KS Easter is one of Australia’s most well-respected road transport businesses, providing time sensitive road transporting solutions.
It was started back in 1976 in Newcastle by Ken Easter Jnr, as an owner-driver.
The very first truck Ken bought belonged to a friend of his father’s. It was a G88 Volvo with a tri-axle tipper on it and with a single axle pusher.
An International 4200 Transtar was the next truck Ken invested in, and then an ’81 Kenworth.
All three prime movers were pulling tippers around Newcastle, and when the Kenworth truck started to add some versatility to his small business, Ken opened his route up to running Sydney-Brisbane with time sensitive and refrigerated freight.
1988, when his base in Newcastle had became unsuitable for future growth, and Ken was faced with making the choice between moving operations south to Sydney, or north to Brisbane because it made sense to be at either end of the haulage route, he chose Brisbane.
Ken recalls his father, an owner-operator himself, coming home in the afternoons and 5-year-old Ken hopping up onto the running board of the truck and riding up the driveway.
That’s where it all started, he says, and he has passed this tradition of growing up around trucks to his two sons to create a true family owned and operated business, with Ken’s oldest son, Kenny, as General Manager, and Ken’s wife, Karlie, as Compliance Manager, while younger son, Matthew, is Paymaster.
Today, the KS Easter fleet runs across most of the Australian east coast, South Australia and Melbourne, and comprises about 120 prime movers and roughly 260 trailers consisting of curtainsided drop decks, refrigerated units and B-Triples, with 12 B-Doubles sold to Easter’s by Trailer Sales being added to the fleet in 2021 alone.
MAINTAINING THE KS EASTER FLEET
With a fleet the size of Ken’s, it pays to have your own in-house repair, servicing and tyre fitting setup, which they do.
KS Easter is self-regulated, so they don’t have to present their trucks for inspection.
They have on site the same brake roller testing and shaker machine as the authorities have, as well as their own hoists. It may come as no surprise that they have a proven record in that particular area of maintenance and servicing.
Easter’s have a strict maintenance programme that sees the trucks over the shaker and brake testing machine at every service to test brake performance and efficiency, and to diagnose steering and suspension components of the trucks.
In addition, computer downloads and other compliance related measures ensures their commitment to road safety.
When it comes to cleaning their trucks and trailers, Easter’s have a wash bay at their Brisbane depot where a team of in-house detailers take care of the washing of the trucks inside and out – down to the wheels.
When asked how they keep their combinations so polished by a follower on their Facebook page, the reply was:
“There’s not much to polish when you have Dura-Bright rims and protective coating on the tanks and bumpers. Not that hard if you keep on top of it. And a team of detailers to help.”
Some of the drivers take pride in keeping their trucks clean themselves, while having the choice to have the detailer crews take care of it if they wish.
“To be honest, Dura-Bright was a life saver when they came on the market,” says Matthew Easter. “Polishing means down time. Saving on that down time means we can get our trucks back on the road sooner and making sure our customers are given the standard of service we promise.”
When Ken bought his first Kenworth back in 1981, Alcoa Wheels were not a common commodity in a world where steel wheels were the go-to. The new aluminium wheels stood out to Ken as something special, and he put Alcoas on his tipper trailer too, which was an even more rare practice in the early 80’s Australian trucking world!
Since the early 1990’s K S Easter has 100% spec’d Alcoa wheels on their trucks and trailers and switched to 100% standard spec of Dura-Bright® wheels when they arrived on the market.
“Every single piece of equipment we purchase is on Alcoa Dura-Bright® wheels,” says Matthew.
“The patented technology offered by the Alcoa Dura-Bright® surface treatment allows the wheels to stand strong against dirt and road grime, while keeping their shine,” adds Shannon Girard, Marketing Manager for Howmet Wheel Systems, distributor of Alcoa Wheels products in Australia.
“While K S Easters are living out the Dura-Bright® wheels slogan, ‘No More Polishing’, they are also reaping all of the premium benefits offered by Alcoa Wheels, such as their light weight for improved fuel efficiency, their unmatched strength from our proprietary MagnaForce® alloy, which is 17% stronger than any other alloy in the industry, and of course their excellent heat dissipation resulting in extended tyre and brake life.”
Make Sure It’s An Alcoa® Wheel
To spec your wheels, ring 
1800 955 191 to talk with our wheel experts, or fill out a contact form and we will reach out to you to answer your questions and discuss your specifications.
