Finley’s Scott Congram has become the first person to win Deniliquin and district’s most coveted truck prize twice.
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At Saturday’s Deniliquin Truck Show & Industry Expo, proudly supported by the Rotary Club of Deniliquin, Mr Congram won the Truck of the Show trophy.
Interestingly enough, it was with the very same truck he won the inaugural Truck of the Show prize with in 2015.
He ordered the C508 Kenworth in August 2014, and after a few tailor-made customised improvements, it was finally his in 2015 - just in time for the first-ever truck show.
It cost him just over $450,000 to get it on the road, and was the first brand-new truck he had owned.
Taking five months for all the custom work to fall into place and be completed, Scott said there were issues and delays from the start.
The ordeal inspired the customised ‘Rolling in the deep’ casino-themed graphics on the back of the truck.
With Grays of Finley providing him with support while he waited for his pride and joy, the Kenworth arrived just in time for Scott to scoop the pool at the inaugural Deniliquin Truck Show & Industry Expo in September 2015.
Scott purchased the truck from Twin City Trucks in Wodonga, and specifically chose features that suited him and his business.
‘‘I chose more off-road features, and the layout is very different to most trucks,’’ he said.
‘‘The colour scheme really makes it stand out from the rest, and all the signage and paint has been specially customised by Barry Dickson Paint and Panel in Cobram.’’
Since that trophy win in 2015, Scott says very little has been changed on the truck.
“It’s just a standard, and it’s used mostly for livestock haulage,” he said.
“I’ve not done anything more to it because I wanted to keep it original, and it’s lasted.
Including a built-in microwave, fridge and mounted flat screen television, the truck is Scott’s home away from home on the road.
‘‘It’s got everything I need,’’ he said.
One feature that really sets Scott’s truck apart from the rest is his choice of hood ornament.
A black duck sits proudly atop of his award-winning truck’s hood, and was chosen because it was ‘‘something out of the ordinary’’.
The truck is powered by a Cummins ISXE5 600hp engine and also features a Fuller RTLO22918B gearbox, Kenworth KW6-60A 21t low profile 1422mm spacing suspension and 1980L of fuel capacity.
It is fitted with a Whitlock heavy duty FUPS compliant bullbar, a 1525mm Aero II Sleeper box Custom and Air sleep/Air Ultimate air conditioning system.
When Scott claimed his Truck of the Show prize in 2015, his then young son Riley accompanied him to collect the trophy.
This year Riley brought his own truck to enter in the show ‘n’ shine, with their trucks lining up in the show area with another Congrams truck showcased by Scott’s brother Craig.
Other show ‘n’ shine award winners were as follows:
Best Truck 0-3 Years - Darren Marshall, K220.
Best Truck 4-9 Years - Darren Frankling, T909.
Best Truck 10-25 Years - McNaughts, T909.
Best Truck 26-39 Years - Gunn Freight, Transtar.
Best Truck 40+ Years - Dean Asworth, Mack R700.
Best Local Truck - Fellow Bulk Transport’s KW, previously owned by J Murphy & Sons.
Best Fleet (3 or more) - Frankling Transport.
Best Rigid - Marc Quarrell, T659.
The Muscles Gray Memorial Award - Geoff May Transport, 2013 Kenworth 909 Director Series.
Best Non-American Truck - Tony Rinaldi, Mercedes Benz.
Senior journalist