Working under duress is par for the course for some people.
That’s certainly the case for refrigerated trailer mechanic Nick Pye, whose business, Brisbane Valley Refrigeration, is thriving since it was founded in 2018.
Having, prior to this, worked at his father’s refrigerated transport company where he completed his apprenticeship before a spell at a Thermo King dealership, Nick, leaning heavily on this experience, went out on his own and hasn’t looked back. Word-of-mouth, at first, proved so strong it forced him to put on an apprentice.
Then he added a trainee.
“Everyone kept ringing and I’ve got a big problem with saying no,” recalls Nick, who admits he has spent a lot of time on the phone after hours.
That’s primarily because refrigerated goods are perishable. Repairing them is a time sensitive business especially when a trailer of prawns can be worth half a million dollars.
The customer portfolio of the business covers several big truck fleets, Exodas being one of them, as well as small outfits and many owner-operators. Nick asks that fleets include his phone number for drivers on the driver run sheets.
“They can call that number from anywhere in the country if they have dramas with their refrigeration,” he says. “I’ve got a breakdown network that covers them and includes follow up service and even what they’re buying, the new units and what they’re doing with the old units.”
He adds, “I take the whole headache for them.”
Brisbane Valley Refrigeration imports bulk parts both genuine and aftermarket. As one of the few service providers who maintained decent stock levels by the end of 2020, the business came out of the COVID period far stronger than when it had gone in.
Major repair works such as insurance company referrals are handled in the workshop at Rocklea which also has some hardstand for heavy vehicles.
There are also two 12 x 24 metre sheds for holding parts and equipment.
The fleet has grown quickly in five years from an old Japanese truck, two Toyota HiLuxes, a Ford Ranger and more recently six new IVECO Daily 50C and 45C models with another two on order.
Each IVECO Daily is decked out specific to the technician working from it and features a customised pantech service body and rear work platform.
“Every mechanic works differently and the shelving inside is set up to reflect this,” says Nick. “This includes the parts they want to carry, the work bench arrangement and OxyKits they use. They all have fridges and microwaves. It’s all about keeping staff happy and efficient.”
Given Brisbane Valley Refrigeration operates 24/7 this last part can’t be underestimated.
On the refrigerated trailers, technicians are servicing the four-cylinder diesel engines that run the compressor and indoor generator.
The technicians will complete full engine work from head gasket rebuilds, water pump repair and replacement. That’s just on the diesel side of things.
On the refrigeration side technicians can rebuild compressors, weld up gas leaks, and perform maintenance on refrigeration dryers.
“A lot of the units have three- phase plug-in so we’re quite proficient with electrical diagnosis and repairs,” says Nick.
“It’s niche in the sense it requires you to be smart enough not to get grubby as a day job but to enjoy doing the dirtier work with the motors. That’s the importance of having staff well looked after and all the equipment and tooling being suited for them because it can be difficult to find the right fits.”
That also relates, it turns out, to the physical attributes of the staff. One of the mechanics is nearly 7-foot tall. His IVECO Daily was made 150mm higher than the others to accommodate his height.
With each vehicle covering about 60,000 kilometres annually, this is no small concession.
The automatic transmission is preferred by drivers given it makes backing into the rear of the trailers, where they spend most of their time, a cinch.
As a light rigid truck, the 180hp IVECO Daily is modplated and downgraded to 4.495 tonnes.
“They’re nudging that all the time,” says Nick. “They’re comfortable and handle the weight well. The Dailys deliver substantially better fuel over the other options in the fleet. It’s nearly half the fuel compared to the old NPR.”
Per a hundred kilometres the Dailys are sitting in a range of 12.8 to 13.3-litres on fuel burn according to Nick.
Structured on a 5 year/300,000km warranty, so far there haven’t been any warranty issues despite the vehicles working around the clock, travelling as far south as Kempsey in New South Wales and Dirranbandi to the southwest of Queensland.
“They’ve got good highway speed. The IVECOs will sit on 110kp/h comfortably and make good fuel economy. They have no problems keeping up with traffic,” says Nick.
“They look good. We opted for the business pack interior. That encourages everyone to look after them. Hopefully that will see a decent resale on the other side.”
During the COVID months Nick says the company could have deployed another ten vehicles if not for the same issue many across industry are still battling against.
“The right manpower is difficult to come across,” says Nick. “I’d rather stay at a comfortable size until we’ve got the right people come along and then grow in a structured, safe way.”
Most of the technicians have a transport industry background. Nick finds it makes a big difference to have the right transport orientated people for the job.
“We’ve always got someone that’s happy enough to go and do something at short notice,” Nick explains.
“It’s quite fulfilling. You get a fair bit of satisfaction out of this type of work. It can be high pressure when you’ve got a loaded freezer to tend to and only a limited amount of time to make it right. All of us enjoy that competitive pressure.”
By way of endorsement, the company’s first customer is now its biggest customer. It too has upscaled in a short time from 20 trailers to over 100.
That said, Brisbane Valley Refrigeration is equally approved of by independent operators as well.
“We’ll work on weekends or matchup to when they’re going out,” says Nick. “We can communicate with them ahead of time so we know what we’re up against and we can get things fixed as fast as possible.”
Two more service bodies are presently being built by Tex’s Manufacturing based in Yatala. These will go on IVECO Daily units.
“He’ll customise anything for us and he has common sense,” says Nick. “Definitely the best body builder I’ve found who is the easiest to work with. His service bodies I think will last at least three IVECOs or 15 years. It’s a good investment for us.”
Going forward, Nick’s plan is to have a fleet entirely consisting of IVECOs all with a service body and one with a tray on it. Even as a utility vehicle they are excellent around town according to Nick.
“You can put 2.5 tonne on the alloy tray and still achieve good fuel economy and they’re very stable,” he says. “I’ve got one that I’m waiting on a body for and I’ve put 8,000kms on it just running around as a ute because I quite enjoy it.”
Momentum, especially from a standing start, is not easy to achieve and once stopped even harder to replicate. Nick is aware the nascent business is riding on a wave that keeps building.
“When I started the business, I didn’t have any money. It was from a low base,” he recalls.
“At 23, I had a pregnant partner who wasn’t working. It was a long, slow climb up.”
But once the momentum arrived and it did soon enough, he put the right elements in place, which has enabled Brisbane Valley Refrigeration to grow and customise operations to suit.
For Nick the future is about keeping their longstanding customers happy and working in with the next big fleet. In the short-term things are about to get hot. Entering the summer period, the business is expected to increase its workload by an extra 50 per cent.
“A couple of hot days there at the end of September and all of our phones started blowing up on the same day,” he says.
“We got three new customers in about an hour with people ringing up with breakdowns. It’s a fine balance to try and remain very available and but also take orders and help out as much as we can. That’s the challenge.”