Prestons Depot Update
The McColl’s depot at Prestons near Sydney will be the proud owner of a new B-double Omni Tanker in the new year.
The tanker’s patented thermoplastic liner makes it suitable for transporting highly corrosive chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid.
The depot already operates two B-double sets and this third addition will ensure the efficiency of operations continues to improve.
Bulk Chemicals Division has continued to put in a solid performance this year as it keeps pace with demand from customers such as Ixom and Huntsman.
Congratulations are in order for Operations Manager Rod McGuiness and Prestons depot driver Leigh Foster who are celebrating 10 years of service with McColl’s. A special presentation was made to them at the recent Prestons’ depot Christmas party.
Fleet update
Safe driving and a safe community are top priorities for McColl's, which is why we are excited to invest in 33 new prime movers and more than 30 new tankers this year.
McColl's fleet modernisation includes five new Volvos (one FH 540 and four FM 540) and, after an 18-month trial, four new Scanias for Farm Collection, based out of our Tongala depot.
McColl's Bulk Food customers will benefit from the addition of 10 new Kenworth and three Scania trucks including two R730 prime movers for linehaul work on the eastern seaboard.
As well, an additional five B-Double tankers will join our Bulk Chemical Division.
The company has also grown to include six pocket road trains operating in Western Australia - one moving chemicals in Perth and six carrying milk from farms to Harvey.
McColl's operates 200 prime movers on roads as far west as Perth and north to Atherton in Queensland, with 60 permanent tow operators and over 600 tankers in the fleet.
Working together to improve safety
A new hazard reporting system is being trialled by a number of McColl's drivers.
The Hazard Reporting App will help proactively identify hazards that could harm McColl's employees, as well as issues that arise at customer sites.
The system facilitates immediate follow-up and action, providing many benefits including:
- Quick and simple reporting from anywhere, at any time - it takes less than 60 seconds.
- No paperwork or forms, data is received in real-time by the National Safety Manager for quick actioning.
- Detailed data capture to enable lessons to be learnt and improvement trends identified.
We are looking forward to gathering a raft of useful information from the new reporting system.
Rocklea depot update
McColl's depot at Rocklea, just south of Brisbane, recently welcomed some new faces.
Driver Trevor Jarred has made the move from Victoria to be closer to his family and Glenn Williams has joined our team to give better flexibility and utilisation of our fleet, and to provide our customers with the service they require.
Craig Honeyman has also made the move north to give our scheduling some extra flexibility and responsiveness.
The depot has also recently welcomed additional loads with the specialty chemical company Hexion, moving methanol between its plant at Gibson Island and the Graincorp terminal at Pinkenba.
If you need any assistance, please feel free to contact Tony Hall, the Queensland Operations Manager.
New website goes live
This week we're excited to launch McColl's new look website.
The bold, modern design and new features reflect our efforts to put McColl's personnel and business partners first in every aspect of our business.
As well as giving you an insight into our services, operations, values, fleet and safety initiatives, the updated site will make it easy and interesting to find the information you need.
You'll find the latest news and some great articles about the people behind the scenes at McColl's.
Technology is constantly improving and so are we, that's why we hope you'll take a look and let us know what you think.
New structure enhances customer service
To enhance the service we provide our customers, McColl’s has appointed two new Regional Managers in our Dairy Division in New South Wales.
Barry Edwards has taken on the role of Regional Manager Central West NSW (Cowra & Orange). Having owned and operated his own transport business, Barry brings a wealth of experience to the role.
In Bomaderry, Peter Ryan has stepped into the position of Regional Manager from his previous position as scheduler for our Bulk Food Division. His new role will see him looking after the Dairy Division operations in Bomaderry, Mittagong and Albion Park (Jamberoo) as well as overseeing Bulk Food operations together with Cameron Bendall.
The new structure in Bomaderry will provide for greater synergies in drivers, vehicles and administrative tasks between the Dairy and Bulk Food Divisions.
Long-serving staff acknowledged
Our loyal staff members are one of our greatest strengths and we are fortunate to have a lot of the McColl’s team choose to remain with us over many, many years.
Our customers can draw on the decades of accumulated experience that our longest serving staff bring to every division and every region we operate in.
In December, 23 staff members received awards for chalking up 10, 15 or 20 years’ service and one – Warranty Manager Neil Mousley – was acknowledged for his 35 years with McColl’s.
Together they represent an incredible 335 years of service with McColl’s!
We are proud to have them on the team.
Meet the new GM for Bulk Food
Peter Shearer brings valuable experience from both overseas and within McColl’s to the role of General Manager – Bulk Food Grade Division.
Peter has a long history with McColl’s. He started as a subcontractor in 1999. After a couple of years living and working in the US and Ireland, Peter returned to McColl’s as a truck driver in 2002.
He progressed as Operations Supervisor and National Operations Manager Bulk Food.
A Geelong boy through and through, Peter is happy to be back in his hometown and is looking forward to the challenges of his new role.
Go west
This spring, McColl’s began collecting milk from the south west of Western Australia for a new customer, Parmalat Harvey Fresh.
McColl’s is now the producer’s primary carrier, responsible for collecting approximately 150 million litres of milk a year and transporting it to the Harvey Fresh factory.
Five new prime movers were put into service for the first day of collections, supplementing the existing Harvey Fresh fleet that was purchased as part of the contract.
McColl’s welcomed nine former Harvey Fresh drivers into our team, as well as a number of newly hired drivers who will be based out of Harvey.
The WA farm pickup operations will be led by Mark Dominish, who has done an excellent job managing the transition and is keen to expand McColl’s footprint in the west.
South Australian growth
McColl’s is on a roll in South Australia, taking on additional farm pickups in the state’s south east.
We have been collecting milk off farm for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter since taking over from a local carrier on 1 July.
Depot manager Dale Robinson and his team managed the transition, which included taking on six new drivers from the previous carrier to service a collection network spanning the Fleurieu Peninsula, Meningie and the mid-north.
McColl’s SA operation now collects around 140 million litres per annum for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, Parmalat, La Casa, Milk2Market and Beston Pure Foods.
