A sight that would bring warm fuzzies to Rodger‘s heart – the goods heading to Northland Penske style!

Sell them something and you‘ve won a sale. Support it and you‘ve won a client. Do it a second and third time and you‘ve started a relationship. Understand their business and you‘ll establish a reputation.

David Malanaphy brought the first Western Star himself, finding a suitable candidate through Dale Greaves at Star Trucks in Nelson. The product performed without fault, so when a second truck of the same specification was needed he made enquiries at Penske Commercial Vehicles in Mt Maunganui. Enter the scene Jim Schumacher.

“Jim‘s a great guy,” said David. “He understands where we‘re at and listens to what we want and always comes back with realistic options. He got us into the new Western Star at a price we could work with. He‘s very old school and trustworthy.”

Since the Western Star deal two MAN TGX 35.540 XLXs with the MAN D26 engines have arrived.

“The bodies and trailers on the MANs were built at Domett in the Mount and Jim oversaw the whole thing,” said David.

All of the new trucks are serviced through the Penske dealerships, coming with full service contracts.

“At first it seems a little expensive but the peace of mind and turn-around times on vehicle servicing make it a no brainer. I‘m making enquiries to see if our local service guy here in Kopu can start doing authorised routine servicing. We‘re flat out during the week, and Saturdays are our preferred service time. It would suit us if we could achieve that,” David said.

“Malcolm McDonald and Aaron Rogers from the Penske Commercial service team do a great job, nothing is ever too much trouble.”

From Jim‘s perspective, he said, “I find Dave to be excellent to deal with and I enjoy catching up with him. His business is relatively young and I wish him every success in the future.”