Personal tragedy behind Melbourne concrete agitator fleet’s prominent paint job on new UD Quon
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, Michael DeLuca of VicMix is sending a clear message of support to the Breast Cancer Network Australia as his fleet delivers concrete right across Melbourne.
Leading the pink fleet’s charge is VicMix’s latest acquisition, a UD Quon 8×4.
Plying their trade all over the city’s suburbs from their base in Dandenong, the bright pink VicMix fleet makes a bold statement. So why bright pink?
“We painted our fleet pink to support Breast Cancer Network Australia. You can see their logo towards the back of the barrel on the truck,” DeLuca says.
“We lost a sister-in-law to breast cancer back in 1990, and she left behind three boys under six, so it’s a cause we take personally.”
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and with VicMix being kept pretty busy, the new Quon will be carrying the message right across Melbourne throughout the month.
VicMix, a successful Victorian concreting business that started with 10 trucks in 2007, has since grown to boast a fleet of 75 concrete agitators. Back then, brothers Michael and Tony DeLuca teamed up with colleague Joe Pietrosanto and bought some land in Dandenong South for their new venture.
“We chose to specialise in the suburban market,” Michael DeLuca says. “House slabs and pavers, exposed concrete that sort of thing.”
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It turned out to be a good decision, because the last decade has seen something of a boom in residential construction in Melbourne. VicMix has grown to meet the demand, including the recent purchase of the UD Quon 8×4 CG 30 360 agitator.
“We’ve always liked Japanese trucks,” DeLuca says. “We’ve got some American bonneted models as well, but when it came time to get a new truck, we thought we’d invest in UD.”
So far he says he has every reason to be pleased with his decision, and so has the driver who received the new Quon.
“The Quon’s a beautiful truck to drive and the driver absolutely loves it,” DeLuca says. “It’s got lots of power, and the short nose gives much better visibility and site access.”
The driver is also a fan of the level of comfort in the Quon’s spacious cab.
“He spends eight hours a day in it, making five trips, so driver comfort is important. It’s just a nicer truck to drive than some of the others in our fleet. The twin-steer means we can carry an extra cubic metre-and-a-half of concrete on every trip, that bumps the barrel up to seven cubic metres, so the Quon’s pulling its weight.”
VicMix have no immediate plans for expansion, but Michael makes it clear that the Quon has a good foothold in the VicMix fleet.