POWER'S COUNTRY EXPRESS USES ISUZUS TO EMPOWER HOME TOWN

[image_gallery][/image_gallery] The way Damien Power, Director of Power’s Country Express, sees it, the city of Bendigo has been very good to him.   It’s the region he grew up in, and it’s supported him while he grew Power’s Country Express into a thriving business that offers freight transport solutions to the entire central Victoria area. Damien’s passion for Bendigo got him thinking about how he could go above and beyond just providing reliable logistics services and do more for the city. Inspiration struck earlier this year when Damien thought to combine his deep affinity for his home town with the two new trucks he was adding to the Power’s Country Express fleet. Damien approached Bendigo Heritage Attractions about whether they would like to use the truck curtains of the Isuzu FRR 110-240 AMT MWB and Isuzu NPR 65-190 AMT MWB he bought from another Bendigo local – Poyser Trucks – to advertise all the town has to offer. “I initially thought it would be a great opportunity, given we’ve got quite a few trucks around the Bendigo district and central Victoria,” Damien said. “We thought that we’d be able to promote Bendigo in a little bit of a different way than what’s been done in the past. “We virtually gave Bendigo Heritage a blank canvas. “We told them to put whatever they wanted on the trucks, because we’ve got so many great attractions in Bendigo. We said, ‘you promote what you want to promote,’ and it’s really been a great success.” While marketing efforts are generally driven by a quest for dollars, for Damien the opportunity was particularly attractive for its ability to advertise his beloved home town. “We’re a Bendigo firm,” he said. “I was born in Bendigo and have lived here my whole life, and this is just a different way to put something back into local tourism. “And the trucks turned out fantastically.” Damien is particularly proud of the fact that the trucks not only highlight tourist attractions in Bendigo, but also shine a light on some of the hardworking volunteers that help make the region’s drawcards so great. “A lot of the people in the photos are actually volunteers for the Bendigo Heritage Attractions, so it’s really positive to recognise some of the volunteers that are working for these organisations as well,” he said. Now that the two spruced up Isuzus are out on the road, fellow motorists can barely contain their civic pride when they see the rugged and reliable vehicles roll by. “People are stopping our drivers and telling them what a good idea it is and how good what we’re doing for Bendigo is,” Damien said. “It’s not a profit-making thing for us, it’s just something that we’ve done for the community to put a little bit back because we get so much out of them. “A long-time staff member just came in before and told me, ‘I’ve never actually driven a truck where everywhere you go someone comments on it and says how great a thing it is for Bendigo.’” Damien said that the response to the two decked-out Isuzus has been so positive, he’s already thinking about what else Power’s Country Express could do to promote the great city of Bendigo. “I’d like to think we’d do some more stuff in the future,” he said. “The trucks with the artwork at the moment are two of our small to medium trucks, and we’ve got big trucks going to different places than these do. “So hopefully down the track we’ll be able to do even more!”