Isuzu Makes a Difference with the Salvos

Giving back to the community is what the Salvation Army (Salvos) does best, and the recent addition of an Isuzu FRR 600 to their fleet will help them do it even better.

Offering care and support for almost every problem “from the cradle to the grave”, the Salvos provide aid for initiatives such as aged care, counselling, emergency services, disabled persons and suicide support.

General Manager – The Salvation Army Salvos Stores – Australia Eastern Territory, Neville Barrett, says Isuzu truck models have always been a favourite of the Salvos.

“You can’t go wrong with an Isuzu; it’s reliable, economic and has great trade-in value,” Neville said.

Neville Barrett highlights that in a typical week, the Salvos provide 100,000 meals for the hungry, 2,000 beds for the homeless, distribute up to 8,000 food vouchers and assist 3,000 people with aged care services in Australia – so reliable equipment and vehicles are in high demand.

“The new Isuzu FRR 600 will be used for pick-up and delivery of donations in New South Wales as well as provide welfare by offering pallets of food and water during natural disasters,” he said.

The truck is fitted with an aluminium van body designed by Homealloy Bodyworks and a Tieman tail lift incorporating tie ropes for easy handling.

Travelling mainly locally and state-wide, each truck is expected to clock 30,000 to 40,000 kilometres a year with an average service lifespan of three to four years before being traded in.

However, in case of natural disasters such as last year’s floods in Queensland, trucks that usually operated in New South Wales extended duties and ventured up to the north to provide relief.

Each truck in the fleet has its own driver and a truck offsider that helps with loading the truck, operates the satellite navigation system, supervises the running sheet and communicates with the contact centre. On average, a truck does 25 collections a day.

Even though the FRR 600 requires a truck licence to be driven, the operators say it drives like a car.

“Feedback on driving performance has been faultless. The turning circle is fantastic and because the engineering of the FRR 600 is so sturdy, the truck is never under strain,” Neville said.

“The gearing is also very good and the truck doesn’t ‘over-rev’ which is handy.”

The Salvation Army found its roots in London’s East End and later expanded to Australia 125 years ago.

The Salvos help over 1 million disadvantaged Australians every year and aim to help even more this year. They plan to extend their fleet even further by acquiring two more FRR 600s in July for the cause.