Running an efficient team of hardcore sparkies across the greater Melbourne area can be a tall order.
Thankfully, it’s one VDA Electrical founder and Managing Director Peter Van Den Akker has relished since starting his business 10 years ago.
His journey from the start has been massively aided by his choice in van – Renault’s Trafic.
Plugged in
Like any good tradie, Peter won’t say no to any job. He and his team of electricians at VDA travel across the greater Melbourne area, doing all manner of jobs.
“I’m a yes man, but VDA mainly works on construction sites, new and commercial buildings or apartment complexes, office fit-outs and those kinds of things,” he said.
One thing Peter’s maintained throughout his career as an electrician is an emphasis on the team. At 30-strong, his crew at VDA is as locked in as they come.
“A lot of people say they’re in the industry for the money or something – I’m in it because I’ve always wanted a team around me,” he said.
“We’ve got apprentices, A-grades, project managers, estimators and Jaimee in the office who’s our heart.”
Makes the dream work
Given how highly Peter values teamwork, it was only natural he has Trafic as his go-to for transport.
“I’ve been driving Renault since day-dot,” he said.
“We’re always buying the new ones and handing them down. At the moment, we have about seven Renault vans on deck, many of which are Trafics.”
That included the latest iteration of the van, which held plenty of seating for Peter and his team to get themselves and their equipment around town.
This includes modular seating upfront, which can be configured to a mobile office setup.
But also in its payload capacity, where Trafic sports a best-in-class load length of 4.15m.
Wires, ladders, conduits and a tonne of power and hand tools to boot – Peter and his team need plenty of space which Trafic has in spades. If one of Peter’s sparkies needs to charge a tool, Trafic also has them set with a 12v power socket.
Road legend
Under the hood, Trafic has an engine that’s a tradie’s dream. The 2.0L turbocharged engine delivers 125kW of power and 380Nm of torque.
What’s really impressed Peter across his time with Trafic vans is their constant focus on fuel economy.
The latest version is no different, with an 80L fuel tank that gives Peter’s sparkies plenty of time out and about before they need to hit up a bowser.
“From my point of view, you want a work van that causes you no grief,” he explained.
“Running cost and efficiency is a big thing and if Renault stays on top of that … that’s gotta be the main thing for tradespeople when it comes to choosing vans.”
Not only does Trafic avoid petrol stations as much as possible, it also has a best-in-class service interval of one-year/30,000km meaning tradies are spending even less time running chores and more time getting the job done.
Peter wasn’t shy about how much he valued having Trafics on his
team at VDA.
Between the performance capacity delivered on the inside – and the on-road performance – Peter said he doesn’t plan on using any other van while at VDA.
“We love them,” Peter added.
“They’re built for our workload, and they don’t miss a beat.”