One of Australia's biggest and best known wine producers has switched to Allison-equipped fully automatic UD trucks to deliver greater efficiency and lower costs

MELBOURNE Australia - Third generation family business, De Bortoli Wines, has improved operational efficiency by adding two Allison-equipped fully automatic UD trucks at its Melbourne warehouse.

According to John Briers, De Bortoli Wines Melbourne warehouse manager, adding the UD MK Auto and PK Auto models to the fleet has helped improve delivery times, lower costs and increase efficiency.

"The Allison automatic transmissions are perfect for city driving and delivering wine in the Melbourne central business district where drivers have to battle stop-start traffic, narrow lanes and congestion," said Briers.

The De Bortoli UD MK Auto is equipped with the Allison 2500 automatic, while the PK Auto uses an Allison 3000 Series, both providing tremendous advantages over driving a manual, which Brier says creates more work and makes inner city delivery more difficult.

"Automatics allow them to select 'Drive' and concentrate on negotiating through traffic. Maneuvering is also a lot easier with Allison's precise push button gear selector," he said.

Established by Vittorio and Giuseppina De Bortoli in 1928, De Bortoli operates a fleet of six UD trucks from its Melbourne warehouse, delivering around 50,000 cases or 400,000 bottles of wine to wholesalers, restaurants and shops across Victoria and Tasmania each month.

"We always had manual trucks, but now that we have added automatics, it is obvious the Allisons are better in every way. Automatics are easier to drive and limit the stress on our drivers, which means they can focus on other elements and don't spend the whole day changing gears," Briers said.

"Allison automatics are great on the road and the running costs over the lifetime of the truck are better, which made it an easy business decision for us. Also, reliability is very important to us," he finished.

About Allison Transmission
Allison Transmission (NYSE: ALSN) is the world's largest manufacturer of fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and is a leader in hybrid-propulsion systems for city buses. Allison transmissions are used in a variety of applications including refuse, construction, fire, distribution, bus, motorhomes, defense and energy. Founded in 1915, the company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA and employs approximately 2,700 people worldwide. With a market presence in more than 80 countries, Allison has regional headquarters in the Netherlands, China and Brazil with manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Hungary and India. Allison also has approximately 1,400 independent distributor and dealer locations worldwide. For more information, visit allisontransmission.com.

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