Freight and transport specialist JJ Lawson is celebrating its 50th anniversary with six new trucks, including one with a gold livery.
To celebrate the milestone for the family owned business, the operator has recently received six new Mack Anthems, with one of them having the unique exterior.
“We wanted something different to commemorate our 50 years,” JJ Lawson co-owner Greg Lawson says.
“We asked our signwriter Bear Signs for some ideas, and they came up with a gold livery wrap. It’s a collage of historical photos of our fleet along with special moments in our company history. The concept seemed like a good idea and the finished product exceeded all expectations.”
The new Anthem follows in the footsteps of a special Mack Granite the company commissioned for its 45th anniversary. As longtime supporters of the North Sydney Bears rugby league team, Greg had that truck outfitted in the reverse of the company’s usual red with black stripes.
“With this Anthem we’ve gone back to our usual red,” Greg says.
“But the gold livery really makes it stand out on the road. It tells the story of the company in a unique way.”
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JJ Lawson has built a solid reputation for reliability and dependability. Founder Jim Lawson decided early on that he wanted to provide a superior level of service and surety to his clients and from there the decision was made to start building his own fleet.
In the mid 1990s, the company acquired its first Mack in a Fleet-Liner CH Day-cab in a B-double configuration. Since then, the fleet has grown organically up to as many as 30 trucks with the business and now operating 18 Macks and two Volvos.
The whole fleet is on Mack Platinum Service Agreements, and this suits the company’s needs perfectly.
“Over the years we have considered setting up our own workshop and doing our own maintenance,” Greg says.
“But with the space and specialised equipment and staff this involves, we have continued to decide to leave it to the experts. With Mack, there’s no need to bang your fist on the table, they understand our business and they sort things out, so we can focus on what we do best.”
The new Anthems replace four Mack Granites the company acquired back in 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic.
“Like everyone else, we didn’t see that coming,” Greg says.
“And it was quite a trying time. International shipping schedules were severely disrupted, and with the restrictions that were applied, we often found ourselves running the fleet with just one person physically in the office, but we got through it and those Granites have done us proud since then.”
The 50th Anniversary truck delivery was a special day and took place with almost the whole Lawson family. Unfortunately, Jim was unable to attend but his wife Jenny, two sons, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren all were there to celebrate the milestone. Greg says they do plan to get a photo with Jim and this truck at some time in the near future.
“We’ve stayed with Mack for over 25 years,” Greg says.
“They have the same standards of reliability and dependability that we offer our customers. The trucks are ideally suited for our operations, which mostly involves moving containerised freight from ports and airports, but for us the real benefit is the long-term relationship we have with Mack.”
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