Forged by Friendship: Betts Bower’s Kenworth C509 and T909

When Chris Betts and Daniel Bowers forged a friendship while their trucks were being customised at SLS it was also the forging of a strong business partnership that has seen the group expand its operations in the last five years.

Original ACT archive feature. Photography by Steve Lawler.

It was the appreciation of custom trucks that brought two extraordinary operators together, Daniel Bowers and Chris Betts. The boys first met at the annual Newcastle Transport Awareness Day truck show. Their friendship, however, was forged when both had trucks being customised at SLS at the same time. The boys realised they shared a lot of the same interests and a familiar family history.

“His parents had trucks and cranes and did heavy haulage work and my parents had trucks, we just became friends from there,” Chris tells ACT.

Both boys were starting out and both had low loaders at the time. With a little help from their parents a partnership was formed and in just over five years the two have formed a very successful heavy haulage business, Betts Bower Haulage Group, servicing the mining sector.

The job primarily consists of low loader work transporting the massive mining machinery however Chris says Betts Bower transport everything from the very large to the very small.

The fleet consists mainly of Kenworths with a couple of Macks, a Titan and a restoration project which is awaiting some special treatment.

And for the smaller gear transported to and from the mines, a Hino car carrier and a Mitsubishi Fuso are useful additions to the fleet.

“We will take a lot of the bigger stuff off the mine site to get serviced,” he explains.

The car carrier is used to service the smaller fleet of utility vehicles that are used exclusively on the mine site and which are not registered for on-road use.

It has been a good formula so far and the fleet has grown to 15 strong.

The passion for quality customisation that the business was based on is still a major part of the company and keeping the vehicles spectacularly clean is a job everyone takes pride in.

“The colour scheme chosen came from Daniel’s other trucks that he had and as for keeping them immaculate we have been lucky that our drivers all love that sort of stuff as well,” Chris says.

“We do employ a couple of truck washers over the weekend that clean the trucks and the trailers but the boys also do their own polishing and extra washing during the week.

“Every time they go away the trucks will be clean before they leave and if they get dirty during the week they will often touch them up, if they have a spare a half hour in the afternoon and that really does make a big difference.”

Chris says the bigger gear is specced for heavy haulage work with six rod suspension. He says they come brand new from Kenworth specced to the Company’s requirements.

The trucks then receive a King Bars bull bar designed for the heaviest moves that require push pull work.

“The tow pin with the extra tongue in the front suits us, it means we can manoeuvre around,” Chris explains.

“With the bars we do a fair bit of push pull work. With our bigger float, the ten-line platform, we often run around with the one extra truck, but every now and then we’ll use two extra trucks but we have never done anything more than that.”

Chris says this is definitely a rewarding job and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love the heavy haulage side of trucking with the different loads each time and nothing is ever the same and with different weights and with the push pull it is just good.”

In this issue of ACT we are featuring both a Kenworth T909 Director Series and a Kenworth C509.

Both trucks were painted by O’Neill’s Truck & Trailer and the sign writing was done by Showman Truck Lines & Scrolls. Both trucks also have King Bars bullbars and Ice Pack air-conditioning units.

T909 Customisation

· Number plate cover and bolt on bullbar mount

· Bullbar lights, lower trim

· Bullbar mudflaps and anti-swing wires

· Driving lights, Hella Rallye 4000 Chrome

Stainless steel grill mesh and bars

· Headlight defenders

· Stainless bug deflector

· Stainless steer flares

· Steer quarter guard mudflap bracket and infill

· Stainless steel elephant ears with teardrop

· Sixteen inch air cleaner covers

· Lighted windscreen strip

· Fourteen inch stainless steel drop visor

Roof lights,

Cab and sleeper LED flashing lights,

Mirror trims, Moto mirror, lighted

· Spotter mirror bracket

· Load lights, chromed,

Stainless steel deflector

Exhaust stacks, 7” > 5” AK curved

Battery box, chromed

· Stainless side bunk trims

· Rear bunk trim,

50”grill mesh vents

· Rear bunk lights

· Stainless steps with closed ends

· Stainless strap wraps, s/steel

Tank trims, plain tops, lighted bottoms

· Deckplate, front & rear with Kenworth logo cutout

· Mudguards, tandem, propeller plate chromed & rubber quarter guard

· Mudguard spray suppressant

· Under mudguard wheel chock mounts

· Turntable, Elphinstone

· Rear tow hitch, two-tier, certified

· Icepack, 2000IC

· Rear bar

· Lower numberplate panel, painted, with air & electrical

· Rear mudflaps & brackets

· Chrome rims

C509

· Number plate cover & fabricated mount

Bullbar lights, lower trim

· Bullbar mudflaps & anti-swing wires

· Driving lights, Power Vision LED

· Grill mesh & bars, s/steel

· Headlight defenders

Bug deflector, s/steel

· Bonnet blinkers conversion

· Steer qtr guard mudflap bracket & infill

Elephant ears, s/steel, with teardrop

Air cleaner covers, 16” s/steel, lighted

A/C riser pipes & air rams, s/steel

· Windscreen strip

· Drop visor, 12” s/steel

Roof lights, cab & sleeper, LED

Flashing lights, sleeper

Mirror trims, Moto mirror, lighted

Load lights, chromed, s/steel deflector

Under cab tool box, propeller plate chromed

Exhaust elbow drip tray

Exhaust shroud, custom cut lettering with reflective backing

Exhaust stacks, 7” > 5” AK curved

Side bunk trims, s/steel, rolled to match sleeper

Tool boxes on rack, rear of cab

· Tool box rack light trim

· Rear bunk lights

· Steps, s/steel, closed ends

Strap wraps, s/steel

Tank trims, plain tops, lighted bottoms

· Turntable, Elphinstone

Mudguards, tandem, propeller plate chromed & rubber quarter guard

· Deckplates, front & rear, resin filled logo

· Rear bar

· Lower number plate panel, painted, with air & electrical

· Rear mudflaps & brackets

· Rear tow hitch, two-tier, certified

· Icepack

· Chrome rims

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.