Truganina, VIC
Melbourne's largest concentration of distribution sheds — and almost no retail within walking distance of any of them.
Truganina, Derrimut and Laverton North form the west's logistics core: enormous DCs running two and three shifts, with staff car parks that empty into arterial roads and nothing else. There is no corner shop. There is no café. A crew that starts at 5am has no option between clocking on and clocking off unless the site provides one. This is the single strongest use case for on-site vending in Victoria, and it is also the market where paid vending contracts get cut first when a 3PL loses a client.
The problems we're asked to fix
No retail within walking distance — staff either bring everything or go without.
A drinks and snack machine at the crib room turns a bare site into a serviced one at no cost to the operator.
3PL sites lose and win contracts, so nobody wants a 24-month vending commitment.
No lock-in and no exit fee. If the site closes or moves, we collect the machine at our cost and relocate it with you if you want it at the new address.
Night shift has the worst amenity and the highest turnover.
Cashless machines work at 3am exactly as they do at 3pm, with telemetry so we refill before the night crew hits an empty column.
Productivity & amenity
The cost question
| Line item | Typical Australian pricing | With us |
|---|---|---|
| Machine purchase | $4,000 – $12,000 | $0 |
| Monthly rental | $150 – $600 / month | $0 |
| Delivery to site | $150 – $450 | $0 |
| Installation & setup | $150 – $300 | $0 |
| Restocking visits | $60 – $120 / visit | $0 |
| Servicing & repairs | $120 – $350 / call-out | $0 |
| Public liability & product insurance | $30 – $80 / month | $0 ($20M cover) |
| Removal at end of term | $150 – $400 | $0 |
Typical pricing reflects commonly quoted Australian commercial vending rates and is indicative only. Our figure is not indicative: the host business is never invoiced.
Experience you can check
Written and maintained by Dan Barnes — owner-operator, Free Vending Machines Australia
I have been placing and servicing vending equipment in Australian workplaces for over two decades — offices, warehouses, gyms, hospitals, schools, remote camps and government sites. Everything on this page reflects how we actually run installs in Truganina, VIC: the machines we physically stock, the lead times our crews hold to, and the service standard we carry at our own cost. Nothing here is licensed boilerplate.
Truganina, VIC workplaces vary hugely floor-to-floor — a 20-person studio and a 200-person distribution centre need different machines, not the same one twice. Before we commit to a machine we check three local realities: access (lift dimensions, loading dock hours, stair-only levels and after-hours security), power (a dedicated 10-amp GPO within about two metres of the wall position), and genuine daily foot traffic rather than payroll head count. That last one is why a machine stays on site free indefinitely — we size it to the traffic it will actually get.
1. Two-question request
You tell us the workplace type and rough head count. No paperwork, no credit check, no sales visit required to get an answer.
2. Site check within 24 hours
We confirm head count, foot traffic, power location and access (lifts, stairs, loading dock, after-hours security) and pick the right machine.
3. Delivery and install
Our crew delivers, levels and commissions the machine, tests the cashless reader end-to-end and takes the packaging away. Nothing is invoiced.
4. Telemetry goes live
Every vend, temperature reading and fault code streams back to us. Low stock is flagged 2–3 days before a row empties.
5. Ongoing service, still $0
Restocks, cleaning, repairs, parts, product-mix changes and $20m public liability are all carried by us. Ask us to remove it and we do — no exit fee.
These are our three workhorse combination machines — photographed as they leave our workshop, stocked with the Australian brands your team actually buys. We recommend one based on your head count and floor space, never on what happens to be in the truck.
CV3 combo — slimline snack & drink
890mm wide · 1830mm high · 830mm deep
CV4 combo — mid-size with priced shelf labels
1000mm wide · 1830mm high · 830mm deep
CV5 combo — high-capacity site machine
1200mm wide · 1830mm high · 880mm deep
Service area
We deliver, install, restock and service free workplace vending machines right across Truganina, VIC and the surrounding business, industrial and health precincts.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. We are a mobile service-area operator — machines come to your site, there is no showroom to visit.
Proof
Warehouse · Truganina, VIC
Night shift was tapping vending machines in the servo across the road. Now they don't leave the site. It's paid for itself in productivity in the first month — and we paid nothing for it.
Read the write-upEducation · Box Hill, VIC
They let our wellbeing committee sign off every single product line before anything was stocked. That is the only reason this got approved.
Read the write-upOffice · Barangaroo, NSW
Booking the dock and getting building management to approve a vendor is usually painful. This crew handled all of it — the machine appeared, plugged in, and the staff just started using it.
Read the write-up
Free download
A 20-page plain-English guide: what vending actually costs in Australia, how the $0 placement model is funded, the $20 million insurance position, what makes a site viable, and the exact questions to ask any vending supplier before you sign. No cost, no obligation, no sales call unless you ask for one.
FAQ
Yes. Machines are rated for it, and the refrigeration is specified for ambient temperatures well above what a Melbourne shed reaches in February. We angle the range toward cold drinks and water in those sites because that is what actually sells.
Not comfortably. Above roughly 250 staff on overlapping shifts we place two units — typically a drinks machine near the dock and a combo at the main crib room — so neither runs dry mid-shift. Both are still free.
We move the machine with you. Relocation inside the metro service area is free, and the account continues without a new agreement.
No. Nothing. There is no rental fee, no delivery fee, no installation fee, no service call-out fee, no restocking fee and no removal fee. You are not invoiced by us at any point. The program is funded by the margin on products sold from the machine, so the only money that changes hands is a staff member tapping their card for a drink.
We carry $20 million public liability cover, plus product liability on everything stocked in the machine. The machine itself is our asset and is insured by us. Your business is not asked to extend its own policy, add us as an interested party, or accept liability for the unit. Certificates of currency are issued on request and are routinely accepted by government, defence, health and tier-one construction procurement teams.
First we fix the product mix — nine times out of ten weak sales are a range problem, not a site problem, and a two-week mix review turns it around. If a site genuinely can't support a machine, we remove it at no cost to you and there is no exit fee, no minimum-term penalty and no invoice. You are never left paying for a machine that underperformed.
No minimum term and no lock-in. The site agreement is a one-page placement document covering power, access and positioning. Either side can end it with reasonable notice, and we collect the machine at our cost.
Cashless only — tap card, phone or watch. No coins, so no coin jams, no float, no cash on site and nothing for anyone to break into. Card surcharges are absorbed, not passed on.
Two quick questions and you're on your way. No contract lock-ins, no hidden fees.