MKD Transcorp invest in 14 IVECO S-Ways

News

15 Aug

With a fleet of over 100 trucks – including 11 new S-Way AT 460 prime movers and three S-Way 6x2 AT 360 rigids – and over 400 trailers, MKD Transcorp has come a long way since beginning in 1999 as a one truck operation with owner, Igor Cvetkoski, at the wheel.

Jump forward 25 years, and still under the direction of Igor and brother Zak, the company now employs around 215 staff including drivers, and runs its fleet on double shifts, seven days per week providing a range of interstate ambient freight services along the country’s eastern seaboard as well as to Adelaide. Having the fleet predominantly equipped with refrigerated trailers, also allows the company to backload with perishables, providing even greater productivity.

Additionally, MKD undertakes a high volume of container work, transporting from wharf to customer and wharf to distribution centres. To a lesser extent, the company is also involved in local distribution around the greater Sydney area.

**Part of a fleet expansion program, the trucks were purchased predominantly to cover a major new contract in Melbourne.**

MKD Transcorp General Manager, Noel Ryles, makes it clear that the company’s success comes down to a simple formula.

“Our company motto is ‘Committed to Reliability’ – we live and breathe it, and this focus on continually offering a highly reliable service to customers across all business operations, has always held us in good stead,” Noel commented.

“To a large degree, we have grown with our customers and steadily gained new contracts through referrals and recommendations. Then once you have a great reputation, you begin getting asked to tender for contracts and it builds from there.”

The new IVECO S-Ways began their rollout into MKD’s fleet in September last year and have slotted in seamlessly, with Noel saying the trucks were acquired to meet the company’s growing needs in Melbourne.

“We won a contract in Melbourne so needed to expand our fleet,” Noel explained.

“We’d been using another European brand predominantly, but were starting to have some friction points, so decided to look elsewhere. We spoke with all the major manufacturers and decided that the IVECO S-Way was a strong fit for what we needed.”

**L-R: Facilities Maintenance Contractor, Daniel Petreski; Director and Co-Owner, Zak Cvetkoski; Management Trainee, Stefan Cvetkoski and General manager, Noel Ryles.**

As well as choosing the trucks based on driveline and payload, Noel, who has worked his entire career in the transport industry including as a driver before transitioning into management, was in a great position to evaluate the options.

“Reliability is critical, as is emission performance, safety and support,” he said.

“IVECO went to a lot of trouble to win our business; they’ve provided our drivers with training and all the support we’ve asked for. So far, the relationship is working well and feedback from the drivers has been very positive.”

The S-Way AT 460 prime movers have 60,000kg GCM and feature 11.1 litre, Euro 6 (Step E) engines that produce 460hp and 2150Nm of torque, while the AT 360 rigids are rated at 27,600kg and are equipped with 8.7 litre, Euro 6 (Step E) engines outputting 360hp and 1650Nm. In both cases, the engines are coupled to IVECO’s 12-Speed Hi-Tronix AMT.

Standard safety equipment includes Advanced Emergency Braking, Brake Assistance System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning System, Electronic Stability Program with ABS (disc brakes all round) and ASR (Anti-Slip Regulation), Hill Holder and Driver Style Evaluation plus Driver Attention Support (DSE + DAS).

Another attractive feature for MKD Transcorp was ‘IVECO On’ telematics, which is a standard feature on the S-Way range.

“Full telematics is definitely something we must have on all our trucks, along with cameras and driver fatigue systems,” Noel said.

“With customers entrusting their freight to us, it’s important we have great visibility into the location of the trucks and this increases our accountability to our clients.”

Noel said that with over six months of service, the IVECO S-Ways were living up to expectations.

“The S-Ways are a great product – we’re happy with them,” Noel said.

For added convenience, MKD Transcorp’s new S-Ways are covered by a 5-year / 600,000 km ‘Easy Road’ maintenance package, providing improved budgetary control of maintenance costs. Other benefits of the program include a pickup and delivery service for the trucks.