We focus on quality, innovation and reliability and each of our trailers are designed to tackle the harshest conditions that this country has to offer.
Our Founder, Colin Drake was a mechanical and electrical engineer and entrepreneur with a dream. He wanted to build Australia’s best low loader trailers and innovate better ways to meet operators’ needs.
Colin’s unique and ground-breaking trailer builds would go on to revolutionise heavy haulage in Australia.
You might say Noel was one of the first Drake legends. He was known by all, and his knowledge of the business was hard to match during his time with Drake Trailers.
Noel retired in 2006 after 35 Years of loyal service, and was a regular visitor onsite until his sad passing in 2021 at the age of 84.
The Swingwing Widening Lowloader revolutionises heavy haulage. The trailer remains popular to this day and continues to evolve as an industry leader.
Mine site trailers are designed for the off-highway transport of large mining equipment on mine sites across Australia – hauling up to 500 tonnes.
Colin and John Drake launch the Steerable Platform Trailer, a low loader with one of the heaviest on-road payloads – the first of which goes to Brambles.
Our Deck Widener is one of the first innovative models brought to market by Drake Trailers and remains a popular model to this day.
Designed for the special heavy duty loads, the Full Modular Steerable Transporters are a similar concept to units manufactured in Europe, but widen for Australian regulations.
The Full Widener unit is designed to carry 50 tonne legally with the added benefits of easy loading because of the widening frame and suspension. This design has been the industry standard since this 1986 and is one of our bestselling trailers.
Drake’s Deck Widener gets a design upgrade, with the re-release filling a niche for urban use with the onset of traffic calming devices.
Drake launches the Swingwide in 2000. The wide line goose neck design allowed operators to carry heavy narrow loads.
Drake continues pioneering innovative trailer design with 3D Computer Aided trailer design, starting out with the SolidWorks system. This gave Drake Trailers greater design capacity and more flexibility for trailer customisation.
Sam continues in the footsteps of his family, as a third-generation Drake. His background is as a diesel fitter and his knowledge of troubleshooting issues is a great asset to our customers.
Sam goes on to become Business Development Manager in 2014, Group Sales Manager in 2018 and Business unit Manager: New Trailers in 2022.
This historic M.A.N military trailer design was a variation on the standard Drake 4X8 Swingwing, again showing the design’s versatility.
The Drake Group broke into the diecast miniatures market after calls from international collectors.
With regular special edition launches and several award-winning models, the popularity of our collectibles is outstanding. Visit The Drake Shop to see our range of premium heavy haulage miniatures.
To celebrate 50 years in business, Drake Trailers launch a new logo and the Steering Widener, filling a niche in the range of highway trailers for manoeuvrability with stability.
Drake partner with Cometto to design and engineer a Fully Modular Self Propelled Platform For Mine Sites: The Ant.
Drake appoints Khali Lake as The Drake Group’s new General Manager to build on the Drake success and enable the transport trailer manufacturers to continue to grow well into the future.
Khali’s background in the expanding mining sector, with a degree in both accounting and management, and he excels in Drake leadership to this day.
Exciting new partnership between Drake Trailers and luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker East Coast Australia, with John Drake appointed as Managing Director of the prestigious yacht brand.
The Drake Group joins forces with O’Phee Trailers – one of the leading manufacturers of semi-trailers in Australia, bringing about new capabilities and products.
Drake drops Australia’s toughest drop deck trailer, Drake Trailers Lowboy, with 30-40 tonne capacity and trailer lengths from 45-55ft.
At the Brisbane Truck Show, we showcase a “first of its kind” tilt slide trailer: a Deck-Widening Extendable Tilt Slide trailer, built to carry up to 40 tonnes.
We also release of the brand-new Full Widener Rear Steer trailer with enhanced manoeuvrability and efficiency. The steerable axles at the rear help to reduce wear on tyres and running gear.
Drake Trailers sister brand Drake Collectibles picks up a major award for Model of the Year 2015 by Cranes Etc.
In May, O’Phee Trailers moves onsite with Drake Trailers and Drake Collectibles to The Drake Group’s central manufacturing facility located in Wacol, Brisbane.
The 2017 Brisbane Truck Show Awards sees Drake Trailers 4X4 Deck Widener nominated for the prestigious category of Best Trailer.
Our custom-built heavy haulage Minesite trailer is designed for off-road mining operations. IT hauls up to 500 tonne loads.
The expanding portfolio of Drake Trailers sets in motion the desire to re-launch as The Drake Group. In 2017, we brought together Drake Trailers, O’Phee Trailers, Drake Collectibles, BoXLoader, Cometto and Sunseeker East Coast Australia under the one banner.
Drake Collectibles unveils brand new app designed to be a one-stop shop for premium diecast and collectible items.
O’Phee introduces an innovative sideloader called the Speedloader and a retractable container skel called the Retract-X. Both feature higher performance and the lowest tare weight on the market.
In 2018, The Drake Group celebrates 60 years in business.
We also celebrate a momentous delivery: our 1000th delivery of Row of 4 Lowloader, made to Rob Stribley Transport.
With BoXLoader’s acquisition of Swinglift, The Drake Group begins offering Swinglift container sideloaders to the Australian market.
Launched at the Brisbane Truck Show in 2021, This brand new deck widener design allows for an additional 35 degrees of manoeuvrability, where every axle on the trailer steers. This is a marked difference between other models where only the rear axle has self-tracking.
We bid farewell to three long-serving Drake legends in 2021: Aveen Cosgrove, Ray Ward and Steve Collins. Known by all, this trio racked up a collective 80 years’ service – now that’s impressive!
This award-nominated trailer offers Crane companies an innovative and flexible multi-purpose solution. It can be configured as a single trailer, B-double or road train. The trailer’s unique adjustable multi position cradle system has the ability to swap and change any accessory to fit any position whilst maximising axle group loadings
The Drake Group is proud to announce that on the 1st December we have acquired Dalzell and Bagley Engineering (D&B) from retiring owners, Cameron and Adele George. D&B is an established Brisbane engineering and metal fabrication business.
The Drake Group is excited to announce the appointment of Sam Drake and Maggie Nilson as directors of The Drake Group.
These well-deserved appointments follow many years of commitment and effort by Sam and Maggie both in the business, and in the industry more broadly. Maggie and Sam bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their new roles as directors, having held various positions in The Drake Group, they have experienced most facets of the business. Maggie and Sam are excited about the opportunities their new roles afford them to continue the growth and success of The Drake Group. At the same time, they acknowledge the enduring significance of The Drake Group’s strong foundational values in forging the future ahead.
Remaining as Chair of the Board, John Drake is proud to confirm the appointment of his son and daughter Sam and Maggie to the Board. “I believe they will continue to bring outstanding value to the business, and also as directors, their addition inaugurates a third generation of family involvement in the management, leadership and ownership of The Drake Group.”