From its humble beginnings in 1998 with just a few trucks, VFS now operates a modern fleet of 150 trucks, ranging from 4-6 pallet rigids right through to semis and B-doubles. That’s along with employing the services of over 200 sub-contractors.
VFS specialises in deliveries throughout regional Victoria and has seven company owned depots across the state – Wodonga, Geelong, Morwell, Shepparton, Echuca, Truganina and Dandenong. It also has a network of 26 agents across Victoria’s regions.
As Chris Collins, VFS Director of Operations, explained, “Regional Victoria is our specialty and we do about 70 B-doubles a night into country Victoria, Wagga, Canberra and Mt Gambier.”
Surrounded by trucks all his life, Chris has been with the company pretty much from the get-go. “My dad and grandfather ran their own express trucks and I did a lot of driving early on to learn the craft, before moving into an operations role at the family business. At 18, I was completing year 12 while also driving trucks and doing changeovers,” he revealed.
“I decided I wanted to go out and spread my wings and that’s when I was offered a job at VFS – 27 years ago. When I first started here, there were only three trucks. Now the business has grown into an absolute beast.”
Chris attributes much of the company’s success to having the right people. “Each of the owners have their expertise and that’s key – having good people and then evolving together. They leave me to do what I do and I leave them to do what they do.
“One of our drivers just celebrated 25 years with us. He started out on a car licence, driving a 14-pallet rigid and now he’s in a B-double. He’s moved all the way through his different licences, and he’s one of our star drivers,” added Chris.
“We do a lot of in-house training and look after the younger people coming through, ensuring that we train them the right way.
“We have quite a few younger generation drivers that are coming through and are being trained and well looked after. Generally when drivers start at VFS, we do a buddy system with another driver for the first week.
“It’s hard to get good labour and it’s even harder to find drivers in the regional areas we operate in. Before we even send driver applicants to the next step, they’ll spend a few hours with our driver trainer. We need to make sure they’re competent before we’ll put them in a truck.”
Chris believes that key to attracting the best drivers is by having a modern, reliable and well-presented fleet. That’s coupled with a comprehensive driver training program, that was further bolstered about six months ago when the company employed its first full-time driver trainer.
VFS turns its trucks over around every five years. Currently there are over 20 Mercedes-Benz Actros prime movers in the fleet, ranging from 530hp single drives up to the gruntier 630hp model for B-double work.
Chris said his initial introduction to the Actros came after he was offered a demo model by Daimler, to see what he thought of it. As he told Big Rigs, he was very quickly sold. “We trialled one of the previous generation Actros trucks for a few weeks and what really stood out was the fuel economy and safety features.
“I’ve raced cars since I was quite young so I’m very much into performance. A lot of the features the demo had really impressed me, so I ordered one of the first ones that came into Australia. VFS has built a great relationship with Daimler, with both the Mercedes-Benz and Fuso brands.”
A few months back, VFS took delivery of one of the first new generation Actros models, the 530hp Mercedes-Benz Actros ProCabin 4×2. Only just launched in Australia, the ProCabin has an all-new look, with increased aerodynamics to further boost fuel performance.
Based at the Dandenong facility, it’s paired to a 32ft, 16-pallet mezzanine deck semi trailer, and is one of two trucks used in the same configuration. The other being another Actros that’s a little over a year old.
“Those 32ft trailers are used to get into stores where the bigger semis can’t access. They’re used for a lot of potting mix for Mitre 10 and alcohol to retail stores,” said Chris.
“They’re also a great stepping stone for drivers to get into before moving into the bigger semis.”
Commenting on the new Actros ProCabin, Chris added, “I like the fresh look of it, they’ve got good horsepower and are really comfortable.
“I went to Germany with Daimler a few years back and heard about all these little things that were being done on the new generation models for increased fuel savings.
“This new ProCabin has only been on the road a short time, so it’s early days, but we’re definitely seeing a benefit with fuel efficiency. The main reason we’ve gone with this model is for the fuel economy.
“From the first Actros we purchased, the safety features and fuel economy keep on getting better.”
With the new Actros ProCabin, Mercedes-Benz engineers have extended the front by 80mm and shaped the front of the truck for maximum aerodynamics. The aim: to remove unwanted gaps and joints, so that air is guided either around the cabin or straight into the truck’s cooling system.
The ProCabin replaces the existing larger cab Actros models, the 2.5 StreamSpace and Gigaspace models. The smaller cab models, the 2.3 ClassicSpace and StreamSpace, continue with the existing design.
In terms of safety features, all Actros models have been upgraded with the Active Brake Assist 6 safety package that now includes five radars that provide a 270-degree view around the vehicle and allows for optimum operation of the Active Side Guard Assist 2 system. It can even stop the truck when it is turning left (up to 20km/h) if it detects a hazard.
When any brand new truck model joins the fleet, VFS has some of its most senior and experienced drivers trial the truck to provide the company with feedback. “They’ll have it for a week and I get my best drivers to do that. With the ProCabin, all the feedback was really good. We like to do that so we can provide feedback to our suppliers on how their trucks are performing out on the road,” said Chris.
In recent times, VFS has also been jazzing up the look of its newest trucks. The new ProCabin also includes a bullbar made by AJ’s Bullbars.
“I’m a kid at heart when it comes to trucks. With the last 10 Actros trucks, we’ve gone the next step by adding some scroll work. Our fleet was all white, but after John Rowe, one of our founding members retired, we had a black Actros done up for him. Now we have five black Actros prime movers.
“For our 25th anniversary, we also had a 25-year Actros delivered too. We’ve been doing our trucks up a bit nicer. We try to support charity convoys as well, so we want the trucks to be well presented.”
Looking ahead to the new year, Chris told Big Rigs that a major focus for VFS will be further improving its regional depots. VFS is also working to secure a number of new contracts for 2026. “If that all goes to plan, we’ll look to buy some additional trucks too.”