Local business Greycart has excelled since choosing to go with UD Trucks
After supplying concrete to one of Australia’s largest construction companies, Greycart discovered that the UD Quon was the suitable truck for them.
Ross Books started Greycart back in 1986 with one truck and the family business has continue to grow since.
Before Ross hands over the reins to his eldest son Ben, he’s determined to get his company where it needs to be, and UD Trucks has become a key component of that goal.
“We’ve tried lots of different brands over the years,” Books says.
“They’ve all had pluses and minuses, but one of the big things for me is reliability and service. When a truck’s off the road it’s no use to you, and we’ve had issues in the past with service truck manufacturers passing us off to third parties. I’m not interested in that, I should be able to go to one place.”
When Books was considering buying his next truck, a colleague pointed him at UD, and he soon found that UD’s one-stop service was a major drawcard.
“UD have a 24-hour service centre, a breakdown truck and they do everything themselves,” Books says.
“There’s none of that passing the buck. Being able to get my servicing done at night cuts my downtime, and the reliability we’ve had with the Quon has been excellent.”
VCV Gold Coast retail area representative Michael Parker says Books found a lot of synergies with UD’s brand values of safety and uptime.
“The safety features of the Quon, provides a complete package including forward-looking radar, stability control, a lane-departure warning system, disk brakes, cruise control and autonomous (AEB) braking,” Parker says.
“This, combined with flexible servicing hours and breakdown assist, makes UD an excellent strategic fit for Ross and Janelle’s business.”
When it comes to choosing a truck, Books says safety is not just a consideration, but a prerequisite.
“Safety is obviously critical to us, but it’s also a major requirement for the big contracting firms we work for,” he says.
“With the Quon we more than meet the standard, and our drivers appreciate it.”
Books bought his first Quon in 2020, picked up a second in 2021 and has two more on order, with an option on two more.
“The first Quon hasn’t missed a beat,” Books says.
“That’s despite the service interval being 100 hours longer than it is for the other brands in our fleet. When I look at the cost of servicing, the overall reliability and the re-sale value, the total cost of ownership of a Quon is noticeably lower than some of the competitors.”
With his experiences of the Quon’s reliability and the standard of UD’s service, Books definitely sees UD paying major role in Greycart’s future.
“They’ve been consistent and reliable, which for me is key,” Books says.
“We once had another truck off the road for over a month because of an engine failure that the engine manufacturer refused to help. We were caught between dealing with the component manufacturer and the truck dealer. It was not an ideal situation.
“We don’t get that kind of attitude from UD, they understand the importance of reliability to a business owner like me. I see a long future for UD with Greycart.”