Steelbro Australia has announced the appointment of Krueger Transport Equipment as its supplier of side-lifter trailers for the Australian market.
“Effective March 1st 2014, Krueger Transport will commence supplying trailers manufactured to Steelbro specifications and to the high quality standards expected by its customers with the support of experienced Steelbro engineers,” Steelbro and Krueger said in a joint statement.
Krueger will also be responsible for the complete assembly of Steelbro side-lifter units, as well as the commissioning and delivery of Steelbro products in Australia. In addition, it will handle warranty, service and parts support.
“As a business partner, Krueger provides Steelbro and its customers with a significant competitive advantage through high quality trailer production, significantly reduced order to delivery times, a national network of highly skilled technicians and dedicated production and assembly operations,” Steelbro said.
“The partnership brings together the best of two companies – Krueger with their market leading skel experience and history of innovation technology, joining together with Steelbro’s dominant position in the Australian sideloader market.”
The change in the supply process follows the recent announcement that Steelbro would cease production at its Christchurch factory at the end of March 2014.
According to Steelbro, it will continue to manufacture side-lifter cranes and control systems at its purpose-built manufacturing facility, which already supplies cranes to customers in more than 100 countries.
“This is a very exciting time for our customers in Australia as we become even more responsive to our customers’ needs and expectations for sales and service,” said Peter Dobbs, Chief Executive and CFO of the Steelbro Sidelifter Group.
Krueger CEO, Andrew Arapakis, added, “Krueger is very proud to be selected by Steelbro as its business partner and trailer supplier in the very competitive and demanding Australian market.
“Krueger looks forward to supplying and servicing the Steelbro Sidelifter products renowned for their technology leadership, high quality, durability and reliability. Along with Steelbro, we see significant opportunities to increase sales volume, increase our market leadership position and address our customer’s container and related handling needs.”
Steelbro side-lifters will continue to be sold by the current Steelbro sales team – Rodney Steel and Greg Muirsmeath – who will be supported by the experienced Krueger sales team.