Is it time to better your business with a truck?

As the cost of living and doing business continues to rise, money saved is as strong a currency as money earned.

In this blog, we look at examples of how upgrading a company ute to a purpose-built light truck was a great move and a smart financial decision for local trade and service businesses.

Owner-operator Marty Nelson with his light-duty trade truck

Fewer trips for Marty Nelson

“What’s great about the truck is that I can put four installations in the back, then drop them on-site. We’re not towing a trailer or getting the boys to travel from job site to depot.” - Marty

Any small business can tell you how important it is to have reliable transportation that can have you where you said you’d be, when you said you’d be there.

Marty Nelson works all year long, solving problems that arise with the temperature control of homes, buildings, and businesses throughout the Central West of New South Wales.

Marty found himself in the enviable position of having a business with a client base that was stretching his existing transportation. He was spending too much daylight on doing runs from depot to site and then back again. He needed a vehicle with more room to haul equipment and cut down on his restocking trips.

Covering large and remote swathes of New South Wales also required reliable transport that was big on comfort, which is why Marty traded up from a ute to a pre-bodied light truck.

His new truck offered a better payload, better towing capacity, and could still be driven on a standard car driver’s licence.

Not having to do multiple trips was a big fuel saver and meant his team could stay out kicking business goals all day.

A light-duty crane truck for hard yakka

Moving more for Mat the Mason

“I often have to move big heavy stones, some weighing in at well over 500 kg. I wanted the biggest crane I could get, but the Fassi crane I opted for would have overloaded a ute, so the truck was a great option for me. It does wonders for my work efficiency—and also my back!” – Mat

Mathew Harris of Mat the Mason is one of the very few Banker Fixer Masons in Australia—a mouthful of a title for a fascinating career. It takes a lot of training, practice, and hard work to attain the rank and Mat found that the human body needs a lot of assistance when it comes to moving these beautiful but enormous stones.

The bigger the jobs got, the more Mat was finding himself underpowered and underprepared with his ute. Sensing that things would only get bigger for the business going forward, he made the decision to add a truck with bigger payload and was able to run the business as he had always imagined it.

The addition of a crane behind the cab meant that could take things to the next level… and his body has thanked him for the switch.

Loaded with pallets or delivering firewood, this light-duty beauty has the payload needed

Time savings for First Class Firewood

Another company that was able to improve productivity by upgrading their trusty ute was First Class Firewood in Wagga Wagga. Father and sone duo Paul and Xavier Phyland have built a top-notch enterprise in just five years, showing that hard work, a good attitude and the right people can make any dream a reality.

Taking the company to new heights, they realised they needed to upgrade their work vehicle to something bigger that could transport materials and make deliveries while maintaining a professional presence.

Due to the rural location of Paul and Xavier's worksite, they needed a setup that was able to carry a large amount of chopped and split firewood as well as heavy bags of kindling. After experiencing the reliability and durability of their GS020PTY 20KVA generator set that powered their business and their property, they decided to take another trip to the dealership and picked up a pre-bodied truck with tray.

This light-duty truck could be driven on a car driver’s licence, meaning all staff could drive it, and they were able to save on time and trips with ample space to get the day’s deliveries done in one run.

Boosting business

From the extra time in the day that Marty Nelson got back for his staff, to extra payload and capabilities for Mat the Mason and a versatile company vehicle for First Class Firewood, each of these businesses experienced a great productivity boost from trading up to a truck from a ute.

A wise spend on a fit-for-purpose vehicle not only works for them on the job site now but helps them plan for future business growth.

Keeping on the right side of weight compliance is a big issue for any driver who tows or loads regularly. Read more on this in our blog here.