Brisbane Valley Refrigeration (BVR) owner Nick Pye began his business in 2018, simply looking to earn a living for himself as a refrigeration technician servicing truck fleets – five years later he leads a team of 12, with nine service vehicles on the road.

Initially qualifying as a diesel mechanic before training to become a refrigeration technician and subsequently working in that field, Nick spent several years plying his trade for others before making the decision to go out on his own.

“I’m the third generation of my family to have worked in the transport industry, and after having been involved in the sector for a few years myself, I thought there were areas where I could offer customers a better service,” Nick said.

And he’s been successful in doing so, because BVR has grown steadily since inception, in many cases experiencing hand in hand growth with that of customers. Nick cites Exodas Pty Ltd as an example – the company operated 22 refrigerated units when BVR came on board as a service provider, now it has over 100 units.

BVR’s success didn’t mean there weren’t hurdles to overcome in the early stages of business. Nick’s first two service vehicles were based on utility platforms, because it was difficult in the early days to get finance for the bespoke IVECO Daily service trucks that he truly wanted to have.

In 2019 though, he managed to purchase his first IVECO Daily 50C cab chassis and since then he’s consistently bought Daily 50C and 45C models and he now has six in total.

“The Daily cab chassis offer an ideal specification for the type of work we do and the bodies we operate,” Nick said.

“The boys’ comfort and safety are important to us and the Daily excels here. Some weeks they can travel up to 2,500 kilometres and in the Daily they’re not getting fatigued from driving an uncomfortable truck. The cabin appointments and fully automatic transmission means driving the Daily whether on the open road or in traffic is easy.”

Another area where Nick is pleased with the Dailys’ performance is in their fuel use. Although the models feature a powerful 180hp (132kW) and 430Nm and are normally loaded near the top end of their 4,495kg GVM, the fuel consumption is impressive, according to Nick.

“On longer trips we’re achieving 13 litres per 100km – this is better than what I’m getting in my ute with a tonne less weight on board; as a business owner I appreciate the lower day to day operating costs of the Dailys,” he said. 

“I also like the fact that the Daily has generous service intervals of 50,000 kilometres or 12 months.”

To allow Nick and team to efficiently carry out maintenance and repairs of refrigerated truck trailers and rigid bodies, the Dailys are fitted with purpose-built Pantech service bodies that include an open rear work platform. This lets the technicians back-up to a truck trailer and provide easy and safe access to the refrigerator cooling systems at an optimum work height.

From the work platform it’s then step down and walk through to the trucks’ enclosed bodies which act as a full workshop on wheels. The body allows full standing height even for the tallest of technicians and provides ample space for a workbench with vice, drills, oxy welder, gas, oils and a wide selection of parts.

With this set-up, Nick and team can manage just about every onsite service and repair required by customers, as well as carrying out warranty work for leading brands including Carrier, Thermo King and Mitsubishi – this support is available on call 24 hours per day.

Although most of BVR’s work is conducted at customer sites, the team also operate a warehouse in Rocklea, a short drive from local dealer IVECO Brisbane from where the vehicles were purchased and are now maintained.

To learn more about Brisbane Valley Refrigeration, please visit: www.brisbanevalleyrefrigeration.com.au