NSW car carrier, Auto Freight, has introduced a pair of new 560 R prime movers from Scania’s SUPER range.
They join a fleet of six Scanias including several R 540s and an R 620 V8 unit pulling seven-car transporter trailers.
The Smeaton Grange-based business is considered a relatively new player in the car carrying industry although its involvement dates back to 2009.
“When we started Auto Freight our main focus was on presenting ourselves as premium and reliable operators, so there’s a lot of attention to the appearance of our trucks,” said Co-Owner Kevin Nassar, who runs the business with his brother Edwin.
“Some of our customers love having a standout truck deliver vehicles to their premises. Also having new equipment on the road means less breakdowns so our customers vehicles are never delayed.”
Auto Freight chose not to have stickers on the doors instead opting for a distinctive design using bright blue.
While a majority of the work is delivering cars to holding yards Auto Freight on occasion delivers direct to dealers.
“That’s where the tight turning circle and great visibility helps, coping with congested streets and limited access,” said Nassar.
“The gearbox smoothness is very important when manoeuvring, especially with expensive premium cars on the trailer, and the adaptive cruise control helps make long trips less fatiguing. The programming of the upshifts is also very intuitive, allowing the truck to maintain its speed on steep climbs.”
The trucks in the fleet cover around 200,000 kilometres annually, running six days a week with some units required to work around the clock.
Fuel consumption has been significantly reduced, too. Nassar estimates the new SUPER Scanias have afforded an improvement of around 10 per cent over the earlier models.
“The Scanias are great on fuel which is massive for our business financials,” he noted.
“During the Melbourne Port crisis which slowed car processing we moved 800 cars from New South Wales to Melbourne in a few weeks,” recalled Nassar.
“On a normal day we’re collecting cars from Port Kembla wharf and pulling them up Mount Ousley Road to Minto or one of the other holding yards. We’re not pulling very heavy loads, but they are valuable and smoothness and power are important,” he continued.
The drivers of the latest truck deliveries have also been beneficiaries of Scania driver training.
According to Nassar, Auto Freight makes a big effort with its drivers, and in return they really look after the trucks.
“Most of the trucks are spotless inside, that’s a sign that the drivers love their trucks,” Kevin says.
Additional Scania trucks are planned for delivery later in the year for the business.
“Moving forward, our fleet will continue to be Scania,” said Nassar.
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