children together Daniel, 26, Dylan, 17, Connor, 14 and Alecia, 10.

The S2 had served Darren well but in 1999 he sold it and bought a 1994 T900 powered by a 470 hp 12.7 litre Series 60.

“It went well and did over 1.5 million kms before any major rebuild,” he says.

The T900 worked continuously for 4 1/2 years, only having a couple of weeks off at Christmas time when the timber mills were closed until in 2003 when Darren decided to buy the T904.

“Buying the T904 was more of a financial decision than anything else as there was nothing wrong with the T900 and it still had plenty of life left in it,” he admits.

The T904 is owned by Darren and Melissa and is powered by a 14 litre Series 60 Detroit, RTLO18918, RT46-160 diffs, riding on Airglide 400 suspension and multileaf springs in the front.

It is B-double and Road Train rated at 90 tonne.

Accommodation is taken care of by a 50 inch integrated sleeper which includes twin beds, two Engel fridges (one fridge, one freezer), an inverter that runs a microwave, toaster and a kettle. A Custom Air air conditioner is fitted to cool the bunk on hot nights.

With over 2 million kms covered, the majority of it being up and down the coast from Pambula to Melbourne and Sydney with a bit of Brisbane and the occasional trip to Adelaide. Subbying to Bobbin Transport on and off for the past 20 years the truck has been used in various roles carting landscape products, fertilizer, timber, refrigerated and general freight.

There is no doubt both Darren and Mellissa are proud of their truck and with both coming from strong trucking pedigree it is safe to say the future of Egan and Sons Transport is safe in their children’s hands.

Rear Vision: where are they now?

Do you know where this truck is today, or have an update on its story? Tell ACT what happened next. We will verify current updates before adding them to the archive.