McColl’s Transport leads the way with industry day
Insights into consumer trends, the impact of Covid-19 and global economic drivers were key items on the agenda at the 2021 McColl’s Annual Industry Day in Northern Victoria.
Around 60 representatives from transport and food production organisations, including Fonterra, Lactalis and Saputo, heard Michael Harvey, Senior Analyst, at RaboBank share data insights on market trends across Australia and the world.
With Dairy Australia set to release an industry report on environmental factors on Monday, analysis showed that focus remains on sustainability and environment, driven by regulation and industry leaders. Many attendees agreed that reducing emissions in the supply chain was an important issue, however the cost of mitigating CO2 remains a barrier.
John Droppert, Industry Insight Manager at Dairy Australia, reported that the combination of strong farm gate prices and increases in pasture growth led to strong returns for the year. However, at this stage dairy production volumes have not risen.
The discussion moved to ways that Australia can return to previous higher milk production levels.
Robust domestic consumer demand and population growth continue to provide positive signals for farmers. Participants expected that longer term pricing contracts between processors and farmers would lead to herd investments and production volume increases.
Systematically better tracking
McColl’s Transport recently showcased its commitment to innovation as it implements a new form of telematics tracking throughout its Milk Division.
McColl’s has recently partnered with ORBCOMM, a leader in Asset Tracking, Monitoring and Control. ORBCOMM provides the ability to track unpowered assets across the country, whether they are transported via chassis or rail. The tracking system is solar powered, and can not only track the asset, but monitor the temperature of the product being transported, and notify users of any door activity.
“Our commitment to technology innovation has been an integral part of McColl’s growth and scalability for more than 60 years, and ORBCOMM’s leading IoT technology is the best choice for helping us take our business to the next level of productivity and efficiency,” said Peter Shearer, McColl’s Transport Bulk Food Grade General Manager.
The devices are currently fitted to 18 ISO tanks within the Milk Division, and with the added benefit of customer portal integration, McColl’s is offering its customers more visibility over their products.
Chemicals driver honoured with Driver of the Year award
WA based chemicals driver, Hannah Hughes has been named Driver of the Year in the inaugural Women in Trucking Australia competition in recognition of female truck drivers.
The awards shine a light on the work of resilient and inspirational heavy vehicle drivers who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Hannah who was nominated by her partner Benn and fellow workmates at McColl’s, shows an uncompromising work ethic and is a well-respected member of the BCD team. Her ability to overcome any obstacle using her own initiative, drive in remote locations in hazardous weather conditions and work with dangerous chemicals on a daily basis makes Hannah an extremely valuable asset at McColl’s. “Hannah does a great job for us in one of our most remote locations under some of our most testing conditions. She contributes a lot to our organisation over and above her ‘day job’, and is very highly regarded by our tight-knit team in WA. Fantastic effort Hannah!” said BCD General Manager Mick Mulraney.
Winning the WiTA awards means the world to Hannah, “I am very humbled and taken aback by how much support there is out there for me, driving is what I love doing and its fantastic to be recognised by the industry” she said. Hannah who was up against 21 other inspirational women from varied backgrounds, ages and levels of experience, believes just being nominated was an honour and is simply grateful for the opportunity McColl’s have given her to be behind the wheel. “It’s a great testament to Hannah to be recognised for this award, we pride ourselves on mutual respect so having Hannah appreciated by her fellow drivers as a part of International Women’s day is a terrific achievement’’ said Simon Thornton, McColl’s Transport CEO.
Hannah not only contributes to the company as a driver, but by participating in health and wellness initiatives, contributing stunning photographs to the annual company calendar and displaying a high level professionalism and pride in her vehicle and what she does. ‘As a woman in trucking, you have to work so much harder to take away the doubt that you can do the job just as well as the men’ says Hannah, who comes from a family of truck drivers and is the first to put her hand up for long trips to Cape Preston, Telfer and Wiluna.
McColl’s modernises its fleet with 30 new trucks
Keeping our drivers and the community safe are top priorities for McColl’s which is why we have invested $9m in new fleet over the last financial year.
The fleet modernisation includes prime moves from Kenworth, Freightliner and Volvo and tankers from Tieman, Byfords and Marshall Lethlean.
McColl’s operates 200+ prime movers, over 650 tankers/trailers throughout Australia.
