Welcome to our first blog post! I (Joel) want to write as often as possible. I enjoy writing and have always had a natural talent for expressing my thoughts, so I hope everyone reading this finds useful information and learns something new.
Thats me below.
At this stage in life at age 29 I have 3 fully qualified 4 year trades under my belt, along with a handful of other qualifications, a Cert 2 in engineering, Cert 1 in manufacturing pathways, Cert 1 in graphic design, I think I have a cert 4 in something I can’t actually remember ill have to find the book full of certifications to confirm that, but my certificate 3’s or trade qualifications are light vehicle mechanic,
Automotive electrician with arctick refrigeration licenses, and fire protection technician with a restricted electrical license and open cablers license attached. Along with a long list of QBCC licenses from my previous life as a fire protection technician.
So I graduated school in 2012 completing grade 12, I had already completed my first year as a school based apprentice mechanic over 2 years, and had done numerous work experiences as an auto electrician which was my main passion that I wanted to get into. So I managed to get into a mechanical workshop that signed me up for a dual trade as an auto electrician and mechanic, this was fantastic because it made me work hard, I had a hard boss who pushed me and looking back now it was the best because it made me really learn and figure everything out so thanks for that Ronny. I finished my trades off there and unfortunately at that time mechanical trades were terrible paying jobs, and I knew I needed more I have always had massive ambitions and always strived for more, so the opportunity came up for a job in fire protection, at the time a booming industry with high paying jobs, I went from a fully qualified auto electrician and mechanic on $19.80 an hour to $23 an hour with a car with 0 experience in fire protection, testing fire systems. From early on I have always had a job and been employed, I worked at mitre 10 from the age of 12 with written permission from my parents, then at the local golf club, so
I guess I have always had the drive to work and earn money. From there I completed another apprenticeship in Fire protection to become a qualified technician.
However while I was working as a fire technician I was doing auto electrical work and mechanical work most afternoons and weekends I started my first business Reform Auto to get some trade accounts setup and stuff, its crazy prior to having kids how much time I had to complete all these things looking back. So being an auto electrician everyone needs you all the time to do stuff, mostly love jobs helping friends and family out etc but I always loved doing the cool jobs, canopy fitouts, lift kits, bullbars etc, its the reason most young kids get into mechanical apprenticeships, they don’t get into it to work on a renault van that leaks oil from everywhere and has an electrical problem. Unfortunately that is the crap I was working on as an apprentice but I tell ya, it makes you a very good tradesman working on the worst of the worst. But anyway I was working alot, I had the time, I brought my first house, then my second one, life was good and my own business was just getting busier and busier, so I knew I had to make a change, to either cut my business out completely, and keep doing fire, or to quit my full time job and work for myself, at that stage I had my first daughter, I was 26 years old and had 2 mortgages. Anyway it was a massive leap and I went all in, I started In house auto electrical. I had a commercial workshop on logan road, absolutely terrible idea that was undersized it was just me by myself and commercial rent is just rediculous honestly, so luckily I got out of that one and moved the business back home. I was super lucky in the fact I had built a 14x7.5m shed in my backyard in underwood, 4.5t hoist it was quite literally the dream, I had no overheads, a house to renovate and a 1 year old child, so at that stage it worked out perfectly when I wasn’t working I was at home anyway working on the house, helping with my child etc, it was a fantastic setup.
I ended up selling my first property to be able to finish the underwood house renos, covid was over by then and the price of everything had gone through the roof, so we made that decision and was able to finish the house off (slowly).
I changed the name from in house auto electrical to in house 12v & touring. Now just in that while we are here, if you are ever going to make a business name, say it out loud first, and try explain it to someone. I tell ya that name was such a terrible name to explain to people “is in house 1 or 2 words, is there a dash in the word, is it 12 volt or 12v is it and or the & symbol. What an absolute nightmare. So just remember that and learn from my mistakes, thats the main reason for the new name, I could have easily just moved into American trucks but the name was terrible I hated it.
So then the idea for Next Level Trucks came around the start of 2023, we had a few American trucks come through that were just super cool and I was hooked, having seen them around alot more and seeing some super cool builds I just knew I had to have one, I knew the business had to change and the structure and I needed to get my foot in the door and focus purely on American trucks and being unbelievably good at the 3 major brands. Unfortunately having a 12v & touring business you end up doing bits and pieces of absolutely everything which is good because it keeps you busy but you never get to specialise and get really good and a name for that one thing, so I knew it all had to change, the idea came up to sell the house, travel Australia, get the first world feedback because before that you only see the advertised side of travel and the best bits on youtube and instagram, you never get the full story, see all the bad, the things that go wrong etc, so I knew I had to get that first hand experience and show the good the bad and the ugly to the average Aussies to build a honest reputation, build a relationship with some fantastic brands and get to see what these trucks are really made of.
So we finished the house off, sold up everything, brought the truck, brought the van, built the truck and off we went to travel Australia full time and in that year we built some amazing relationships, we got to test first hand the truck, speak to literallys hundreds of other people and their experiences and then start to form and build next level trucks.
So now we are here, Next Level Trucks is launched, we have a 350sqm shed in Logan Village, and I get to build trucks 1 at a time, using all the knowledge gained, the feedback from others to literally have the 11 secret herbs and spices to build the best American trucks to travel Australia, I am absolutely dedicated to quality and not quantity, the face of the business is the guy swinging spanners with all the knowledge and experience, over the coming years I hope to build a small team that I can have maximum quality control over to maintain the level of build that is required for Australian roads. These trucks need specialists there is alot of things they require for our roads, ways of doing things, the way they move and respond with loads, understanding the weights, how they tow etc, its all built from the ground up.
So thank you if you made it this far, Look forward to writing the next blog post which will be all about T0UR44 the big girl, and if you’re ready to take it to the Next Level, then give me a call, or fill out the form below, send a text whatever works for you ✌🏻
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