Jeffries adds two Isuzu FVYs to the fleet

South Australian business Jeffries is a team of garden and recycling experts which has been in business for generations, with the Jeffries family first moving to Australia in the 1800s.

Like many families in South Australia at the time, they entered into farming, with some industrious members of the large family branching into transporting goods and materials for nearby farms.

This consequently led to the very beginnings of their Isuzu truck fleet which, like the Jeffries family business, has evolved impressively over time.

Their newest trucks are two medium-wheelbase Isuzu FVY 240-300 autos with green waste compactor bodies, collected recently from Northeast Isuzu in Adelaide.

They join a fleet of other medium-and heavy-duty Isuzu trucks including FVY 240-300 compactors, tippers, trailer and water trucks, an FVY 240-300 with agitator, a Gigamax EXY 260-520 fitted with a quad-dog trailer and tipper body, and an additional Gigamax for the heaviest of the grunt work.

“The first generation of Jeffries in Adelaide had 13 children, and our branch of the family are descended from the youngest child,” said Lachlan Jeffries, Executive Chairman of the Jeffries company.

“As you can imagine, there wasn't a lot of the family farm left to work on… by the time of the Depression in the 1920s, the family had diversified, purchasing trucks to cart manure and firewood to businesses in the area.

“The foundation of Jeffries today comes off the back of that transportation and trucking for those industries.”

On the trucking front, the Jeffries’ firm favourite is the Isuzu FVY 240-300 Auto platform, recommended by their local dealership for its combination of power, payload and size that can be tailored to the host of applications that the business conducts: from tipping to towing, compacting and agitating.

The FVY is specified with a GVM of 24,000kg and a GCM of 36,000kg, which leaves plenty of payload for collecting organic material or delivering horticulture supplies to busy growers.

The FYV is powered by Isuzu's 6HK1-TCS six-cylinder 24 valve engine, which outputs 300hp and 981Nm.

The versatility offered by their Isuzu fleet is vital to the smooth running of the operation. The trucks fitted with a compactor body collect organic material from grocery stores and produce suppliers, it is compacted on-board for eventual processing at the Jeffries’ facility. This material is processed to become compost, soil, mulch and fertilisers to be used at farms and vineyards across South Australia.

“We need our Isuzu compactor trucks to be able to manoeuvre in the CBD, but we also want to have maximum payload, so that we don't make unnecessary trips back to the site to load up,” Lachlan said.

The tippers can also be seen on the road daily transporting soil, compost, mulch and fertilisers to Jeffries’ many and varied customers across South Australia, and their water truck is on site for dust management during construction activities.

“Jeffries really values the reliability of Isuzu Trucks and the rigour they apply to technology updates and overall improvements to the driving environment,” Lachlan continued.

“We think there is a good balance between innovation and reliability of the product, which is why we continue to partner with them.”

Since the company’s storied beginnings, Jeffries has developed a unique combination of products and services that are in demand from a wide range of clients.

These include a thriving brand of organic composts, soils and mulches, many of which are the product of collection partnerships with the council, local supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and food processors keen to find an alternative for their organic material disposal.

“We think we play a key role in moving Adelaide towards a more circular process where items are either reused or recycled,” said Lachlan.

“Our purpose is to create value out of that material and also provide value for our customers who find a home for their organic materials.

“We pride ourselves on having safe and well-performing quality products, particularly in the farming sector,” he concluded.