Finding a better way with Ford LTL

MAY TRUCK OF THE MONTH: Betterway Transport’s Ford LTL is closing in on 40 years in service, but the can-do attitude of Marcus Post, the truck’s driver and vital member of the small family-run operation, has breathed new life into the ageless workhorse with a series of unique modifications

You know what I love about our industry? The dichotomy. Now that’s a pretty fancy word. I even had to look it up to understand but it’s fun and appropriate. As I understand it, dichotomy means a division between contrasting things or parts. How does it relate to our industry? Well, that’s easier to explain. We are an industry that thrives on new and modern technology while also being an industry that thrives on old and reliable technology.

The fancy new high-tech gear does the job that the old more simplified gear also accomplishes. In today’s story it’s the latter part we are going to focus on, with another twist. We will be focusing on the old classic gear, but with a young modern driver behind the wheel. Oh, so many dichotomies. Now I think I’m just using that word because it sounds cool.

By now you’ve all seen the gorgeous green LTL that graces these current pages. That is our ‘old’. The ‘young’ is represented by Marcus Post, the driver of this fine-looking Ford. Marcus is a mere pup at only 28-years-old, however, he’s a young man with old school skills, all of which stem from the family-run business he’s been a part of since day dot.

This family business prides itself on not just old school trucks, but old school values, such as offering a better service, offering a better attitude and offering an all-round better product. Appropriately it is known as Betterway Transport and, after many attempts, I finally managed to catch young Marcus for some photos and a chat.

Marcus (right) stands proudly with his younger brother, Bradley, and a truck almost as old as the two of them together

Firstly, I must start with a thank you to a good friend and, as it turns out, Marcus’s partner, the lovely Corrina Riley. If the name seems familiar it’s no doubt because of the work she does with Woman in Trucking Australia Ltd, or because of the big Black Pete she drives. I’m thanking her because although I’ve seen the Betterway LTL before and tried to grab photos, I have never managed a proper sit down. I naturally assumed it wasn’t my sparkling personality that was keeping Marcus away, it must just be the fact his LTL is always working. It turns out I was only half right.

When Corrina stepped in to mediate a sit-down, I found out Marcus’s reluctance stemmed from humility more than anything else. “It’s not a show truck,” Marcus repeated to Corrina when she mentioned I wanted to shoot it. “He won’t like it, cause it’s not really a show truck.”

Although it is a show truck to Marcus, he fears it’s not what many would see as a show truck. Add in the fact that, at nearly 40-years-old, it’s been around the block a few times. Marcus was sceptical that others would see in the truck what he does. What he failed to realise is, it’s not all about the chromed rims and stainless wrapping. The essence of our industry is passion. And nothing displays passion more than Marcus, his LTL and the entire Betterway Transport family.

So, thank you Corrina for twisting Marcus’s arm, or whatever you twisted, to get him to agree to the story.

Strapping down loads is just second nature for Marcus

Let us start by introducing the players in today’s action. We begin at the top with John and Belinda Post, the head honchos of Betterway Transport. This family company has two out of five sons already behind the wheel, one more itching to go when he’s old enough, one working behind the tools and, just to buck the trend, one’s a guitar player. The family’s sole daughter went into nursing. It so it seems the whole family likes professions where you work hard with little recognition.

Logged out

Trucking has been in the Post family for longer than Marcus can recall. Marcus’s dad has been changing gears since before Jesus played halfback and is still doing it today. When Marcus arrived in the Post household, the family was based in Tasmania where John was hauling logs out of the tough Tasmanian back blocks with an old Mack Cruise-Liner.

Straight from birth Marcus was gripped by the trucking bug and would sit beside his dad in the truck as often as he could. Marcus was a bit too young to remember the Mack but recalls the Kenworth T440 his dad had when he was running express between Sydney and Melbourne.

Before Marcus was out of nappies, though, the Kenworth was gone and John had returned to carting logs in Tasmania, this time with a tough as nails Ford LTS. NB: For those that know Marcus, please don’t use this turn of phrase to insinuate that he may not have gotten out of diapers until well after his 28th birthday, or anything similar. Anyway, it’s fair to say Marcus’s love for his LTL stems from his formative years alongside his dad in the Ford.

Two very old classics making up the Post family transport. Marcus’s LTL as it started and his dad’s long running LTS

John’s big LTS handled the logging work with ease. What it didn’t handle, nor did the Post family, was the demonstrations and protests that eventually curtailed Tasmania’s logging industry. When things slowed down, John went back to doing more interstate work, Sydney and Melbourne, all that kind of thing and whatever paid the bills.

The ability to roll with the punches and adapt to the situation generated not just a resilience in the Post family but also helped inspire the company name. The Betterway Transport title was the brainchild of mum Belinda Post, her vision for how the company would operate along with tying back to the era of trucking they’d been working in. All those things culminated in the new business name.

Back in the early days you learnt how to do things and how to fix things or you didn’t get anywhere. Essentially you learnt a better way to operate, or you wouldn’t be operating. Mix that with Belinda’s aspirations for the company to offer a better service to their clients and the result was the new name, Betterway Transport.

By the time Marcus was old enough to be skipping school and riding alongside his dad, Betterway Transport was up and running with John and his LTS. The change from logging to interstate and general freight work also pre-empted a change in John’s LTS. With the help of a few specialists the old girl got stretched out and a 60-inch (152cm) bunk added.

It didn’t take long for Betterway’s reputation to grow and, as such, so did the workload. This required growth in the fleet.

In late 2009, John and Belinda purchased a second-hand 1985 LTL, with a 3406 engine, a 15-speed overdrive box, Hendrickson suspension and a 40-inch low roof sleeper. A driver was hired and the LTL was there to assist John with the ever increasing workload.

Not Ford factory mounted door handles, but they do look pretty cool

Sadly, none of the drivers really took the big Ford under their wings. It passed through the hands of several different drivers. All the while the young Marcus kept his eye on it, cleaning it, servicing it and caring for it.

Eventually Marcus made it clear to his dad that the LTL would be his. No one else deserved it. He started buying parts for it, tinkering around and coming up with cosmetic ideas. The only minor hurdle was that Marcus didn’t even have his car licence yet. But the passion was there, that’s the main point.

Years of travelling with his dad, assisting his dad, learning from his dad. All that experience had fostered an old school attitude in a very young new truckie.

“When I was old enough, I left school and worked fulltime helping dad,” Marcus recalls. It was a choice he’s never regretted, complimenting his dad with teaching him more than he would ever learn from school. “He taught me how to earn a living.”

Nothing beats the life lessons you pick up as a kid from the passenger seat. The two of them completely stripped down and rebuilt a Series 60 Detroit as a ‘leaving school’ present. It helped that it saved them money and taught them a lot as well.

Although he was too young to get his licence, Marcus worked alongside his dad until that magnificent piece of paper landed in his wallet. Those years as an offsider taught him how to interact with customers and clients. It taught him how to load and secure a vast array of different freight options. It taught him how to behave on the road and gave him invaluable on-road experience. All this was happening while Marcus was accumulating and modifying the LTL in anticipation of it being his workhorse.

In 2016, the barn doors were swung open and the old LTL was let loose with Marcus behind the wheel.

Betterway Transport was prospering in its element. The small company had a core group of clients that appreciated the family’s better way of doing things. Having Marcus on the road now meant the company grew. The extra truck enabled extra work. Even now the company is still growing.

A fleet of five trucks now wear the Betterway logo. There’s three Kenworth T401s and the two big Fords – John’s LTS and Marcus’s LTL.

Take note, though, that the big spacious Ford you see now wasn’t the truck that Marcus spent his first few years in. Originally it was nowhere near as roomy.

“I spent three years driving it with the 40-inch [102cm] low roof,” Marcus says.

“With a fridge between the seats I literally was crawling into the sleeper every night. There was no room to stand up and get dressed either.” I’m pretty sure all those trucks in the ’80s were designed for much smaller drivers.

The family made the decision to do a few minor moderations to the old girl, to make it a little more comfy for Marcus. When I say the family, I mean the entire family. For although I mention John and Marcus a lot, his other brothers – Bradley, Jackson, Sam and Joshua – played pivotal roles in helping with the LTL. None of the brothers had ‘spare time’. If they were idle, they were helping out. It is a family business to the core.

Home job

First step on the LTL’s modification process was adding 1,200mm into the chassis. This would allow for the 63-inch (160cm) Unibilt sleeper (that John had found on Facebook) to be fitted. While that was being done it was also decided that the rear end would get replaced. Out went the Hendrickson walking beam and in went an airline system. The 3.9 diffs replaced with 3.73s. Not only did the new suspension improve the ride but aided the fuel efficiency as well.

All these changes were a hands-on job for John and Marcus. Yes, professionals were used for specialist roles, such as engineers and fabricators, but as a whole everything has been a home team operation.

The hydro-dipped dash components are again the brainchild of Marcus, adding attitude as well as the glossy green company colours. And yes, the gearstick with inviting gear knob really is that big

Take the aircon unit fitted to the Unibilt sleeper – it was obvious it was going to need one. Marcus spent far too much time in North Queensland to be without a decent night’s sleep. However, John saw no need to spend 10 or 15 grand getting one installed when he could take pride in building one himself. So that’s exactly what he did, running a diesel engine plumbed into the fuel tanks and even installing an alternator to recharge the batteries and help run the TV, fridge and travel buddy oven that Marcus and John had fitted to the sleeper.

The truck also got a repaint, the gorgeous green really setting the rig off and now matching his dad’s LTS. A couple of months off the road and it was good to go.

At almost 40-years-old the big Ford has seen more miles than we can count. Marcus himself has piled on over a million kilometres, covering everywhere from Cairns to Melbourne, Adelaide to Mt Isa. The biggest problem he finds is that, with all that time on the road, he tends to come up with new ideas and plans for his beloved LTL.

“I tend to drive down the road and either get ideas from other trucks or just think, yeah, that might work,” Marcus admits.

Plenty of space for rest and relaxation inside the 60-inch bunk

The thing is, despite having grown up in a family that relies on each other to handle and solve problems or create and follow through with ideas, when Marcus has a vision he sets about doing it. He’s not reliant on anyone. As a man that needs to re-read Lego instructions, I sit in admiration at the likes of Marcus and his dad and their can-do attitude.

However, there have been times Marcus admits even his mum has questioned him.

“When I do a run out west and there’s kangaroos and wildlife and stuff, I come back and have to fix or replace a lot of things,” Marcus says.

“Mum said to me once: ‘Don’t you get sick of replacing the same old shit?’ Honestly, no I don’t.”

Solving problems, adding features, fitting extra lights – it’s not just a skill itself but a testament to Marcus’s attitude.

At the start of our interview Marcus was worried that people won’t see the appeal of his truck. “I see it and treat it as a show truck ’cause it is a show truck to me,” Marcus exclaims. “But it still has a lot that needs doing.”

The fact is, he may be right. However, the truck stands as a testament to the good old Aussie trucking family. It oozes cool, it sounds wicked and it gets the job done. It supplies the family, and it relies on the family.

If truck shows had a congeniality award, you wouldn’t find a truck with more personality or more charisma than this Ford LTL.

In summary, I just want to commend Betterway Transport, John and Belinda in particular and Marcus’s approach to his truck and his humility around it. The way I saw the young fella interact with customers and his professionalism on the road is a testament to the old school trucking ways that the family holds onto. Old school values coupled with old school trucks; it’s a breath of fresh air.

Photography: Warren Aitken