BP’s twin Hume Highway service centres at Marulan lead by example.
Australia’s busiest freight route is also highly competitive when it comes to truck stops. From Melbourne to Sydney, businesses clamour for their piece of the trucking pie.
The enormous twin BPs at Marulan, just up the road from Goulburn and just over an hour from the industrial areas in Sydney’s south-west, are one of the most recognisable truckstop landmarks along the Hume Highway.
Both sites have self-contained shower units containing toilets and vanity units. There is also coin-operated laundry and dryers, as well as separate truckies’ rooms with television and coffee and tea making facilities.
A Roadhaven Café is situated on both sites and offers a variety of food 24/7, including the truckies’ breakfast favourite: bacon and egg rolls. At night, choices include steaks, schnitzels and mixed grill.
Marulan northbound BP site manager Peter Martin is hands-on, doing anything from serving customers, filling the shop, even cleaning the toilets, while catering for the needs of the truckies and the motorists.
As far as Peter is concerned, it’s all part of offering drivers the ultimate home-away-from-home experience.
“It’s all about making sure the customer has an enjoyable and rewarding experience while they’re here, whether it’s for five minutes, 15 minutes or an hour,” he says.
While Peter is based on the northbound site, he regularly helps out at the southbound BP, which he says attracts the most truck traffic. However, he adds that the two sites are identical businesses.
“We still get a lot of truckies on the northbound site, but they’re usually towards the end of their journey,” he says.
The southbound BP caters for Melbourne-bound freight traffic where drivers can have a shower, grab a feed and a catch a good night’s sleep.
You can read all about the latest truckstop of the month in the May issue of Owner//Driver magazine.
Photography: Greg Bush