Isuzu helps maintain Geelong Port

Our sea ports serve as a critical juncture between land and sea transport and ensure the movement of freight around our road networks every day - not to mention their significance as a source of employment within local communities too.

This is certainly the case with the Port of Geelong, now branded as GeelongPort, which, as the second largest facility of its type in Victoria, manages in excess $7 billion in trade and has created more than 1800 jobs.

Located in Corio Bay, about 75 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, the port houses 15 operational berths including specialist and general cargo berths, between two primary precincts, Corio Quay and Lascelles.

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Key customers of the facility include prominent names such as Viva Energy, Midway, Incitec Pivot, Boral and Terminals to name a few.

As a premium bulk port, it sees over 600 vessels each year, connecting the ‘blue water highway’ to our road, rail and air freight links across Victoria.

As with any major piece of infrastructure, maintenance and management of the port facilities is critical to its daily operation.

Darren Green, the General Manager of the GeelongPort Maintenance Team explains, “…maintenance is key to seamless operations within the port. We have two direct groups to help with that: Lascelles maintenance team who handle the cranes, hoppers, conveyor systems and grabs and our core infrastructure team who maintain the buildings and any structures both land and sea side from water craft.”

The latest reinforcement to join this maintenance machine is the Isuzu NPR 65-190 Tipper Crew.

More than capable in and around the facility, the crew cab tipper assists Darren and his team with their overall operations, including general maintenance, infrastructure development and wharf management activities.

As Darren explains: “Whether its rubbish tip runs, collecting gravel or just general maintenance, the tipper is important for all types of work we perform at the Port. It is our go-to truck.”

The NPR Tipper is the backbone of Isuzu’s popular Ready-to-Work range.

The NPR 65-190 Tipper boasts a GVM of 6500kg, power of 140kW at 2600rpm and torque of 513Nm at 1600 to 2600rpm.

Procured as a replacement for an ageing truck, the Isuzu Tipper has already earned a great reputation with drivers at the facility.

“One of the biggest priorities for us is to make sure that operations aren’t hindered or delayed with downtime. This truck has been great in speeding-up our operations, which we’re very happy about,” said Darren.

“Prior to this, we had an ageing asset with many reliability issues. So, the upgrade has been fantastic, we’re very pleased with it”.

According to Darren, GeelongPort’s experience of Isuzu Trucks has exceeded their expectations, so much so, they are keen to add more trucks to the fleet in the future.

As the Port of Geelong continues to grow and evolve as an economic hub for regional Victoria, its future looks bright.

It may be a smaller piece in a much larger puzzle, but as Darren explained, the Isuzu NPR 65-190 Tipper has provided a fit-for-purpose solution for the unique demands of waterside work.