MB Bats a Hundred with Griffith Corp

News

18 Jan

Griffith Corporation has taken delivery of its 100th Mercedes-Benz Actros.

Company Director Mark Griffith decided to mark the milestone with a very special truck, a black 2663 Actros 25 Driver Edition with GigaSpace cab.

Griffiths Corporation operates more than 60 prime movers. The majority do overnight express work for a raft of long-term customers including Tamex, DHL, Mainfreight and Northline. Most of it is up and down the east coast, but there are also runs to Adelaide and Perth.

The company also has eight transporters it sends to race tracks around the country, moving Aussie race cars, targa cars and production cars, in addition to providing exotic vehicle and supercar transportation for individual owners.

The new 2663 Actros milestone truck was delivered by Daimler Trucks Brisbane and immediately put to work pulling the Team Nineteen race transporter that carries the AMG GT of Griffith Corporation raced by Mr Griffith.

The 16-litre 630hp truck replaces a third-generation black Actros prime mover, that was part of the transporter combination Mr Griffith bought from Erebus.

“It had come up on the lease deal and Mercedes-Benz had the 25th anniversary Actros, there were only 25 of them, so we thought “let’s have one of those”,” he says.

The Actros 25 Driver Edition comes with a range of special features including an illuminated Mercedes-Benz logo, Alcoa Dura-Bright wheels, dark chrome highlights, a light-bar with driving lights, stainless steel highlights, leather seats and woodgrain trim.

**Mark Griffith with the new big Merc, flanked by another Merc that I’d like in my garage!**

The new truck also features the optional GigaSpace cab, which has 2.13 metres of interior height, measured from the floor between the seats to the ceiling, providing ample room for the tallest drivers and adding three large cupboards built into the front of the truck cabin.

The majority of the Griffith Corporation fleet is made up of Actros trucks, which are switched over every four years to ensure the company is always operating the most modern, safest and fuel-efficient models.

Griffith Corporation takes advantage of Daimler Truck Financial Services and its guaranteed buy back program, which is part of its finance offering.

“We get a guaranteed future value at four years, so we finance them for four years, then hand them over and get a new one,” he says.

“It’s a good thing to know that at the end of the term they are going to give you X amount and you can plan for it,” Mr Griffith adds.

Customers do have the flexibility to take advantage of the guaranteed buyback option, keep the truck or sell it themselves.

“When Covid was on, people were giving you more money than what the payout figure was, so we did, but if it is less than that you can just hand it back and walk away,” he says.

Apart from the certainty of knowing how much it will cost, Mr Griffith is just happy he doesn’t have to sell the trucks.

“I don’t need to be arguing about the price of a second-hand truck. We are better off doing what we do and let the truck salespeople do what they do,” he says.

Mr Griffith says the Actros trucks are excellent on fuel and comfortable. They also come loaded with advanced safety technology including a fully integrated Advanced Emergency Braking System, which uses radars and cameras to perform emergency braking.