Primary Connect teams up with Don Watson for A-Double trial

Primary Connect, the supply chain and logistics arm of Woolworths Group, has announced a new partnership with Don Watson Transport to trial the first approved 35-metre A-Double combination operating in the Sydney region.

Primary Connect said that Transport NSW approved the trial in February as a way to help businesses create more efficient ways to move goods for their customers during the pandemic.

The company revealed that two 35-metre A-Double combinations travel between Sydney and Melbourne daily, passing each other along the Hume Highway. Their final destination is at Primary Connect’s consolidation sites in Truganina VIC and Wetherill Park NSW.

A permit for the use of 35-metre A-Double combinations in Victoria had previously also been granted by the Victorian Government.

Lyndon Watson, CEO Don Watson Transport, said he was excited to be part of the trial into Sydney.

“The trial in partnership with Primary Connect has been a great experience,” Watson said.

“These high performance vehicles are so advanced. They are designed with a fixed drawbar which improves braking performance,” he revealed.

He continued that the vehicles hum along by themselves and are typically contained on the highway and industrial estates while east of the Newell Highway.

“The general public don’t even know they are there,” he said.

Over the past few years, Don Watson Transport has also partnered with Primary Connect to operate A-Double combinations between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Primary Connect said that a 35-metre A-Double combination creates less truck movements on our roads with each trailer having the capacity to hold 22 pallets. This equates to a total of 44 pallets and a 29% productivity improvement. A normal B-Double load would typically hold 34 pallets.

The trial is expected to continue until the end of June 2022.

Source: Primary Connect

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