IVECO S-Way AS 550s join City Timber’s Melbourne fleet after nearly 50 years with the brand
Melbourne timber wholesaler City Timber has added two IVECO S-Way AS 550 prime movers to a fleet relationship stretching back almost half a century. Founded by Con Peluso in 1976 and now run by sons Tony and Joe, the family business continues to put its faith in IVECO for timber deliveries across Victoria, South Australia and southern New South Wales.
It’s all about moving timber: an IVECO S-Way and forklift at work in City Timber’s Clayton South yard.
A Melbourne timber business built over 50 years
There’s something reassuring about a transport fleet relationship that lasts longer than many marriages.
At City Timber’s Clayton South headquarters in Melbourne, the arrival of two new IVECO S-Way AS 550 prime movers represents much more than another pair of shiny trucks being handed the keys and put to work.
They’re the latest chapter in a relationship between the Peluso family and IVECO that goes back almost to the beginning of the business itself.
City Timber was established by Con Peluso in 1976, initially as a local family-owned timber business. From fairly modest beginnings, the operation grew from a retail timber outlet into a major wholesaler supplying timber, flooring, panel products and architectural finishes to customers around Australia.
Today the business is headed by Con’s sons, Tony and Joe Peluso.
And while the timber industry, the trucks and Melbourne traffic have all changed considerably during those five decades, one thing has remained remarkably consistent: the Peluso family’s preference for IVECO.
There was, admittedly, a little national pride involved from the beginning.
“Dad had a real soft spot for IVECO, especially being an Italian brand,” Tony said.
“We’ve had a lot of them over the years; they’ve been very reliable – some of the older trucks we’re still using today. We have a few with 500,000 and 600,000 kilometres on them.”
That sort of loyalty is usually earned rather than inherited.
You can have all the affection in the world for something carrying an Italian badge, but once you start expecting it to haul timber for a living, sentiment tends to disappear fairly quickly if it spends more time in the workshop than on the road.
In City Timber’s case, the relationship appears to have endured because the trucks have done the job.
City Timber, co-owner, Tony Peluso continues a relationship with IVECO stretching back almost half a century, with two new S-Way AS 550s joining the fleet.
From local timber merchant to national supplier
City Timber’s central distribution facility is on Centre Road at Clayton South, supported by satellite warehouses around Australia.
The company supplies products including cladding, flooring, decking, linings, structural timber and panel products to timber merchants and customers servicing the construction and manufacturing industries.
It also operates a Queensland sawmill, processing sustainably sourced Australian hardwoods.
Around 55 people are involved across the wider operation.
Moving all that timber is where the truck fleet earns its keep.
New meets old at Clayton South, with the latest IVECO S-Ways sharing the yard with an earlier-generation City Timber IVECO.
IVECO still at the heart of the fleet
City Timber currently operates a sizeable IVECO presence including S-Way, Stralis and Eurocargo models, with the latest additions being the pair of S-Way AS 550 prime movers.
And tucked away among the modern machinery is something rather more interesting: a 1980 FIAT-IVECO 130 NC currently undergoing restoration.
It’s a nice link between where the company has come from and where it is today – although finding parts for a 46-year-old truck may require a little more determination than phoning the parts counter with a VIN number.
The working IVECO fleet is based at Clayton South, with trucks covering metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria as well as venturing into South Australia and southern New South Wales.
The new S-Ways are coupled to flat-top single trailers carrying packs of timber that are loaded and unloaded by forklift.
There’s nothing particularly glamorous about the work.
It’s simply freight that needs to arrive where it is supposed to, when it is supposed to, without damaging either the load or the driver along the way.
City Timber’s two new IVECO S-Way AS 550 prime movers at the company’s Clayton South distribution facility in Melbourne.
S-Way comfort matters over big weekly kilometres
According to Tony, the latest generation of IVECO has moved considerably forward from the trucks his father first put to work.
“The IVECO range has certainly come a long way, even just in recent years,” he said.
“Drivers are accumulating between 4,000 and 5,000 kilometres a week in them, and the comfort and quietness they offer are two things that we love about them; the trucks are easy on the back.
“We’ve had a few other brands over the years and they’re certainly nowhere near as comfortable.
“Safety is top notch as well – it’s important we look after our drivers.”
The new S-Way AS 550s are the latest additions to City Timber’s long-running IVECO fleet.
550hp for the timber haul
Comfort is important when somebody is spending thousands of kilometres every week behind the wheel, but timber transport also requires something slightly less subtle. Horsepower!
The S-Way AS 550s produce 550hp and 2500Nm from their Euro 6 Step E engines, coupled to 16-speed automated manual transmissions.
For a truck spending its working life pulling heavily laden flat-tops through Melbourne traffic before heading onto regional highways, Tony says the combination suits the job well.Car
“It’s important we have enough grunt; the S-Way has good power, and the 16-speed Automated Manual Transmission makes the trucks smooth, responsive and easy to drive, especially in start-and-stop traffic,” he said.
There is probably no more effective test of an automated transmission’s temperament than several hours negotiating Melbourne traffic with a load of timber sitting behind you.
If both driver and gearbox emerge at the other end without becoming agitated, something is going right.
It’s all about moving timber: an IVECO S-Way and forklift at work in City Timber’s Clayton South yard.
Reliability remains the real measure
For City Timber, however, performance is only part of the equation.
Reliability remains the more important measure.
A truck that produces impressive numbers on a specification sheet isn’t much help if the customer is standing beside an empty forklift wondering where his timber has gone.
“Reliability is also a key measure for us; we can’t afford late deliveries in our line of work,” Tony said.
“Over many years we’ve never had any major issues with the IVECOs we’ve operated, and the latest S-Ways are also performing well.”
City Timber’s two new IVECO S-Way AS 550 prime movers at the company’s Clayton South distribution facility in Melbourne.
Genuine parts and in-house maintenance
City Timber employs its own mechanic to handle much of the fleet’s servicing and maintenance, with additional assistance available through the IVECO dealer network when required.
Tony is also firmly in the genuine-parts camp.
“We always opt for genuine parts – we’ve had a great run out of IVECO and for the sake of saving a couple of dollars on aftermarket parts, I just don’t think it’s worth the risk,” he said.
It’s a philosophy that fits neatly with the way the Peluso family appears to have approached the truck fleet generally.
Find something that works, look after it properly and keep it working.
New meets old at Clayton South, with the latest IVECO S-Ways sharing the yard with an earlier-generation City Timber IVECO.
An old FIAT-IVECO keeps the family history alive
Which perhaps explains why, after almost five decades of buying IVECOs, there are now two new S-Way AS 550s parked at Clayton South – while an old FIAT-IVECO 130 NC waits patiently for its own return to the road.
The trucks may be separated by more than four decades of technology, electronics, emissions regulations and driver comforts, but the badge on the front tells essentially the same family story.
Con Peluso started it. Tony and Joe are continuing it. And judging by the kilometres City Timber is putting under its IVECO fleet, that relationship doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon.
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