Express Group WA grows with V8 Scanias

Western Australia line-haul operator, Express Group WA, recently took delivery of eight new R 580 V8 Euro 6 prime movers, making it the largest fleet of low emission Scania distribution trucks in Australia.

Formerly trading under South West Express, the company has now incorporated Great Southern Express under the company banner Express Group WA.

The company, based in Bunbury south of Perth, and now with a new depot in Albany, has been known in WA for its focus on fuel efficiency, and we’re told this is now extending to a sustainability focus as well.

The Express Group WA’s Euro 6 fleet now comprises nine R 580 V8 and four G 490 13.0-litre prime movers, all in their white and yellow livery.

The Group’s 20-strong fleet is made up of 19 Scanias, 13 of which are the Euro 6 models. The eight new V8 prime movers replace earlier Scania R 560 and R 620 V8s, as the company likes to turn its vehicles over after five years, running them on Scania maintenance contracts.

“The 13 Euro 6 Scanias in the Express Group WA’s fleet is easily our biggest Euro 6 fleet in Western Australia, and across the country for retail customers,” said Michael Berti, Regional Executive Manager for Scania WA. “The biggest fleet of Scania Euro 6 trucks is operated by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Melbourne.

“Since the first G 490 and R 580 trucks were introduced to the Express Group WA fleet in 2017 we have seen a rise in interest in Euro 6 from other transport operators.

“When we launched our New Truck Generation to the Australian market in Sydney in March this year we had a strong focus on sustainability, which runs hand-in-hand with fleet efficiency and can lead to improvements in profitability through greater uptime and lower running costs,” Mr Berti said.

“Mark and Andrea have adopted Scania’s Platinum level service agreement which ensures their vehicles are fully maintained by us for a pre-agreed monthly rate, leaving them free to concentrate their attention on areas of the business other than fleet maintenance. Again, Express Group WA was one of the first in WA to sign up for this level of Scania care,” Mr Berti said.

The new G 490 Euro 6 prime movers have been used mainly for metropolitan work, while the new V8s will mostly run line-haul between Perth, Albany and Bunbury regions.

Express Group WA’s prime movers pull 48-pallet capacity B-double and dog combinations that stretch out to 36.5-metres, 36- pallet pocket and 46-pallet capacity full-length road trains, and 34-pallet capacity B-doubles, while there are also 32-pallet rigid truck and dog trailer combinations along with 22-and 24-pallet semi-trailers.

The business has already seen its Euro 6 trucks using less fuel than their Euro 5 counterparts, reinforcing Scania’s claim of greater efficiency with cleaner exhausts. Fuel-savings amount to between 0.2 to 0.3 km/litre, the company has found.

To further ensure the most efficient performance from the trucks, all of the Express Group WA driver team has been through the Scania Driver Training Programme. This demonstrates how to use the on-board systems plus driver attitude and skill to get the most from the truck in the hunt for improved fuel consumption and safety.

“As part of our commitment to safety, the environment and our customers’ expectations, we took the opportunity to embrace the new technologies on offer with the Scania Euro 6 vehicles, unlike most operators, who take a wait-and-see approach to innovation,” said Mark Mazza.

“We have an extensive understanding of Scania’s rigorous product development and testing, which encompasses a wide variety of extreme conditions and applications around the world,” he said.

“Safety is a main focus. In addition to the Scania safety systems, we include ‘seeing eye’ fatigue and four-way camera systems, which have already proven invaluable tools for managing safety in our work place.

“Ultimately, we share the roads with the general public, and we as an industry need to consider this at all times,” Mr Mazza said.