INTERNATIONAL comes full circle with Treloar Transport

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Iveco Australia  /  August 28, 2017

What does one of Australia’s biggest INTERNATIONAL Truck brand aficionados do when he hears that the highly anticipated ProStar will soon be available in Australia?

Treloar Transport Managing Director, John Treloar, wrote to the company expressing a strong interesting in ordering the first of the new breed INTERNATIONALs to be available here.

John’s new order is a fitting full circle to INTERNATIONAL’s recent history in Australia, as he remains the proud owner of the last new INTERNATIONAL to be sold in the country, a 9900 Eagle day cab tipper, purchased by him on 20 January, 2011.

According to John, the wait will be worth it – INTERNATIONAL Trucks have always served him well in business. As owner of Treloar Transport, a Tassie-based civil contracting business, he has owned around 15 INTERNATIONALs since operating the company.

“Early on when we were getting up and running many years ago with my father Cliff and brother Tony, we were using old Bedfords and progressed to MANs, then we wanted something bigger that was also able to tow a trailer,” John said.

“One of the local dealer salesmen, Brendan Smith, recommended a second hand 1986 S-Line. We were a bit hesitant because it already had 500,000 clicks on it, but Brendan told me it would do a million guaranteed, so we went for it and it hit 1.1 million without a problem.

“At this point it developed a water leak at the head so I bought a rebuild kit to suit the Cummins 350 big cam and it only cost me $1800… Our competitors were running around in other brands and paying big money for rebuilds and maintenance, so I thought ‘this will do me’.

“The INTERNATIONALs have always been good, honest and reliable trucks.”

As a loyal fan of the brand, John said he was quite worried that the last truck he purchased in early 2011 might mark the end for INTERNATIONAL Trucks in Australia.

“I thought that was it, so I went out and bought another two second hand 9900 models to try and keep us going into the future, I thought I’d be able to rebuild these, but for our new trucks we didn’t know where we’d go to next.  

“Then the first announcement came that INTERNATIONAL might be coming back, which was great news.”

The majority of Treloar Transport’s fleet are configured as tipper and super dogs, along with two prime movers for float and semi work. The new ProStar will also work in a tipper and dog application and will have the familiar Cummins / Eaton driveline combination.

John said the truck will be put to work in a demanding application but had total confidence that the ProStar would be up to the challenge based on the earlier performance of his other INTERNATIONAL trucks, as well as the bullet-proof specification of the local model.

“Where we are south of Devonport the conditions are challenging and the application demanding,” he said.

“The terrain is undulating, the trucks operate at a heavy weight, often travelling on gravel roads that are wet and slippery, the weather conditions can also change pretty fast.”

“I’m expecting longevity out of the ProStar, especially if it’s anything like the others. We still have a 1982 S-Line on fleet that is running strongly.

“I reckon the die-hard INTERNATIONAL guys will definitely pick-up and run with this model,” John added.

Fittingly, the new ProStar was purchased through the recently appointed INTERNATIONAL Dealership, Adtrans Truck Centre. The Adtrans Group’s second Victorian INTERNATIONAL® Dealership, Melbourne Truck Centre, is the same outlet where John purchased his last 9900 Eagle.

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