Longwarray-based Craig Melville gets dog trailer re-registered

Longwarray-based Craig Melville said he was able to obtain a chassis number for his trailer after a story was published in Stock & Land in August, highlighting how a government error had prevented him from re-registering it after a six-month restoration and lapse in registration.

The authority told Mr Melville the trailer was unable to be re-registered because it could be stolen, despite the fact it had been in his family since 1990.

"We got that chassis stamped on the trailer and that was all they needed and away we went," he said.

"Even though we're quiet, we I can take two loads out of Pakenham or wherever it is for instance, but in the past I would have been doing twice as many kilometres in the truck without a trailer."

Mr Melville, who runs Melville Contracting, undertook a $35,000 restoration on his prized 1994 International T Line T2700, and opted against renewing the registration for his trailer while the truck was off the road.

Four months after the lapse in registration when Mr Melville attempted to re-register the trailer, VicRoads deemed it to be a potentially stolen vehicle because he did not have a vehicle identification number.

Mr Melville said the 1980 Freighter trailer was never assigned a VIN from the time it was manufactured, and instead it was previously registered without one.

"Once we did the story in Stock & Land, I got in touch with one of the big wigs at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator he was really good actually," he said.

"It's all registered and it's on the road.

"I felt great, I felt relieved and excited because it opens more pathways for me as a carrier."