The remaining months of 2025 are set to be filled with excitement for Penske Truck Leasing, as they mark a big step in their growth.
Adding to the six locations they have so far, a new dedicated facility is officially opening in Pakenham in Melbourne’s south-east, with the keys being handed over at the start of September.
It is an important milestone in the branch’s growth, according to Penske Truck Leasing Managing Director Adrian Beach.
It will be the first standalone Penske Truck Leasing Branch in the southern hemisphere.
“We’re all very excited about it,” Adrian says.
“For the first 11 years in Australia, we’ve been co-located in other Penske facilities. Some of those are retail truck dealerships, like in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, while others are off-highway dealerships like our Altona and Adelaide locations.
“It’s great being in a retail truck dealership, with parts and technicians around for support and warranty work. Being in the off-highway dealerships adds some complexity. We can do much of the work on-site with our own technicians, but we still spend time going back and forth to the retail dealerships for heavy jobs and warranty work.
“In order to further grow the business, we needed to look at other pockets of Australia that require our equipment and services. Accessing the east side market of Melbourne required a solo approach.”
The location of the new facility was strategically selected to capitalise on the emerging growth of the area and the expansion of Pakenham as a transportation hub. Adrian says this was an intentional decision to help connect with their customers that operate in the area.
“We have a brand new facility in an important industrial market with brand new equipment, where many of our existing customers are already based,” he says.
“No more need to drive nearly an hour through tunnels and over bridges while paying tolls to get to Altona or Westar. If they’re in Dandenong or Bayswater or nearby, it’s only taking them 15 to 20 minutes to drop off a truck for service or pick up a short-term rental truck.
“Our existing lease customers on this side of town will be thrilled to get service, support, and additional rental trucks right in Pakenham.”
It’s not just Penske Truck Leasing that’s moving into the area either – plenty of Melbourne-based transport businesses are looking to the south-east as a growth corridor.
The area is developing into a little truck hub, which Adrian says can only work to their advantage.
“When we first looked at the site, there wasn’t really much around,” he says.
“There was some construction happening, but the exact plot that we’re on didn’t really have any neighbours. It just looked like a big empty field.
“That was 18 months ago, and now that it’s ready to go, you look around and there’s buildings all over the place. They’ve just mushroomed.
“We got lucky to get in when we did – if we were shopping around in Pakenham right now we certainly wouldn’t have as many options.”
While the choosing of a location and the construction process has been much anticipated, the Penske Truck Leasing team hasn’t wasted any time in getting hands on deck.
Adrian said the staff set to run the Pakenham location are chomping at the bit to start taking on a new challenge.
“Josh Richards, our Victorian state rental manager is out there running the place. He’s a great guy to be doing it,” he says.
“We’ve already hired a new technician who lives out in Pakenham. He has MAN experience so he’s ready to hit the ground running. We’ve also got a lease sales representative, a business development manager who lives on the east side and will office in the new facility.
“Right off the bat we’re prepared with sales, service, and management. As the fleet grows, we’ll add a second technician and additional rental staff. We’re hoping the service department will really set us apart.”
Rental fleet additions
With the opening of the Pakenham site, there will be new trucks available to Penske Truck Leasing customers.
PowerTorque got to take a closer look at the MAN TGX and TGS 540s (pictured) that will be joining the rental fleet.
Even just from a drive around the yard, it’s easy to get a sense of the power and reliability that the new MANs will offer Penske Truck Leasing customers.
They have even been done up in a brand new livery to mark the opening of the Pakenham location, which Adrian says is particularly special.
“We’re hoping the TGXs and TGSs grab a lot of attention on the road,” he laughs.
“You’re going to be seeing them all over town. We’re going to have three variants of MAN,the new Western Star 48X and some Hino 500 curtainsiders.
“They’ll all be new trucks right out of the box, with additional equipment transferring over from Altona once the new site gains some traction.”
Part of the power of the Pakenham project comes in what it means for Penske Truck Leasing in the future.
As the first standalone branch, its success could mean more popping up across Australia, particularly in locations without an existing Penske presence.
“We certainly didn’t build the Pakenham site for 2025 or 2026. This is for the next 10 to 15 years and beyond,” Adrian says.
“What it does give us is another method of entering a new market. In Sydney, being co-located in the Chipping Norton MAN and Western Star dealership is great. But if we want a second location in Sydney, we may have to go alone like we’re doing in Pakenham.
In addition to these possibilities, the growth of the Penske dealer network across Australia means possible growth around the country.
“The dealer network keeps growing,” Adrian says.
“Tas Trucks in Tasmania was just a Hino dealership but they’ve recently joined the Penske family and are now an official MAN and Western Star dealership. I suspect there will be discussions about a partnership at some point. Watch that space.
“It’s really exciting. We haven’t opened a new location since Covid so it’s great to once again be in growth mode. Now we have more than one proven way to enter a market.”
Read more about Penske Truck Leasing‘s business development.
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