Interstate Towing, a caravan and motorhome delivery and relocation specialist transport operation, is based in Melbourne’s Craigieburn, within sight of the start of the Hume Highway.
Owned by Gary Singh, the business has bloomed organically from its start in 2012 and has outgrown its current premises, so a new bespoke headquarters is currently in build in Campbellfield, even more closely nestled among the caravan builders of Melbourne’s northern outskirts.
“We specialise in transporting caravans and motorhomes all over Australia from the manufacturers to the dealers. We also transport boats, mainly back from the west coast to the east coast, as well as cars and utes,” Gary says.
“When we began buying Scania rigid sleeper trucks to pull our trailers, we were able to build exactly the truck we needed, the right length and wheelbase for our needs. All the Scanias are 320hp 4×2 P-series rigids with a 10-metre load-bed and a 6-metre wheelbase.
“Each of the seven Scanias we have bought has a trailer, so we can carry two caravans or motorhomes or boats with one combination. Since we started buying Scanias we haven’t looked at any other trucks. The Scania Account Manager, Roger Lake, has been excellent, listening to what we needed and bringing us a good solution,” he says.
The Interstate Towing fleet is now 14 vehicles, with the company buying new Scanias for about the last four years.
“The first Scania is soon to come off the service contract, and we may sell it or keep it,” Gary says.
The trucks are logging big kilometres each year, around 240,000-250,000km, with one already almost at one million. The trucks have been pretty reliable over the period. We have used the Scania service contract which fixes the amount I pay each month, and not only do I have peace-of-mind, but if we do fewer km or more km than the contract estimates, Scania can adjust the payment to suit.”
Gary says another great feature is Scania Assistance which will come out to help if there is a breakdown on the road anywhere across Australia.
“It’s good to know that we have that support.
“Fuel economy has been excellent, we’re running relatively light at around 5-tonnes of payload with two caravans on, and we’re getting up to 3.8km/litre, which is better than we had with our previous trucks.
“We have two new Scania trucks on order, and they may well be additional if we decide to hold on to the first Scania,” he says.
Gary says Scania also allows the fleet to tailor the specification of the trucks to meet their needs, particularly by fitting an airbag front end to match the rear.
“This gives us the ability to drop the rear and raise the front to make it easier to winch the caravans on and off the back of the truck. It’s almost like a tilt-tray. That speeds up the operation for the drivers and reduces the risk of damage for the customer,” he says.
“The cabs are very comfortable for the drivers who sleep in the trucks when they are travelling interstate. The trucks have the Scania auxiliary air conditioner that keeps the cabs cool in the summer even when the drivers are sleeping.
“They do like the trucks. Most of my guys have been with me for several years. I find if they have good trucks to drive, and they are paid on time, they stay loyal.”
Like many entrepreneurial business owners, Gary started off as a subcontractor, while at the same time trying to build a business for himself. When the subcontracting job finished, he took the plunge and worked for himself full time.
“It’s been a long hard road, but now we have created a good name for ourselves in the industry, and we have a good team. We deliver quite a big number of caravans and motorhomes for several of the bigger manufacturers in the caravan industry every week on our trucks,” he says.
“Today we have 15 staff on the team and every year more dealers approach us about delivering to them. They understand that our guys take good care of their stock and avoid damage in transit.
“My business philosophy is to keep it simple. This is the only market I’m going to target, and I have the trucks efficiently configured to deliver for my business.”
Early in 2026, Gary will move to a new depot even closer to Scania Campbellfield, where he is currently working on laying down a large shed in which he can warehouse caravans while they await delivery to dealers.
“We have a good team. You know, it all depends on the team. If you have a good team, you can do a good business.”
According to Scania’s Roger Lake, the P-series rigid is the perfect all-round workhorse, and ideal for operators like Gary Singh.
“When Gary came to us, he was looking for a more comfortable, safe and fuel-efficient solution to replace the Asian brand trucks he had previously. The Scania P-series is extremely fuel efficient, as Gary has found out, and has been available with Euro 6 configuration for several years.
“Aside from being able to tailor the specification of the truck to exactly his requirements, which adds efficiency and productivity to his business, we were also able to offer him a range of our Scania services from fleet monitoring to repair and maintenance contracts, Scania Finance Australia, as well as Scania Assistance.”