| 15 2024 CCNZ Awards: Rhodes for Roads A staff of 40 runs a fleet of trucks, rollers and whatever other heavy machinery their various teams need to complete the work in hand. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE & INSURANCE New & Used Vehicle Sales Talk to our vehicle consultants about your next vehicle purchase. Rob Young - Vehicle Consultant Email: robert@albany-toyota.co.nz Cell: 027 733 9757 Cody Stuart - Vehicle Consultant Email: cody@warkworthtoyota.co.nz Cell: 021 786 402 18 Mansel Drive, Warkworth - Service Manager Email: luc@warkworthtoyota.co.nz Cell: 021 187 0622 Speak with our onsite Service Manager about service & WOF for all makes and models. WOF & Servicing Luc de Fleuriot Getting customers back on the road With branches in Warkworth, Whangarei and Kerikeri, Commercial Diesel Ltd. services heavy vehicles from Silverdale through to the top of the North Island. Ever since Brent Butler bought the irst branch in Warkworth 21 years ago he’s operated with one clear priority: to get vehicles that come in for servicing or repairs back out the door again as fast as possible. He bought the Whangarei branch six years later and was joined on the tools by Blair Drinkwater doing his Automotive Engineering apprenticeship. 15 years on Blair is Operations Manager looking after all three branches and their 70 sta including four who’ve been there as long as he has and several more who’ve been there for 10 years plus. They do anything from full engine rebuilds to on-site COFs (a Warrant or Certi icate of Fitness for commercial and heavy vehicles), right through to electrical repairs, air-conditioning and everything in between. “We’ve got testing lanes on each site and manage leet customers, so we look after companies like Rhodes for Roads, Northland Waste, all those big leets, doing all the servicing, all the repairs, full rebuilds, whatever they need,” says Blair. To ensure maximum e iciency in the absolute minimum of time needed, they have all the technical expertise, latest equipment and heavy machinery in-house to do everything the trucks require. For testing they run 10 inspectors across the three branches and an additional testing lane in Kaitaia keeps things local for those further north again. “We concentrate on getting people in and out with minimal downtime. When I started if a truck had to be back on the road that night we’d drive to Auckland to bring a part back, it it, and get the truck out the door. That’s the way the company was built and to this day we’ll do whatever we can to get the customer back on the road,” explains Blair. They now run a daily freight van leaving Warkworth every morning around 9am and getting back to Whangarei around 4pm the same day in time for the late shift to it whatever’s needed before they inish at 11pm. They also run a 24/7 emergency call out service throughout their region from Silverdale all the way north. They have a full-time trainer going out on courses all the time to stay fully up to date with the latest technology or diagnostic equipment before bringing that knowledge back to the three centres to train everyone else. They’ve just broken ground on what will be their latest state-of-the-art, purpose built, heavy vehicle automotive servicing and engineering centre in Waipapa, Kerikeri’s industrial centre, right on the main pass where trucks come through. Commercial Diesel focus on providing the fastest turn-around possible. They know that If a truck’s o the road the customer is not making money so it’s in everyone’s interest to get them back on the road as quickly as they can. WARKWORTH 09 425 8456 WHANGAREI 09 438 6915 KERIKERI 09 407 5514 Proud supporters of Warwick Rhodes Contractors GET IN TOUCH
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