In a major announcement, trailer manufacturer MaxiTRANS has revealed a comprehensive rebrand of its business, including a new logo, name, parts brand and vehicle model.
As part of the rebrand, MaxiTRANS has changed its name to Freighter Group, launching a new logo and visual identity designed to reflect the company’s expansive history, transformation journey and future vision.
The $50 million Ballarat facility for advanced manufacturing held an event this week for the industry to unveil the new name and logo, with Freighter Group also now selling spare parts for its OEM products through new house parts brand Hitcher Parts.
On top of this, Freighter Group has also launched its Ready Range and a new high performance refrigerated trailer offering in the Freez-R.
“We set about embarking on a significant transformation journey when we purchased the trailer business, with the aim of creating a new era for the future of the company and the trailer manufacturing industry in Australia,” Freighter Group executive chairman Greg L’Estrange says.
“The journey started with a $50m investment into our Ballarat site. This investment has seen the introduction of a range of state-of-the-art equipment and an expansion of the overall footprint of the facility, transforming it into a modern manufacturing environment. The completion of the upgrade puts the business in a position to be able to continue to evolve with the changing needs of our customers long into the future.
“We were thrilled to see so many from across the industry attend the event. Those who attended on the day were able to experience how the business is transforming the trailer manufacturing industry in Australia, further improving our manufacturing capabilities and efficiencies to benefit our customers.”
As the pre-eminent trailer brand in Australia, Freighter has a rich history with origins extending back to 1946 and has continued to build a strong reputation within the industry since its introduction.
“The Freighter Group name not only connects our rich heritage, but importantly it connects with our Vision of ‘Freight it for Life’, which is our total commitment to supporting our customers for the life of our product,” L’Estrange says.
“We are excited to take the business forward under the Freighter name and continue to deliver product solutions through our wide range of industry leading brands.”
Also announced was the release of a new refrigerated trailer offering under the Freighter brand, called Freez-R.
In collaboration with our partners, Schmitz Cargobull, Freez-R has been expertly designed to deliver industry leading thermal performance. The body is constructed from Ferroplast® technology, which when combined with the locally manufactured Freighter chassis design and the national back up support through Freighter Group, delivers exceptional thermal performance and reliability.
The Freez-R is Freighter Group’s first trailer offering to come with TrailerConnect® telematics as standard, further showcasing our move into a modern, digital service offer to our customers.
“We are thrilled to announce the release of Freez-R to the Australian market. Through our partnership with Schmitz Cargobull, collaboration with customers and our industry experience, we have been able to design and create a product with the exacting needs of the Australian market,” L’Estrange says.
Peace of mind is further supported with the announcement that Freighter Group is now offering spare parts for all its OEM products manufactured under the Freighter Group name.
“Our agreement with MaxiPARTS to supply parts has now ended, and we are thrilled to announce that customers are able to contact their local Freighter Group dealer to look after their spare part needs. This is a further demonstration of our commitment to supporting the needs of our customers. We are excited to share details about further expansion into spare parts in the coming months,” L’Estrange says.
Freighter also announced its new spare parts brand into the market, Hitcher Parts. Hitcher Parts will consist of an expansive range of quality trailer parts that are designed to go the distance. The Hitcher Parts range continues to expand and will soon be available on the brand’s product, as well as available in the aftermarket.
With this, it has also developed the Ready Range of trailers, which is a pre-engineered product offering designed to take out the guess work and streamline the ordering process.
“With almost 80 years of experience designing and manufacturing trailers for the Australian market, we have developed a Ready Range solution across our expansive product offering that consists of specifications suited for a wide array of applications. This allows our product to be more competitively priced, further streamline the ordering process and deliver shorter manufacturing lead times,” L’Estrange says.
“We are excited about the significant transformation the Freighter Group (formerly MaxiTRANS) business has been going through. Our whole team has been dedicated to our vision and I can’t thank them enough for the hard work and dedication they have shown through this transition.
“Freighter Group is ready for the future of the Australian trailer market. We look forward with great excitement as we continue to expand and evolve as a business to further support the changing needs of our customers long into the future.”
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