With about 40 years of combined transport industry experience between them, Peter and Kirsty Chugh certainly appreciate that when one venture ends you grab the next opportunity to come your way.
Early years
The couple initially started their transport journey in Queensland, where Kirsty was the Operations Manager for a transport company and Peter worked with Wridgways Removals, prior to its demise.
Kirsty was transferred to Melbourne with Peter in tow, but prior to leaving the Sunshine State he was able to secure one of Wridgways’ Scania prime movers – a 4×2 P 360.
Upon arriving in Melbourne, Peter promptly put the Scania to work, setting up Chugh Transport.
That was 2011 and armed with big dreams and a large helping of grit and determination, Peter and Kirsty founded their fledgling transport business in Dandenong South, on Melbourne’s southern outskirts.
That second-hand Scania is still part of the business – displaying over one million kilometres on the clock.
After a recent overhaul, it is still able to earns its keep when required.
In those early days, Peter started off driving the Scania as Chugh Transport, while Kirsty managed the business.
Now, Peter is out of the driver’s seat and is more focused on building sales.
Keeping the business in the family, the Chugh’s daughter, Georgia, helps on the front desk in between her nursing studies.
Initially, the Chughs were engaged in removals and then carting to and from the wharf for freight forwarders. Now, delivering directly for customers is becoming a growing component of the daily schedule, as well as warehousing.
After a couple of years, they purchased a second truck, a second-hand R 480 prime mover from the Scania Used Truck team in Campbellfield.
“That truck cost $125,000, which was a great deal of money for us,” Kirsty says.
“Recently we put down $1.2 million on three new Scania trucks, so the times have changed. Early on we bought three or four second-hand Scanias, and then we started buying them new.”
Booming business
Today, the business operates 15 Scanias and has evolved from its original removals work into container cartage and recently added warehousing and container unpacking services at a new, larger premises.
The new facility on Remington Drive, Dandenong South has benefited from exposure to passing traffic boosting its awareness, in turn attracting new clients.
“It’s a big opportunity for us to expose ourselves more in the market,” Kirsty says.
“Moving to Remington Drive in March 2025, we expanded our footprint from 5,000 m3 to 12,000 m3, boosting our onsite capacity from 100 to 500 containers, but already we’re getting full.”
They’re now looking to get an additional holding space to house their trailers in the short term.
“For us to move into this building was very exciting. It was a massive achievement for us to get a place on a main road and know that we’ve got the capacity to bring 15 trucks in here. At our previous location in Fowler Road there was no through traffic,” says Kirsty.
With 20 employees on the books, mostly truck drivers and reach stacker drivers, the business has grown organically from the early days of the husband-and-wife directors doing everything themselves.
Much of the Chugh’s business is now focused on carting containers on A-doubles and B-doubles off the wharf in Melbourne and delivering to the yard, as well as using the company’s six side-loaders to deliver to customers’ premises.
Perfect combination
During that steady growth, two factors have remained constant – customer service and a love of Scania trucks.
Customer service and ultimately satisfaction is driving success for Chugh Transport, Peter and Kirsty readily admit.
“It’s service,” says Kirsty. “Our customers know that they can talk to the boss at any time, especially if there’s an issue. With the bigger players you wouldn’t get to speak to the guy who owns the business.
“We don’t operate a call centre. Customers can get through straight to the directors. That’s a feature many of clients appreciate.
“We’re hustlers. We go hard. Whether it’s a big player or small players, we take on the challenge.”
With customers continually looking for the extra service in a competitive market, Kirsty believes there is one factor that makes them stand out.
“It’s a very competitive market and I think the difference with us is we’re a family business,” she says.
“We give that one-to-one customer service. We know every single customer. We know their directors, too.
“We know who’s moving containers with us today, who’s moving containers with us tomorrow, who’s got containers booked with us next week.
“Part of our success is we’re not reliant on freight forwarders. We have a lot of direct customers, and they can see the benefit in using us. Our business is probably about 60 per cent direct to customer. The rest is with freight forwarders”.
That customer satisfaction has translated to business success and expansions into warehousing and container unpacks.
The other factor – Peter’s devotion to Scania trucks – has been a constant thread for many years, Kirsty says.
“He had driven Scanias in previous jobs and just liked the way they drove. So, he wanted to keep buying them,” Kirsty explains.
“We formed a good working relationship with Tevfik Onguc, and then latterly with Mat Staddon, Scania Account Managers at the Dandenong Branch and it just went from there.
“Last year we bought three brand newies, and this year we have bought three as well – G 560 six-cylinder prime movers and R 590 V8s.
“The V8s pull the A-doubles and the G 560s pull the side loaders.”
Now, the Chugh’s fleet also includes a G 440, 130-tonne rated R 590 V8, an R 620 V8, 460 P Supers and an R 540.
Peter says the tempo of purchasing has increased. “I am looking forward to the day when I can order 10 in one go,” he says.
Trucking foundation
The evolution of the Chughs’ journey with Scania continues to create joy for the duo with boundless energy for transport industry.
“We were very excited when we took delivery of our first brand new Scania, and in five years it has never missed a beat,” Kirsty says.
“We’ll be looking at trading it in maybe next year, it has only around 350,000 km on the clock. We work our trucks hard, and they deliver.”
With an expanding client base and more work, the Chughs have seen their fleet of Scania trucks cope with larger annual mileage rates, hitting up to 85,000 km per year on average across the fleet.
“We are really pleased that the new Scania Supers have been delivering what we were promised in terms of fuel efficiency improvements. We do monitor the fuel use, and we have a 60,000-litre tank on site, which is another way of keeping our fuel bills down,” Kirsty says.
“The combination of buying bulk fuel and the fuel economy of the new Scanias is making a big impact on our fuel costs, given we use around 25,000 litres each month.”
Having had a long-term association with the Scania brand, Peter vouches for a standout feature of each rig.
“Reliability is a strong point and that’s come from the Scanias,” Peter says.
“We have had two side-of-the-road breakdowns in 11 years, and that’s down to the reliability of the trucks, and the servicing that’s carried out by Scania Dandenong.
“If we do have a truck off the road for an extended period Anna Marie Taylor from Scania Truck Rental gets us moving again with a rental unit.
“But we have a back-up truck in the fleet especially because we wouldn’t want to use a smaller truck for the bigger loads if one of those goes down. Our rule is we have designated trucks for designated work.”
Employing the right drivers as part of a transport business is crucial and the Chughs are satisfied knowing that their crew of long-term drivers will get the job done. And they share a passion for the Scania prime movers.
“The drivers love the Scanias. We try to keep the same driver in the same truck, and they really look after them, they’re spotless inside,” Peter says.
“We try to make this part of our culture, and they see that the bosses are neat and tidy, and they follow that example. We’ve kitted the drivers out with company clothing, and they have their name on their shirts, and they feel proud to represent us.
“The trucks are kept as clean as possible outside as well, and we have devised a new bold livery that really stands out on the road.”
The loyalty and professionalism of the Chugh Transport drivers shine through, with Kirsty noting they receive very few alarms from the on-board AI cameras.
“They’ll (the alarms) trigger an alarm in the office if they detect the driver is fatigued or distracted, or braking or accelerating harshly. We get very few alarms,” she says.
The complete package
Their love for the Scania products has matured over the years resulting in Chugh Transport buying into the Scania total transport solution, which provides a range of services.
That way, the Chughs can focus on running their business and growing their family empire.
“All our new trucks are on Scania repair and maintenance contracts, and we have used Scania Finance Australia since the very first used truck we bought in 2013,” Kirsty says.
“We have had the Scania Driver Trainers in, and we also use Scania Fleet Monitoring.”
Kirsty eagerly gave a shout-out to the Scania Finance team of Amanda Buckley and Jade Saddler.
“We have financed all the trucks through them and Scania Finance has always come up with a solution that works for us,” she says.
“We know they work hard for us and to keep us. We’ve never had a call to go elsewhere. We do have a finance company that will look after us for trailers and forklifts, but Scania looks after all our financing for our new vehicles.”
Scania Account Manager, Matt Staddon can see how the Chugh family have progressed so well with a focused approach.
“Chugh Transport is an excellent example of a business that has let Scania do all the hard work keeping the business rolling,” Matt says.
“By using our financial services expertise, our company trained technicians and our repair and maintenance contracts, their trucks deliver unparalleled uptime, at a predictable cost, which means Peter and Kirsty can focus on their customers while we look after their trucks. A win-win for all.”
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