No matter what the freight task one of the most important things is to use a truck fit for purpose. Diesel News finds a company distributing fitness equipment has found exactly that.
With 70.9 per cent of adults aged 18-64 years old in Western Australia (WA) dedicating 150 minutes or more per week to physical activity, fitness isn’t something WA jokes about. That figure becomes even more impressive when compared with the rest of Australia, where 65.5 per cent of adults partake in 150 minutes or more of physical activity per week.
Contributing to WA having the edge over the rest of Australia is Orbit Fitness and their Isuzu NPR 55-155s with automated manual transmission (AMT).
Beginning as a family business in 1983, Orbit Fitness has grown alongside the health and fitness industry in WA and, according to them, becoming the state’s largest supplier of fitness equipment. Operating out of seven locations, Orbit is one of the few fitness retailers that does its own servicing, delivery, parts and installation out of their own warehouses.
But the real competitive edge that they have is their dedication to innovation. Orbit’s Operations Manager, John Prince, often travels overseas in search of the latest innovations to implement in Orbit’s products.
“We travel across the globe on the hunt for the most innovative fitness products we can find to bring back to Australia,” says John.
In conjunction with local councils and health clubs, Orbit works to bring new fitness technology to the community. The scale of their projects varies, and sometimes their work involves a full site relocation of a 24-hour health club, with only several hours available for the team to make this happen. This is where serious, reliable transport is needed and Orbit’s Isuzu NPRs were called on to rise to the challenge.
“The health club closed at 6 am, we picked the whole thing up, loaded up the trucks and moved it to the new location all under 24 hours,” says John.
Orbit Fitness’s commitment to promoting healthy living in Australia isn’t an easy one. Devoted to their customers, their crew often have to drive over five hours to deliver fitness equipment, and that’s one of the reasons why they need a truck they can trust.
“We chose Isuzu because of its reliability; we’re driving for long distances in such remote locations, and we can’t afford to break down on those journeys,” explains John. “For example, we delivered fitness equipment to the Kalgoorlie regional fire station, which was almost an eight-hour drive.
“So, being able to drive across the whole of WA with faultless reliability and never letting us down is important.”
When the ‘whole of WA’ is mentioned, it tends to be interpreted as the vast distances that separate settlements in that region of Australia, but John also had another part of the state in mind.
“On top of the eight-hour trips, we also service residential addresses, and our Isuzu trucks are very, very nimble, helping us easily access those smaller roads,” says John. “With such diversity, we need vehicles strong enough to carry the heavy weights but compact enough to get through small back streets.”
And that truck strength comes from Orbit’s choice of the NPR 55-155 with a gross vehicle mass of 5,500 kg.
“We like to have our trucks with more power rather than be underpowered,” says John. “For the payloads we’re dealing with, the bigger engine gives us the power, reliability and comfort, especially in those long drives, to do our job transporting and installing fitness equipment.
“We have a peace of mind knowing that our Isuzu trucks are more than capable for the work we do.”
Orbit Fitness’s keen eye for innovation isn’t only restricted to fitness equipment, it’s also the core criteria in their search for trucks. For them, it’s important to look for the type of technology that will make life easier for himself and his drivers, who can then make life easier for their customers.
“The benefit Isuzu delivers to our business is in the ease of use and service of the vehicle. From the start the performance has been really impressive,” says John. “The technology in the truck, the AMT, the GPS navigation, the reversing camera and sensors, the comfort of the suspension seats… and the digital radio, the boys listen to the cricket or whatever music channel they want.
“When the guys saw I bought the new truck they ran off with it straight away!”
And it’s the combined ability of the Isuzu trucks and the service given by Major Motors dealership that gives Orbit the confidence to deliver to WA successfully.
“The previous 2 Isuzu NPR trucks we had before these new NPRs had done half a million kilometres each and we’re still going on fine,” says John. “We wanted something that was going to last a long time, and we knew from experience that the Isuzus certainly do last.
“We also have an exceptional relationship with Major Motors here and the staff are superb. We bought both vehicles from Nestor Jongko at the dealership, who really listened to our story and what we needed, and then helped us make the right decision.”
