A little about the business
Red Central Towing & Recovery (RCT) was established by Johan Cloete and myself. We offer a wide range of towing and recovery solutions to locals, travellers, private and government corporations. We personally load and transport all vehicles, tow a wide variety of camper vans and trailers and also recover accident damaged, bogged or otherwise incapacitated vehicles anywhere in Central Australia and relocate it back to Alice Springs or elsewhere if required.
We’ve only been in business for a few months, but we decided to be different right from the word go. We’ve invested in the best vehicle suited to our requirements, the best equipment and ensure our staff are trained and qualified. Our business mission is to exceed our customer expectations, offer complete solutions and respond better than our competitors.
Getting the job done day to day
My role is varied, from managing to driving and operating the tow truck, recovery specialist, to problem solver, tour guide, cleaner and detailer, my days are never the same.
A normal day starts about 7:30am with a coffee, I check my emails and schedule jobs for the day. I do daily checks on the vehicle and equipment to ensure they are up to the task of travelling anywhere between 200km to 2,000km’s. When jobs come in we make sure that we pack the swag, have enough food and water for the distance we need to travel and take extra fuel as back up.
What are the challenges?
The Central Australian Outback is one of the most harsh and inhospitable places on earth. It brings with it special challenges not seen in the city or rural areas. Summer temperatures can exceed 50’c in the shade and at night in winter, it can drop to below 0c. The highways can be up to 1,000km of dirt, sand and corrugations. Animals in all sizes come out and play from kangaroos, emus, camels and cattle, which can be herded across the desert, this can turn a good day into a nightmare.
Benefits of a reliable truck
We needed a truck that would not only survive our hard, harsh unforgiving environment but tough enough to bring us back time and time again. We ask a lot from our truck and she doesn’t let us down. She had to be tough, reliable, fuel efficient and comfortable. And she is.
We had been researching buying our first truck for many months. Deciding on what brand and whether to buy a new, used or auction. We wanted to purchase a good used Hino Tilt/Slide until it was suggested to buy a new Hino FD 1124 Tilt/Slide, which had become available. The comfort, ability, power, fuel efficiency and reliability makes it one very good working truck. We’ve also fitted it with an STR Tilt/Slide Tray which makes our job so much easier to do.
We’ve added some extra accessories to the Hino, initially only adding a Hino Bull Bar and a Narva Legion Light Bar, fitted prior to picking up the truck. Since then we have fitted a Satellite Phone, UHF Radio, Satellite Navigation, phone chargers, fridge, additional side lights, rotating lights, twin Narva Ultima LED Driving Lights, Narva Light bar as well as specialised towing and recovery equipment.
Expanding
We’re looking to expand our business and have been looking at purchasing more trucks to meet demand. We’ve already decided that the only truck brand able to do the job is a Hino. The next addition to our fleet is a Hino GT 1322 Crew Cab Tilt Side. It will be a very unique build and designed to meet our exact specifications, so we can continue to exceed our customers’ expectations.
Without our Hino truck we would be unable to conduct our business. It is imperative to the success of our business.
For your towing needs in Central Australia contact Red Central Towing and Recovery
P: 08 8952 4632
Address: 15 Cameron St, Braitling NT 0870
Email: redcentraltowing@gmail.com
*Michael is the winner of a competition Hino Australia recently ran on Facebook to search for a loyal Hino customers to share their business and story.
