Kiwi truck and trailer lease and rental giant TR Group has gone international – breaking into the Australian market with the purchase of a Melbourne-based trailer rental company.

TR says that its 100% buyout of Melbourne-based Semi Skel Hire "comes after many years of investigating the Australian market."Semi Skel Hire has over 1100 trailers in its hire fleet, plus another 70 on order and says on its website that it is "the largest semi-trailer hire company in Australia."

TR, which was founded in 1992, has a team of 180 staff and a fleet of 5500 rental and lease vehicles in New Zealand.
And it clearly has big plans for the business in Australia: In a statement about the acquisition, it says that Semi Skel founder Geoff Kelly and his family sold up "to allow the business to reach its full potential – to become an Australia-wide company, while continuing with the core values that have made the business so successful to date."    

The purchase, says TR, fits with its "ambitions to provide world-class service in renting and leasing trucks and trailers." 
And it adds: "Both businesses share similar philosophies with respect to being fully focused on the transport industry and providing high-quality vehicles and a great customer experience." 

The business will now operate as TR Semi Skel Hire, under the leadership of TR Group's Chris Perry, who has relocated to Melbourne. 

Geoff Kelly, who started the Yarraville, Melbourne company in 1994, is retiring from his role as managing director, but will still "be available as a consultant to the business," TR says.

The Kelly family involvement will continue though with Kelly's daughter Kim and son David staying on – as the Victorian  state manager and the fleet and operations manager respectively.

TR says its customers "experience a complete fleet management service, focused on understanding the tasks that vehicles are required for and providing operational support to perform those tasks as efficiently, safely and compliantly as possible.
"This is underpinned by a team with experience, expertise and passion for trucks and trailers, and a culture and philosophy revolving around customer focus, continuous improvement and personal growth and development among its team."
And the company adds: "Semi Skel's clients value its high-quality equipment, the availability of vehicles when needed and the quality service provided by its team." 

Perry says that the 18-strong team at Semi Skel is "a quality group of people and I'm really looking forward to working with them as we all grow and develop as a team. I know that they are as excited as the TR team about building further on the great business that Semi Skel already is."

TR says that it will have "a focus on listening and understanding customer experiences and needs, so that the TR Semi Skel business can continue to develop and pursue an ambition to provide a world-class service."