Acquiring top-notch road transport equipment and maintaining it to the highest standards is critical to Ausway Transport’s success. Bobby Sooch, National Operations Manager, says this is the ethos that his grandfather founded the company on in 2003.
Bobby is a first generation Australian whose family migrated from northern India in the 1970s. Interestingly, he didn’t start his working life in trucking. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business degree and was then employed by Mobil for several years before joining the family business.
“While I enjoyed working for Mobil, the trucking industry grabbed me,” he says. “My grandfather loves trucks and I think I inherited the passion from him. He instilled into us the importance of buying high quality gear and maintaining it to the highest standards.”
In India, the Sooch family was predominantly occupied with farming and transport – a pattern that continued upon their arrival in Australia.
To satisfy industry demand, Ausway is taking delivery of several new Vawdrey 34-pallet FRP B-double vans.
“Like with our prime movers, we like to stick with trailer brands such as Vawdrey and build good relations with the people we deal with,” he says. “It then becomes like a family – you care for them and they care for you. We also like to support our local manufacturers. We have used imported products and I understand that imports and exports are a necessary part of global trade, but we prefer to support local manufacturers who are helping the local economy by employing Australians to build the equipment. I also believe that parts availability is better with local products.”
Bobby explains that Ausway’s choice to partner with Vawdrey for almost 20 years is because of their excellent customer service and support.
The extent of Ausway’s long-term business is supported by the quality of Vawdrey’s trailers – the way Vawdrey’s trailers are built, and their special features, which have all been seen to last.
“The quality’s excellent,” Bobby says. “They’re built to last longer, and mainly the high quality finish as well. What we require, they’ve never had an issue to change things around. When it comes to trailer builders, some builders don’t like to implement changes in the design.”
Bobby speaks very highly of Vawdrey team. He also prefers trailers that are built to last rather than cutting corners and making them lighter at the expense of long-term durability.
“We aim to get at least 10-12 years of service at a minimum from our trailers.”
Ausway also expect a long service life from the running gear fitted to their trailers.
“Over the years we’ve used a number of different axles and we came to the conclusion that BPW Transpec axles and suspension are the most suitable for our operation,” he says. “We have standardised on BPW axles with D36 airbags on all our trailers. This is the heavy-duty road train spec air bag designed for dirt road operation. Because we are running mostly on the highways, we rarely have an issue with airbags.”
The business has also since standardised on Hella lighting, which has always been standard on all Vawdrey trailers.
“We’ve used Hella lights with Dangerous Goods (DG) rated wiring looms for more than five years and in that time we have not had one electrical issue with these trailers,” he Bobby says. “It might cost a bit extra upfront but the cost of one breakdown more than negates any cost saving you might have made with cheaper equipment. My grandfather has a saying, ‘You buy expensive, you cry once. You buy cheap, you cry every time it breaks down’.”
Fast Fact
Ausway Transport values the high build quality and dedicated after-sales support of Vawdrey. According to Bobby Sooch, the trailers are built exactly to the company’s specific requirements.
Fast Fact
Several Vawdrey FRP dry freight van B-double combinations have been added to the Ausway Transport fleet and come standard with all relevant safety features including WABCO Electronic Braking Systems (EBS) and side underrun protection.
