News · As featured in Prime Mover Magazine
Chain of command: keeping Coolangatta Airport fuelled
Prime Mover Magazine went behind the operation that keeps jet fuel flowing at Coolangatta Airport on Queensland's Gold Coast, and found four dedicated Hills Tankers units running seven days a week. Here's the story in our own words.
Prime Mover Magazine, Chain of Command
Shared on our news page in August 2023. This summary is in our own words; the full feature is theirs.
Coolangatta Airport, seven days a week
Jet fuel on four dedicated A and B-double units, as the story reports.
MAN TGS 540hp
A third-generation MAN TGS prime mover joined the airport run in 2023.
Behind the story
An airport rebuilds its fuel infrastructure
Coolangatta Airport on Queensland's Gold Coast has spent recent years fortifying its fuel infrastructure, part of an ongoing project to give the airport more flexibility through peak times and busy periods.
The works run deep. Under a joint venture between Caltex and BP for the airport's fuel operations, Prime Mover Magazine's story describes 900 metres of new underground hydrant pipe to reticulate fuel, 31 new hydrant points for refuelling, two new underground valve chambers and the relocation of the existing aircraft bays along the front of the terminal.
All of that plumbing has one job: getting fuel into aircraft faster on the days the terminal is full. And none of it means anything unless the fuel keeps arriving on schedule. That link in the chain is ours.
The upgrade at a glance
- 900 metres of new underground hydrant pipe
- 31 new hydrant points for refuelling
- Two new underground valve chambers
- Aircraft bays relocated along the front of the terminal
Works delivered under the Caltex and BP joint venture for the airport's fuel operations, as reported by Prime Mover Magazine.
Our part of the chain
Four dedicated units, seven days a week
Servicing the Coolangatta operation is Hills Tankers work. As the story reports, we deliver jet fuel to the airport on four dedicated A and B-double tanker units, seven days a week.
Dedicated means exactly that. Those combinations belong to the airport run; they are not whatever happens to be spare in the yard on the day. An airport burns fuel every day of the week, so the trucks that feed it run every day of the week too.
The MAN at the top of this page is the newest of them. In 2023 we introduced a third-generation MAN TGS 540hp prime mover on the airport run, and per the article it impressed to the point that the other three units were slated to convert to MAN by the end of that year.
The full feature, with the detail on the airport works and the equipment, is at Prime Mover Magazine.
Operation and infrastructure figures as reported by Prime Mover Magazine, Chain of Command, 2023.
Why it matters
Airport fuel work is its own trade
Jet fuel is dangerous goods, the timetable belongs to the airlines, and the delivery point sits behind an airport gate. A missed window doesn't just inconvenience a depot; it stacks up on a departures board.
That is why a run like Coolangatta gets dedicated equipment and the same discipline as everything else we carry:
- DG-licensed drivers under our NHVAS-accredited Safety Management System
- Fatigue and Distraction Management programs behind every roster
- Real-time GPS tracking and dashcams across the fleet
- Cargo Risk Management on every load
Aviation fuel is a Hills specialty
Our Brisbane depot at Pinkenba opened in 2007 with aviation products as its focus, and it has been the trade's home base ever since: dedicated tanker units, DG discipline and supply runs planned around airport operations.
If you're weighing up carriers for airport or terminal fuel supply, start there.
Aviation fuel transportOr go straight to the depot: Hills Tankers Brisbane, 07 3860 9300.
Quick answers
Off the back of this story
Where can I read the full article?
At Prime Mover Magazine. The feature is their journalism, so we summarise it here in our own words and link you to the original rather than reprinting it.
What's the difference between an A-double and a B-double?
Both are two-trailer combinations; the difference is how the second trailer couples on. A B-double carries it on a turntable over the lead trailer, while an A-double connects it with a converter dolly, which makes for a longer unit. The Hills fleet runs 19m and 25m B-Doubles and 30m A-Doubles, along with AB and Triple Road Trains.
Why does an airport run use dedicated units?
Because the schedule can't depend on what's left in the yard. Dedicated units mean the same combinations, maintained and ready, on the same job every day, which is what an airport delivery point demands.
Can Hills quote similar airport or terminal supply work?
Yes. Send the product, volumes and schedule through a freight enquiry, or talk it through with our Brisbane depot on 07 3860 9300. Aviation products have been the depot's focus since 2007.
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Scott "Chub" Hawker drives road trains for Hills out of Townsville. Big Rigs asked him why.
All our news, with links to the outlets that covered it, lives on the news page.
Aviation fuel · Since 2007
Fuel that has to move on an airport schedule?
Tell us the product, the volumes and the delivery windows, and the Brisbane depot will tell you exactly how we'd keep them.