The company started the service early this year with two Toyota Hiace vans on the road equipped with parts and supplies.
The delivery vehicles begin the day at around 8:30am and the goal is to have the parts delivered within a two-hour timeframe after an order is placed.
Parts manager Andrew Tuyay says the team is trialling the service to see how it goes and it could potentially be expanded to Tauranga at a later stage.
He says the initiative came about after COVID-19, as during that period the company had to rely more heavily on courier services due to restrictions on face-to-face contact.
However, this often resulted in longer delivery times with customers having to wait overnight for urgent parts.
Tuyay says the solution was for CAL Isuzu to start its own service in order to have more control over parts deliveries while also providing “a more personable” approach for the customer.
“We also wanted to decrease the downtime for our customers because in this industry trucks off the road is money not being generated so the best way was for us to control our deliveries,” he says.
The delivery vans are equipped with EROAD telematics which helps keep track of where each vehicle is in order to better plan delivery times and schedules.
The deliveries are supported with seven parts staff operating in Hamilton and another 10 staff in Auckland. It also complements Cal Isuzu’s call out vehicles which are able to service minor repairs on the side of the road.
Tuyay says customer feedback on the initiative has been “extremely positive” and provides a service they can rely on daily.
“Common parts we deliver are the most time sensitive items which are the ones needed to keep the wheels turning.
“Items can vary from day to day but the ultimate goal is to always look after our customers’ needs,” he says.
This story first appeared in the July issue of TransportTalk – download a free copy
