Construction great chooses Isuzu

[kscarbel2]

Owner/Driver  /  January 17, 2017

Tutt Bryant has led the way for more than 75 years, and choose Isuzu as the truck of choice.

Isuzu trucks feature heavily in the Tutt Bryant loading depots and docks across the country.

Construction work takes its toll on everything – from the equipment, to the tradies themselves – and only the industry’s best stand the test of time.

For over 75 years, Tutt Bryant has weathered the trials and made a real contribution to the growth of Australia's construction industry.

From humble beginnings back in 1938, they’ve risen to become one of Australia's largest crane, construction equipment hire and equipment distribution companies, with over 400 staff operating Australia-wide.

Tutt Bryant’s general hire division provides some of the nation’s biggest contractors with plant and equipment hire for earthmoving, civil construction, rail maintenance, and mining.

Tutt Bryant Fleet Maintenance Manager, Mick Collier, oversees all purchasing for the hire fleet in the southern region, and says Isuzu has been his number one choice since he joined the company in 2001.

"Part of my role is to select the best possible equipment for the job, and to maintain it through its whole working life, right up to resale.

"The last company I worked for had a wide range of trucks, including Isuzu and their competitors. We found the total cost of the truck life was better with Isuzu – they came out on top with servicing, reliability and re-sale value.

"Some of the other states will shop around a little bit, but for us the service network and the whole package Isuzu provides is second to none, and with my previous knowledge, it’s a no-brainer.

"In the hire division alone we have 25 Isuzus," Mick said.

Mick’s most recent purchases span Isuzu’s light and medium-duty ranges, including two FSRs for water cartage, three of the new award-wining ready to work N Series Servicepack models, two F Series Tippers and an FRR for crane hire.

And none of these vehicles gets a cushy lifestyle.

"Our transport trucks can do 80,000 kilometres a year and the service vehicles do around 50 to 60,000.

"The water cartage trucks don’t travel as far but they do a lot of idle-time work, constantly stopping and starting, so that needs to be taken into consideration too," Mick said.

Stop-start work is ‘child’s play’ for Mick’s FSRs, as their Allison Auto 6 speed automatic transmission makes for a quick take off, every time, providing real fuel savings.

"We have a mixture of automatic and manual transmissions in the fleet, but we’re starting to lean towards more automatics now for driver comfort and efficiencies.

"We find an auto makes it a lot easier for our hire customers – they jump in the vehicle and drive away without having to think about different shift patterns in gearboxes.

"And our drivers seem to really like the Isuzus’ reliability and comfort.

"On one of the last trucks we purchased, the drivers in our Geelong branch had a lot of input into the buying process and the specialised body, and they’re all very happy with the outcome," Mick said.

Cab comfort is covered in the new trucks by an ISRI air suspension driver’s seat, ensuring Mick’s team are kept comfortable on the longer runs, while the Digital Audio Visual Equipment (DAVE) unit with its 6.2" LCD touch screen, DAB+ digital radio and fully integrated Bluetooth, offers crystal clear sound and fingertip control.

Mick also opted to add Isuzu Telematics to all of his new vehicles.

Isuzu Telematics technology provides a range of operational and safety management efficiencies, such as live vehicle positioning, trip playback, geo-fencing and fleet and engine data information tools.

The system also observes driver behaviour such as harsh braking, over acceleration, over revving and fuel usage. It’s all valuable operational information fleet managers like Mick can then utilise to improve fuel economy, implement driver training and create genuine efficiencies.

"We have older, aftermarket telematics systems on our bigger trucks and earthmoving equipment that we use extensively and it’s an area we’re keen to utilise more," he said.

"Telematics is one of the reasons we’re continuing with Isuzu trucks. We can run them all off Isuzu Telematics and keep an eye on all the trucks on the one system."

Mick and his team are on and off commercial worksites constantly, so safety, in every sense of the word, is not only a priority, it’s a must.

Mick’s new purchases tick all the boxes on that front and include standard safety features such as driver and passenger airbags along with seatbelt pretensioners, an ECE R29 compliant cab, an ECE-R93 compliant Front Underrun Protection Device (FUPD) and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS).

"Safety is a key point these days and it’s a real factor in what we buy," he said.

"The Isuzus are very safe and we’re really happy with them – we’ll definitely get more in the future.

"We’re looking to expand our tipper and excavator hire, and Isuzu will be our pick when it comes time to buy again."

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[RoadwayR]

Isuzu needs a bigger U.S. presence, but I am unsure how they can do it without conventionals.

[kscarbel2]

14 hours ago, RoadwayR said:

Isuzu needs a bigger U.S. presence, but I am unsure how they can do it without conventionals.

They are now getting a huge boost in their U.S. presence, indirectly but everyone knows, as a result of the Chevrolet brand distribution.

To date, GM says there are over 250 Chevrolet dealers nationwide set up to sell their new Chevrolet (Isuzu) low cab forward trucks. Isuzu claims to have almost 300 dealers. So overnight, there are now some 550 dealers selling Isuzu trucks, and surely the number of Chevrolet dealers will grow substantially over 250.

[RoadwayR]

Good point, however large the North American medium duty LCF market is, Isuzu and GM are well positioned to take a big percentage of it.

I think it is interesting GM has enlisted the aid of two partners in their return to the commercial truck market, Isuzu and Navistar.  Of course, renewing the distribution agreement with Isuzu was quick and easy, and a win-win for both parties.  Dealers too.

The real question is where does it all go from here?  Will GM once again take equity in Isuzu, or perhaps Navistar?  Will GM expand into class 6 and up?