Side-Loading Delivery in Brisbane: Our New Aluminium Curtain Sider
Our New Curtain Sider: Lighter Body, More Freight
Every kilogram of truck body is a kilogram of your freight we can’t carry. So we went aluminium.
There’s a new truck in the yard. It’s an aluminium curtain sider, built for us by Kirin Industries in Crestmead, and it’s the third vehicle they’ve delivered to us this year.
Nobody outside the industry gets excited about truck bodies. But the spec on this one changes what we can do for customers in two specific ways — so it’s worth explaining.
First: You Can Load It From the Side
A standard pantech truck has one opening: the back. Everything goes in and comes out through that door, in order. If the freight you need is at the front of the deck, everything in front of it comes off first.
A curtain sider has fabric curtains along both sides that slide open. The whole flank of the truck becomes an opening.
Multi-drop gets faster. Six deliveries on one run means we can reach the third drop without unloading the first two. Less handling, less time on site, less risk of damage.
Tight sites become workable. Can’t back the truck in? Doesn’t matter. If we can park alongside, we can load and unload.
Forklifts can reach the middle. On a site with a forklift, side access means loading from wherever is convenient rather than queuing at one rear door.
Second: The Body Weighs Almost Nothing
This is the part that actually costs or saves money, and it’s the reason we specified aluminium.
Every truck has a legal weight ceiling — its Gross Vehicle Mass. That figure covers everything: the chassis, the body, the fuel, the driver, the tail-lift, and your freight. Payload is whatever’s left after all of that.
A heavier body doesn’t make the truck carry less because it’s weaker. It makes the truck carry less because the body has already used up part of the legal limit.
Kirin built this body at roughly 750kg tare. Every kilogram they saved on structure came back as freight capacity — leaving around a tonne of payload, with a full-size tail-lift still fitted.
Aluminium also doesn’t rust, which matters more in South East Queensland than people from drier states tend to appreciate.
Third: A Car Licence Can Drive It
The build sits on a Hino 300 Series 616 and stays within car licence limits. That sounds like an internal detail. It isn’t.
Truck-licensed drivers are in short supply across Australia, and that shortage is a large part of why freight capacity gets tight and delivery windows slip. A vehicle that any licensed driver on our team can operate means more of our fleet is available on any given day — which means fewer “sorry, nothing until Thursday” conversations.
The Spec, In Full
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chassis | Hino 300 Series 616 — car licence class |
| Body | Custom aluminium curtain sider by Kirin Industries |
| Body tare weight | Approximately 750kg |
| Payload | Approximately 1 tonne |
| Tail-lift | Full-size Dhollandia DHLMA10 |
| Access | Both sides and rear |
Why We Keep Going Back to Kirin
This is the third body Kirin Industries has built for us in 2026. They’re based at Crestmead, about twenty minutes from our yard at Underwood.
The reason we keep going back is straightforward: they build to the job rather than to a catalogue. We told them what our runs actually look like — multi-drop, tight sites, no dock at the other end, weight-sensitive freight — and they specified around it. Being local also means when something needs adjusting, it’s a short drive, not a freight job of its own.
From Kirin’s Write-Up
For operators in the transport industry, every kilogram saved on body weight translates directly into additional payload, improved efficiency and greater earning potential.
What This Changes for You
Three trucks in a year isn’t a vanity purchase. It’s what happens when the work keeps coming and you’d rather add capacity than start telling people no.
Need Side Access or a Tail-Lift?
Vans, curtain siders and tail-lift trucks across Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Gympie.
Tell us what the site looks like and we’ll send the right vehicle.
Get a Quoteor call 0422 962 193
77 Freight Transport — Underwood QLD 4119 | Serving Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay to Gympie