The sizeable workshop at CMV Truck & Bus in Shepparton is testament to why the award-winning dealership is about to start building new premises which are planned to open in 2025.
Trucks of all sizes fill the workshop as the company’s team of more than a dozen technicians buzz around the vehicles.
The company has long boasted providing high-quality service and parts to its customers, but has now branched into selling the latest Volvo, Mack and UD trucks and plans to more than dabble in electric vehicles.
Branch manager Brodie Gray has just returned from Sweden where some training at the Volvo plant in Gothenburg has him up to speed.
Sales manager Leigh Benbow found time before dashing off to some rural customers to give AgFocus a whistle-stop tour of the premises.
Since buying out the company’s Shepparton sub-dealer three years ago, CMV has grown its staff from nine to 29, along with Leigh as sales manager in time to introduce their stable of new brands.
The community presence of CMV is also felt through its contributions to local organisations such as the Lighthouse Project, Beyond Housing and Foodshare.
In addition, the company could well be recognised as some form of employer-of-the-year through the wellbeing management of its staff through health insurance services, financial education and myotherapy (soft-tissue repair) sessions.
Vehicle sales are also opening up in agriculture, which Leigh describes as a “huge chunk” of the market, with a truck currently getting fitted out in time for next summer’s harvest.
“Agriculture is a large part of what we do,” Leigh said.
“We can help with transporting grain and hay and the combinations are getting bigger, and anything north of Shepparton is really that market.
CMV as a company also owns vineyards near Longhorn Creek and nut farms at Robinvale.
“It goes hand-in-hand with us and transport,” Leigh said.
“Last year we took a group of our truck customers and gave them a tour through our farms because for most farming customers, transport is a large part of their business.
“We are happy to show what we’re doing on that side of things, so it becomes a two-way relationship and not just a transaction, that’s for sure.”
The company is also well-poised for the electric vehicle revolution, but Leigh said the technology was well and truly here already.
A recent four-week trial with a customer of an electric rear-loading truck returned positive results.
“We were getting a full shift of work out of the vehicle on just one charge,” Leigh said.
“Electric vehicles are not here to take over line haul or anything, but there is definitely a place for electrical vehicle technology.
“We can order anything we have in diesel in electrical now.”
With the extensive research Volvo has done in the development of electric vehicles, CMV has taken some customers over to Gothenburg to see for themselves.
“Going over there you are naturally a bit sceptical at the start,” Leigh said.
“But once you drive one you realise it is amazing — the power that these vehicles have is incredible.
“It has been reliable; its future is promising.”