Two new IVECO S-Way AS 550 prime movers have recently joined the fleet at leading timber wholesaler, City Timber, which also operate Stralis and Eurocargo models – the company even owns a 1980 model FIAT-IVECO 130 NC that is undergoing restoration.
Established in the 1970s by Con Peluso and now overseen by sons, Tony and Joe, City Timber can attribute its long relationship with IVECO to Con, a passionate Italian who grew the business with the help of the brand, allowed him to provide timely and reliable delivery to his growing customer base. Today, City Timber’s love of IVECO continues with 15 on the fleet.
“Dad had a real soft spot for IVECO, especially being an Italian brand,” says Tony, pictured above.
“We’ve had a lot of them over the years; they’ve been very reliable – some of the older trucks we’re still using today; we have a few with 500,000 and 600,000 kilometres on them.”
City Timber’s central distribution facility is based in Clayton South, Melbourne, with satellite warehouses around the country. From these outlets, the company distributes a range of timber products including cladding, flooring, decking and linings, to timber merchants.
Along with this distribution footprint, City Timber also operates a Queensland sawmill where it processes its own sustainably sourced timbers – all up there’s a team of about 55 people involved in the operation.
The IVECO fleet – including the two latest S-Ways – are all based at the Clayton South facility and travel extensively throughout metropolitan and regional Victoria and at times into South Australia and southern New South Wales as part of delivery duties. The newest trucks are coupled with flat-top single trailers, with timber packs forked on and off at the start and finish of each journey.
Given City Timber – and Tony’s long relationship with IVECO – he’s well placed to comment on the evolution of the brand and model line-up. “The IVECO range has certainly come a long way, even just in recent years,” he says.
“Drivers are accumulating between 4,000 and 5,000 kilometres a week in them, and the comfort and quietness they offer are two things that we love about them; the trucks are easy on the back.
“Safety is top notch as well – it’s important we look after our drivers.”
Tony is also complimentary of the S-Way’s driveline, particularly in this application where the trucks must handle heavy timber loads day in, day out. With output of 550hp and 2,500Nm of torque from their Euro 6 (Step E) engines matched to the 16-speed Automated Manual Transmissions, he finds the combination works well.
“It’s important we have enough grunt; the S-Way has good power, and the 16-speed Automated Manual Transmission make the trucks smooth, responsive and easy-to-drive, especially in start and stop traffic,” Tony says.
“Reliability is also a key measure for us; we can’t afford late deliveries in our line of work. Over many years we’ve never had any major issues with the IVECOs we’ve operated, and the latest S-Ways are also performing well.”
When it comes to servicing, City Timber has its own mechanic on staff who can take care of most requirements, with additional support provided via the IVECO dealer network. Tony is a big believer in using IVECO genuine parts for all maintenance work.
“We always opt for genuine parts – we’ve had a great run out of IVECO and for the sake of saving a couple of dollars on aftermarket parts, I just don’t think it’s worth the risk,” he says.
And while parts for the old 130 NC might be a little harder to come by, Tony and Joe’s commitment will no doubt see the truck back on the road soon and looking sharp.