COVID-19 update to staff 16 July 2020
Earlier this week we were informed that 2 of our NSW based drivers attended the Cross Roads Hotel during the period 3rd - 10th July. As directed by the NSW authorities, both employees are self-isolating and were tested. Test results confirmed negative, and both remain in isolation for the 14 day period.
As the situation continues to evolve please be extra careful in hygiene and social distancing…..this is a time when it is best to avoid crowded places if you can.
If you have any symptoms please stay home and contact your Manager.
This kind of thing is bound to happen as the infection spreads. Rather than announcing every possible link between the virus and the company, we will follow the prevailing government rules and handle each situation at the local site. We will communicate to everyone if there is a confirmed case in the McColl’s community.
We are all working through this as well as we can.
Stay safe everyone.
Simon
COVID-19 update to staff 8 July 2020
As we have seen, the COVID-19 situation has deteriorated in Victoria. A new set of rules are starting at midnight tonight (July 8) and we will adapt to keep the business running as safely and smoothly as possible.
The people who live in Metropolitan Melbourne or the Mitchell Shire will be in lockdown and only able to leave their homes:
- To shop for essentials
- To exercise
- To go to work (if they cannot work from home); and
- For medical or compassionate reasons
As always, if you are sick, stay home and seek medical advice if necessary.
Our tankers will continue to operate as essential services and we ask that everyone continue to follow our hygiene and social-distancing protocols. Wash hands well before returning home at night.
Anyone visiting the locked-down area should take special care to avoid any possible contact with people there – no hand-shaking, keep 1.5m apart, wash hands regularly, use sanitiser, don’t touch surfaces that might have germs, wipe down high-touch areas in trucks with sanitiser, wear face masks as requested on customer sites, avoid high-traffic areas….these things are the new normal for the COVID-19 era.
We have 3 sites in the metro Melbourne region – please be very conscious of this at Altona, Pakenham and Brooklyn if you have to go there. We are especially conscious of lunch rooms and other shared areas.
Regional sites outside of the lock-down area will continue as they have been for the last 2 months. Other disciplines of the COVID-19 era still apply: social distancing and good hand hygiene. Remember, if you can work from home then please do so.
We know that these times are a challenge. The good news is that they will pass – our task for now is just to get through it as safely and securely as possible.
Let’s hope that the next 6 weeks bring us some better news!
Regards
Simon Thornton
COVID-19 Update for our customers
McColl’s Preparation for COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
McColl’s has been reviewing the potential impact of the increasing spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus). We have started taking action to try to reduce the potential impact of the virus on our and our customers’ businesses.
As a business we have implemented a series of measures designed to ensure service levels and to maintain a flexible response to issues as they arise. We are expecting changes in the business environment due to the virus itself and in terms of the governments’ response (local lockdowns and travel restrictions etc).
These actions include:
Office environment:
Implementing appropriate hygiene protocols within the offices to restrict the spread of any infections;
Working with the local health authorities to manage and monitor any local health issues as they arise;
Implementing an immediate self-quarantine for anyone with relevant symptoms or anyone who returns from overseas;
Minimising meetings of any kind;
Reducing staff travel between sites;
Where possible implementing capability for staff to work from home in isolation if required.
Customer service and load planning
Ensuring where possible that McColl’s retains a capability to continue to service customers, i.e. duplicating operations management capability at different sites;
Ensuring that any impact on service levels is raised and managed during the daily and weekly operations reviews;
Communications
Ensuring that if McColl’s has any impact to customers as a result of the current virus outbreak that any issues and work-arounds are clearly communicated.
Trucks and drivers
Drivers spend most of their working days isolated as part of their job routine;
We are rolling out hygiene reminders as part of our regular toolbox program;
We have asked drivers to undertake extra precautions including end-of-shift cleaning inside the truck;
Overall we have asked people to change their behaviors. If our people ask to change face to face meetings into video conferences or phone calls, if they bow a greeting rather than shaking hands or if they cancel travel plans, please understand that this is part of our effort to reduce the impact of the virus on all of our businesses.
McColl’s will continue to deliver the service to you, our customer. This task will be made easier if we have as much notice as possible regarding operational changes to your business. We also ask that you tell us of any new restrictions that you are making in your activities (avoiding meetings, new shift patterns, new site hygiene protocols) so that we can update our staff.
We understand that you also will have plans running to manage in this new environment and we would welcome the chance to work together in developing the best solutions for all.
We have asked Andrew Thompson to step in as the main point of contact for our customers on this project. Andrew will make sure that your special operational requirements get to wherever they need to go in the McColl’s organisation.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Andrew.
Kind regards
Simon Thornton
A Word from the New CEO
McColl’s Group Holdings was acquired, in May, by an investor club known as Friesian. The club includes new CEO Simon Thornton and Chairman Mark Mentha – both familiar faces at the company.
“It is great to be back in the driver’s seat at McColl’s,” Mr Thornton said.
“A lot has happened in the five years I was away. The industries we serve have changed dramatically, with new owners and new priorities. Some of our previous customers no longer exist and new ones have arrived with big plans for the future.”
McColl’s new board members include James Macdonald, a partner in law firm Piper Alderman.
James specialises in commercial law and had previously served McColl’s in negotiating customer contracts.
Friesian’s plans are long term; the club intends to invest in McColl’s over time to see what kind of company it can grow into.
“This is the first time in 12 years that the company has not been for sale,” Mr Thornton explained. “We plan to develop the company over the next generation.”
“We have new employees arriving all around the company. We are hiring new drivers and trainers; there are also new graduate business analysts, compliance, safety, operations and financial people.
“The Dairy Division is commissioning 10 new pocket road trains to cope with its extra work. The Bulk Food Grade Division and Bulk Chemicals Division are also expecting new tankers and prime movers to arrive in the next few months.
“The 2018 financial year was a good one for McColl’s. We are looking forward to cementing productive partnerships with our existing clients and forging some new ones.”
Fleet Investment
McColl’s is committed to providing reliable service by investing in new and innovative equipment. Recent fleet upgrades and additions include 40 prime movers and 24 tankers.
Among the big additions are six new Byford road-trains and three new Tieman 26-metre road trains for the Dairy division. These road trains feature steerable axles, providing better maneuverability and easier and faster access onto farms. The road trains are also capable of carrying a bigger payload, which is a welcome boost to McColl’s haulage capacity.
The six Byfords are headed for the Dairy regions of Northern and Western Victoria and South Australia, while the Tiemans are headed for NSW. Other additions to the Dairy Division included one Tieman 30,000-litre single tanker; two Dunn Engineering dollies; and four 30,000-litre Byford single tankers. The Dairy Division has purchased 26 Volvo FM 540, one FH 540 and three Scania R560s to replace older assets and growth.
McColl’s has purchased two new Evolution tankers made using carbon fibre composite materials, with a polyethylene thermoplastic interior for the Bulk Chemicals Division. This means the tankers are far less corrosive and suitable to transport a wide range of liquids. The thermoplastic interior also reduces absorption which means that we can switch safely between different products after a wash out.
Two new Tieman dangerous goods stainless tankers have been ordered to work as a pocket road train in Western Australia, two Byford stainless DG leads to work as B-doubles on the Eastern seaboard and two Marshall Lethlean stainless lead tankers.
McColl’s Bulk Food Grade Division added nine Kenworth T409s, one Kenworth T610, two Scania R730s, two Volvo Globetrotters and one Tieman compartmented tanker to its Fleet.
