Brisbane, Australia-based Penske Commercial Vehicles has announced a new venture with U.S.-based Penske Truck Leasing, Co., L.P. to offer commercial truck rental services in Australia. The venture, Penske Commercial Leasing Australia will operate under the brand name Penske Truck Rental.

The collaboration combines Penske Truck Leasing's fleet operations expertise with the market knowledge of Penske Commercial Vehicles. Penske Commercial Vehicles, which operates the Brisbane Truck Centre, is a wholly-owned subsidiary Penske Automotive Group and has exclusive distribution of MAN and Western Star Trucks in Australia and New Zealand.

Founded in 1969, Penske operates and maintains one of the largest truck fleets consisting of more than 200,000 vehicles and it employs more than 20,000 people worldwide.

Penske Truck Rental's operation in Australia will initially consist of a 20-truck fleet of high-specification MAN and Western Star prime movers. Each unit will be professionally maintained to maximize reliability, fuel efficiency and availability. Penske Truck Rental offers MAN TGS 6x4 prime movers powered by the 540 horsepower MAN turbo diesel coupled to 12-speed Tipmatic transmission along with both Western Star 4864 FS2 and Western Star 4864 FXC prime movers. The FS2 features a day cab while the FXC is equipped with a sleeper-cab. Both are powered by a 560 horsepower DD15 turbo diesel, coupled to Eaton's UltraShift Plus transmission.