A trip from her home city of Cincinnati, Ohio, to Australia sparked the start of a flourishing career down under for Becki Jones, who is Lease and Rental Manager at PACCAR Australia’s PacLease division in Laverton, Victoria.
“I originally moved here for fun but decided I wanted to stay longer. In Ohio I was working with a transport rental and leasing company as well. I started in Columbus, Ohio, then two years in was promoted to a management role in Atlanta. I learnt from the ground up, doing service work on the trucks, then going down a sales operation path and then into a management role. A contact I had from my previous position helped me get into my position at PACCAR,” she said.
Though it wasn’t a very tough sell, given she was one of the top sales reps in a pool of around 150 at the previous company she worked for in the US. When she arrived in Australia, there was a lot that was different to back home, but she quickly adapted. “When we went to the Northern Territory and passed a road train, I just thought when is this thing going to end. We don’t have them in the States. The state I grew up in has snow and freezing temperatures, and I remember someone telling me to carry a pencil outside, not a pen, because the ink freezes and you can’t use it.”
As Lease and Rental Manager at PacLease, Jones works to fill the gaps in customer’s fleets – and as she explained, every day is different. “We sell full service leases, rentals and then contract maintenance. I oversee the business development and operational side including getting new customers, maintaining existing customers and keeping fleets on the road. There’s never a day in my life where the same thing happens. Some days can be really hectic, but the biggest thing is knowing customers can count on you to get them out of a pickle. I love that I’m able to help customers continue to do business and ultimately succeed at whatever it is they are doing – especially in the current world with COVID. They say that without trucks, Australia stops; and we never slowed down and instead got busier, but I love the diversity of my day.”
Along with her management role, Jones is also part of the PACCAR Australia Diversity Council. “A big focus of that is gender diversity, cultural diversity, as well as communication and awareness of diversity at PACCAR Australia and worldwide – and making sure PACCAR is a place people can feel at home.”