Anything that flourishes in the Australia’s Pilbara Regionmust, by definition, be built tough. Dry and dusty, with regular daily temps of over 40 degrees, it’s literally a case of “if you can’t stand the heat…” So, it’s no surprise that Fitzgerald Civil, a small but mighty contracting business, was forged in those fires. Even less surprising, they’ve built their business around Volvo, one of the toughest machines on the market.
Of course, it was a long road that brought Kieren Fitzgerald to the Pilbara all the way from his dad’s earthmoving business in Ireland. “I grew up between the track pedals and the side of the cab,” he laughs. “It was in an old Hymac back in the day, A 141C. So, I learned on that machine. Then we moved on to a Hyundai because they were the local dealer beside us. Tothis day, my father still drives a Hyundai.”
Gripped by a sense of adventure – and the promise of better weather – Kieren’s travels brought him to Australia back in 2012. “I did the whole tour – Sydney, Brisbane, and back to Perth,” he recalls. “It started as a working holiday. But I could see there was a steady flow of work. So, in 2016, I had the idea to go out and buy my first excavator.”
Knowing civil work was in such high demand meant staying in Australia, even somewhere as unfamiliar as the Pilbara, was easier than you might imagine. “Well, I mean, I was there already,” Kieren laughs. “I made a few contacts at the start. One job would take you to another. And, slowly but surely, it built up more and more. So, that was our bread and butter for the first four or five years.”
Of course, building a business in this part of Australia takes an iron stomach and even tougher gear. “There’s lots of challenges,” Kieren shares. “There could be salt marshes about – track into one of those, and you’d never be seen again. Or peaks of sheer rock you’re trying to climb, and the machine doesn’t want to be up there. Most days, it’s well over 40 degrees. And it’s a production environment. So, the machines can be running flat out in 50-degree heat. That’s a test of any machine.”
The balance of comfort and reliability led Kieren to go with Volvo for his first purchase. “It was a Volvo EC300DL,” he says. “I have always liked Volvo. Working across all those civil jobs during my early days in Australia, I operated many different machines.and whenever a Volvo was on site, it was always highly regarded for comfort. Being in there 13 hours a day, you want a nice air con and a good cab.Then , when I was purchasing, I started to think about reliability,backup and parts. In the end, thinking over all the different machines I had driven, Volvo was, by far, the best I ever sat in.”
Being higher end, Kieren says the build quality makes Volvos uniquely suited to life in the Pilbara. “A lot of other machines fail due to the heat,” he explains. “They fail with belts, hoses, all the rubber components, the cooling systems – they just can’t handle it. I’ve never seen the temp gauge go even above the halfway mark with a Volvo. All the other machines start running three quarters during the summer. And more pressure on the engine. But Volvo absolutely it nailed for this kind of work.”
It was the team at CJD that facilitated that first purchase. “They steered me in the right direction,” Kieren says. “They did all the right things. Showed me through the machine and talked me through the process of their parts and service process. So, I did like the comfort of having that backup.
The team’s product knowledge and understanding of Kieren’s unique needs added significant value. “If I was doing, say, normal house sites, I could see how people might compare the price with lower-end gear and say, ‘Volvo is so much more,’” Kieren says. “But it isn’t the case once you work it all out. Working with Anthony Brown at CJD, he beats all the competitors whenever he comes back with quotes.I’ve gotten what you’d regard as a higher class of machine for the same price as any other. So, that’s definitely the way to go.”
Indeed, focusing on value means doing your sums with more than just the sticker price in mind. “It does factor in there, but the need for reliability pushes it lower down on the list,” Kieren explains. “ WhenI looked at it early on, I realised a typical repair in the Pilbara could cost $10,000 for a small repair by the time you get someone up there. Do that six times a year, and there’s $60,000. So it is better to pay a little more,as is enjoy the comfort and lack of downtime. It was just a better way to go.”
With that first machine under his belt, Kieren built his fleet as he built up his client base. “It’s the usual story. You’ve got one, and then suddenly, there was demand for more,” he says. “So, we slowly bought up mainly all second-hand units to start. But because there was a bit of a boom then, the demand for machines was high. So, working with CJD, Anthony sourced me a few machines from out east, and helped us get them on site and everything like that. So, it worked very well.”
The next phase saw Kieren begin to swap out the second-hand gear for new machines. “We have that ability now,” he says. “And the market has moved on. The expectation is for newer gear- high-end stuff. You’ll arrive at a job and have a top-notch machine ready to go and last the length of the project.. Breakdowns are very much frowned upon now. And, honestly, finance repayments are cheaper than repairs, so that’s why we’re going down that road.”
Acknowledging that everyone’s circumstances dictate what they can buy, Kieren feels you can’t go wrong with Volvo. “One of our machines in the Pilbara, a EC300DL, has 24,000 hours on it. And that’s 24,000 ‘Pilbara hours’ – in the heat and rough terrain. We took it into CJD for service and a spruce-up at 11,000 hours. And even in the yard in CJD, the force fitter thought it was like a 2000-hour machine. It’s a testament to what they can do. And it’s still ticking over. That’s proof in the pudding.”
Amongst the 12 machines in the Fitzgerald Civil yard, the new Volvo E-Series has stolen Kieren’s heart. “The EC300E was one of the first new ones we got,” he says. “It’s just trouble-free motoring. And it’s got everything I need – the heightened slew restrictors and that Volvo weigh-in system. Going back to the value discussion, if you put the load right on it and put the heightened slew restrictions on it, you’ve gone way past the purchase price of this machine. It’s the best machine I’ve ever sat in.”
Indeed, Kieren says technology is moving speedily. “10 years ago, even GPS was an additional feature on most machines. And it still is, but now it’s required,” he says. “But all that other stuff is coming in for the loading systems, the weigh-in scales, everything like that for chain responsibility, your safety features, your cameras – everything like that is expected now on jobs. We’realso moving into the era of tilt rotators to be able to increase productivity and make the job easier. So, yeah, it’s moving quickly.”
Fortunately, he finds it all quite intuitive to use. “It’s verystraightforward ,” he says. “One display for the actual machine controls and monitoring dials. So, there are not tenscreens in the cab, which is great. And it’s all set up by Volvo, by CJD. So, when you get the machine, they take you in for a day and do three or four hours of familiarisation through the whole system. It’s so easy to use.”
In terms of attachments, Kieren rates Engcon. “We’ve got the Engcon EC300D Tiltrotator. I bought it overseas – I wasn’t quite confident enough to go all newbecause of the price tag on them. But I can see their value now,” he shares. “We ended up retrofitting this one to this machine. Normally, it comes with all the controllers, but we retrofitted it to work with the Volvo control. Brad in CJD set it up for us on the GPS and everything like that. He did say he was pulling his hair out for a day or two, but he eventually got it down to within ten mil. That’s dedication. We’ve also got the smaller Engcon S60 on the Volvo EW60E. That’s the future, I think. They’ve been out in Sweden for 20-plus years. But the rest of us are only just catching on.”
There are a few other new purchases in the fleet. “We just took two EC300Ds – they’ve gone to the Pilbara. And there’s a EC235E waiting in the yard that we’re prepping now. So, that’ll be coming down here for the Bunbury Ring Road for all the offcuts, drains, and tidy-up work . And, again, we need that guarantee, the chain responsibility, that it will be able to weigh the tonnage before it loads it.”
Kieren feels his relationship with CJD is more like a partnership that goes beyond just sales. “It benefits us,” he shares. “I’ve dealt with Anthony since day one. And, as you can imagine, I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew I wanted a Volvo, but that was about it. He guided me down the path, all the finance routes, everything like that. And he kept in touch to ensure everything was going along all right. That’s been really good for us. It’s great to know they don’t just sell you a machine and say, ‘See you when you come back for the next one.’ There’s always constant communication to see if everything’s okay.
CJD’s ability to provide service and support has proven to be another big draw. “I won’t forget the first machine – I did a fan belt about three months into the job, and it was on a Saturday evening,” Kieren recalls. “I rang the parts department in Perth, and by Sunday, I had a fan belt in my hand. To me, that’s exceptional service. And the people don’t change there, so I know all the boys by name, and they know us. They have the full card on their system, so I don’t have to go quoting serial or part numbers. They log in, find it, put it on toll, send it to me, and I have it the next day. It’s so easy with them.”
Right now, Kieren’s in his element, working alongside crews in the Pilbara. “I do love it in Bunbury, for sure. But the Pilbara, when you’re young and going flat out, it’s a great place to be,” he shares. “There’s a great push up there. Some of the best people you’ll ever meet. Then you come down to Bunbury a nice, easy-going place. No stress and no dramas. So it’s the best of both worlds. I’m very happy here at the minute.”
Even in his downtime, Kieren isn’t one to sit still. “I’ll get the John Deere lawnmower out – cut the grass and do all the weekend stuff,” he laughs. “But we also like Perth. And there’s something on most weekends. Even just heading to the beach is lovely. Always good weather. Every day, nice and hot, and you can’t go wrong with that.”
Looking towards the future, after a rushing start, he’s not in any hurry to shake things up. “I like to be on the machines,” Kieren says. “I just have that passion for them. And maybe that will restrict me from growing into a massive company. But that was never the intent, anyway. I’m pretty happy at this size. I’ve got good machines and good guys on them. No dramas. Everyone’s doing a good job. So I think I’ll continue with that and be loving it.”
And there’s nothing wrong with that, now, is there?
