TR Group's Australian business is gearing up for expansion beyond its initial Victorian base – moving into high productivity trailers for the first time.
In stage one of offering trailers that enjoy 15-20% higher productivity under Australia's Performance-Based Standards scheme, TR Semi Skel Hire has bought 10 PBS-approved A-double trailers.
The purchase, which meets an increasing demand for PBS vehicles, marks an ongoing association with trailermaker Vawdrey – tapping that company's expertise in the PBS environment, as TR Semi Skel Hire's Victoria state manager Kim Kelly explains.
"Obtaining PBS approvals is a complicated process and various transport companies are hiring people specifically to help them with it.
"Vawdrey Australia is a pioneer in the PBS field and we plan to continue working with them for all of our PBS requirements. At the moment, PBS-approved A-doubles are highly called for, but regulations and specifications change all the time, so with the help of Vawdrey, we'll be keeping right up with any changes and moving along with them."
The Australian hire operation has also introduced prime-mover hire, so customers can hire a full PBS-approved tractor unit and trailer combination. 
Along with the recent delivery of the Vawdrey PBS-approved A-doubles, TR Semi Skel Hire has also ordered a number of B-double flatdecks to meet an increase in demand. 
TR Group bought the 25-year-old Melbourne business – one of the largest trailer rental operations in Victoria, with a hire fleet of over 1200 trailers – in mid-2019.
It indicated that the purchase gave it a long-sought foothold in Australia – and now Kim Kelly, says that the company (in which her father, company founder Geoff Kelly, continues an involvement as a consultant and her brother David is the fleet and operations manager), is poised for expansion.
"The acquisition (of the company by TR) has opened up opportunities to begin opening up depots Australia-wide, as well as giving us the ability to purchase more equipment across more categories, including PBS and trailers for the construction sector." 
TR Group, she says, "is bringing its values over to us and we are hoping to replicate its success in Australia." 
TR Semi Skel Hire is currently working to establish a new depot in Brisbane – to be operational before the end of this year. 
The next step, she says, will be further expansion down Australia's eastern seaboard…. "before heading west."