CUMMINS TEMPTS TRIDENT
It’s more than a fair bet that right now, somewhere on the Bruce Highway, there’s a Mack Trident belonging to Followmont Transport running B-double shuttles between Brisbane and Far North Queensland.
Nothing particularly unusual about that, except for one rather pertinent and compelling detail: instead of Mack’s 535hp (399kW) MP8 13-litre Euro 5 engine under the snout, typically married to the 12-speed mDrive automated transmission, there’s a 580hp (432kW) Cummins X15 Euro 6 engine coupled to Eaton’s automated Ultra-shift-Plus 18-speeder.
The truck is being trialled in what is effectively a shared project between Cummins and Followmont Transport principal Mark Tobin. Meantime, Volvo Group Australia (VGA) and its Mack management insist they are in no way connected to the exercise light-heartedly known within Cummins and Followmont as ‘Project Wilson’, named after Tobin’s pet bulldog.
Despite the fact we’ve known for the better part of two years about Cummins plans to trial an X15 in a Trident, details remain decidedly scant as insiders at Cummins and Followmont stay steadfastly tight-lipped.
Even so, if Cummins field-tests over the past decade and more are any indication, the trial will run indefinitely, most likely over the life of the truck and over a range of routes, combinations and power ratings.
According to one ‘outside’ source, for instance, the engine will be uprated to 620hp (462kW) for A-double (roadtrain) runs between Townsville and Mt Isa after first accumulating high kilometres on B-double shuttle work.
DOUBLE APPEAL
Yet, despite the lack of official comment on the exercise, it’s not difficult to appreciate the attraction of the project for Followmont Transport.
The company is a
