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Clarks bat to 100

Noted Queensland operators Reg and Yvonne Clark have reached 100 Volvo buses in their Logan City operation, celebrated this month

August 26, 2011

One of Queensland’s largest route service operators – Clarks Logan City – celebrated its association with Volvo this month when it took delivery of its latest low floor.

Owners Reg and Yvonne Clark have demonstrated their loyalty to the brand with a local record for the Swedish chassis supplier, running 100 B12BLEs, more than any other Australian operator.

Clarks Logan City Bus Service operates one of Australia’s largest privately-owned fleets, employing more than 170 people and carrying in excess of 25,000 passengers each day under mainly TransLink contracted services.

Operating since 1976, Yvonne Clark says there was and still is a huge demand for reliable public transport in the Logan City area south of Brisbane.

She says the challenge has always been to get ahead of the growth.

The Clarks started out as school bus operators, staging their business growth over the past three decades, placing an emphasis on route service operation.

“In 1987, when the opportunity arose to purchase another local company, we jumped at the chance as this created the platform to provide city services for Expo 88 and, after that, on an ongoing basis,” Yvonne says.

“We always planned to expand our services to include routes to and from the city instead of purely local services.”

Yvonne says the acquisition not only jump-started business still experienced today, but more than doubled the fleet with a single stroke.

“With this growth we decided in 1997 to focus exclusively on urban transport,” she says.

Volvo soon came into the frame, supplying the first low floor B12BLE in 2003.

It was this decision that would soon set in motion their long lasting relationship with Volvo and ongoing demand for Volvo route buses.

“We needed to move to a heavy-duty chassis with low-floor accessibility, urban-style seating and better flow for passenger movements,” Yvonne says.

“These new buses would need to be far more durable, as well as powerful and fuel efficient.”

Reg says the Volvo B12BLE chassis had more capacity than any other bus he had seen.

“But it was a gamble because it was untried in Australia at the time,” he says.

“We decided to purchase five buses and see how they performed.”

Reg says Volvo promised to support the operation during the trials and has continued to do so throughout the relationship.

“We’ve never looked back,” he says.

The Clarks have averaged more than ten new Volvo buses annually.

Clarks Logan City CEO Graham Davis says standardising the bus make and model across most of the fleet has brought about a number of benefits.

“The standardisation of a bus fleet where possible provides a number of positives from stock control, uniformity in maintenance work practices and consistency in driver vehicle operations,” Davis says.

“With the right supplier it also allows the relationship to grow into a strong partnership with all parties delivering a quality product on the road.”

Volvo Bus Regional Sales Manager Ray Andrich delivered ‘Bus 100″ to the Clarks in early August, saying Reg and Yvonne were a pleasure to deal with.

“The Clarks’ large and modern depot with 100 Volvo buses lined up is quite a spectacle when you drive through the gate,” Andrich says.

“It is truly a tribute to their hard work, dedication and very smart business decisions.”

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