Viel and Santin Transport stick with IVECO
Claude Viel has continued his association with the brand, recently adding two new trucks to his fleet of 15, but he still remembers the ‘old days’…As the Director of Viel and Santin Transport based in Casino, New South Wales, the 74-year-old’s driving days might be over, but he still plays a very active role in managing the business, and Claude subscribes to the adage: ‘if it ain't broke, don’t fix it’.
So after two previous IVECO Powerstars – a 2011 and 2012 model – were recently retired with 1.3 million and 850,000 kilometres showing, Claude again looked to the brand to provide the replacement vehicles.
Claude put his money down on a Powerstar 6800 and Stralis AS-L with output of 560hp / 2300Nm and 500hp / 2300Nm respectively. Both of the trucks feature EuroTronic II 16-speed automated transmissions.
Claude said that he finds the IVECOs to be ideal for single trailer intra and interstate transport in particular.
“They are a very good truck, they’re quiet and comfortable and well suited to what we use them for – the drivers I have in these trucks love them,” he said.
“In a single trailer application, we travel to the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Grafton and other areas hauling a range of general freight; we’re normally right up on our weights at 42.5 tonnes and the trucks do the work easily.
“This time around we have chosen to go with the automated transmission – why anyone would go back to a manual after driving the AMT, I just don’t know.”
Claude remembers his early driving career when he was still in his 20s, travelling similar routes and with the same weights as today – the experience was vastly different.
“In the old days, when I first started driving, we were using trucks with 205 to 280 horsepower, and by the end of the day you’d be so tired from changing gears all the time,” he said.
Another area where Claude is extremely happy with the new vehicles is in fuel consumption.
“We’re getting really good fuel figures on the two new trucks, we’re often at around 2.7 kilometres per litre,” he said.
“All up, we’re enjoying a fuel saving of around $1100 per month for each truck compared to the earlier models, that’s a great saving and about half the cost of the monthly finance repayment we make per truck.
“Fuel is a major expense in running a transport company so any time you can get savings like that, you grab them,” Claude concluded.
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