Smart Posts’ new red fleet

A family-owned business, Smart Posts was started in 1989 by Stephen Banwell and his wife Linda. In those early days, all their signs were made, delivered, installed and removed by Stephen himself from all over Adelaide in a small ute.

Now, Smart Posts is a leading force in the Adelaide signage industry, with 24 employees and a smart red fleet of seven Isuzu trucks, purchased from North East Isuzu.

As part of the company’s continuous improvement process, Stephen took advantage of the government’s instant asset write-off in 2020 to replace the company’s utes with a brand-new truck fleet.

He proudly notes it was forward-thinking business decisions like this that allowed Smart Posts to not only retain its entire work force but show an increase in trading figures compared to pre COVID-19.

“We had to implement innovative solutions during the worst of the pandemic to see us through, but those solutions have turned out to be good news all-round for the hard-working team at Smart Posts,” he said.

And one of those solutions was to get the fleet of trucks.

“When I walked into North East Isuzu, their service was second to none,” Steven said.

“Tony Emanuele (Dealer Principal) was absolutely wonderful and Rick Menchella, the sales consultant made things so easy for me.”

So successful was the connection and resulting negotiation that Stephen purchased seven Isuzu trucks on the same day — six NLR 45-150 AMT Traypacks from Isuzu’s Ready-to-Work range and one NQR 87-190.

The six NLR 45-150 AMT Traypacks were purchased exclusively for carrying real estate signage and are now fitted with custom built containers designed to allow the installers easy, efficient loading and unloading of the signboards.

“The trucks have improved our efficiency,” said Stephen.

“We can now comfortably secure 32 signboards as opposed to only 20 signboards which were carried by the utes.

“Since we offer a quick turnaround service when required, this has been so beneficial in keeping our customers happy.”

Featuring a GVM of 4500kg and a GCM of 8000kg and fitted with Isuzu’s four-cylinder 4JJI-TCS engine (rated at 110kW at 2800rpm and torque of 375Nm t 1600 – 180rpm) the NLR 45-150 Traypack offers Smart Posts power, payload and the ability to be driven on a standard car licence.

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“The trucks were a big investment, but they have actually improved the bottom line of the company, saving us money on fuel costs since they run on diesel… the diesel credit from the government is an added bonus for us.

“With an ever-increasing market share, the capacity of each truck being able to take more signboards on each run has saved transit time to and from our premises.

“Knowing our installers are driving a reliable and comfortable vehicle adds to the worth of the trucks.

“The ease at which they can enter and leave the truck also reduces strain on the body, which means they are less fatigued at the end of the day.”

The company’s larger NQR 87-190 with AMT is also delivering time savings and operational efficiencies for Smart Posts.

“I bought the larger NQR to be used as a crane truck for our project work and it has allowed us to carry larger six metre by three metre billboards without having to employ an outside contractor, as we did in the past.

“All in all, I believe the investment we’ve made in purchasing the Isuzu trucks has upheld our catch phrase of ‘Creating a Better Image’… I couldn’t be happier with the decision,” Stephen concluded.