The truck was stolen from a depot in Woodend sometime on Thursday night, with the thief cutting a hole in the fence and driving the vehicle out.

Emmitts Excavations operator Tony Emmitt said he had to stand down three staff members because of the theft. Mr Emmitt said the equipment on the truck was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and was used for drilling pipelines in his gas contracting business.

“I’ve probably only had it for about six months; all the equipment was near new,” he said.

“It had a directional drill and brand-new excavator on the back, plus it was loaded up with electrical equipment.”

Mr Emmitt is hoping that because of the truck’s size, and its unusual cargo, someone will have seen it.

“The truck was out of fuel so it would have had to go to a servo right after it was stolen,” he said.

Police are viewing CCTV footage from nearby petrol stations.

Mr Emmitt said he believed the theft was premeditated.

“The truck works in Bendigo and Woodend and it only stays overnight in Woodend every now and then, so it was definitely an organised thing,” he said.

“They have had to break in and hot-wire it, and it’s a pretty difficult thing to get moving.”

It is an Isuzu 1400 tray truck, about 10-11 metres long with white toolboxes down either side.

“On top was a yellow Vermeer directional drill and a blue Airman excavator,” Mr Emmitt said.

“It’s got ramps at the back, all white and it had a big water tank up the front. Inside it had gas welding equipment and electronics for the drill.”

Without the truck, the future for Mr Emmitt and his employees is unclear. Much of the equipment was uninsured, with insurance costs outweighing replacement costs, and Mr Emmitt said he could wait months for any claims to be processed.

“It’s basically my livelihood gone,” he said.