Sunraysia-based LRT/VCT Refrigerated Transport is working overtime to go against the flow as its finetunes plans heading into the 2023 harvest.
With depots in Irymple, Robinvale, and Queensland, the business says those plans include the expectation of its grower clients having another solid year.
Operations manager Jackson Leslie says despite the labour shortages post COVID, which have been Australia wide and impacting all industries, LRT/VCT has received good interest in its recruiting campaign for the harvest season.
Jackson says the positions they traditionally have available at this time of the year have been filling fast.
But he says like all trucking companies, LRT/VCT is always on the lookout for experienced drivers to join its team.
“This business has been working with the region’s producers for three generations, and in that time we have built strong relationships with producers both sides of the border and up to Queensland,” Jackson says.
“While we pride ourselves on our local history, and local service, across northwestern Victoria, we also connect with Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia on a daily basis.”
When you are operating on that scale, and connecting customers with a variety of downstream markets – from supermarkets to export – using in-time transport with fresh and chilled products, logistics become a mathematical challenge.
Jackson says when his grandfather helped found the business, transport was a decidedly different kettle of fish.
Today, he says, everything between collection and delivery is a choreographed performance.
“It’s not just a case of rocking up to the supermarket distribution complex and offloading – they have stuff, a lot of stuff, coming from a lot of different directions and we can’t all turn up at the same time. So it’s one of our key jobs to match pick-up and travel times with slots we have booked at these distribution hubs so everything runs as smoothly as we do,” Jackson says.
“And it’s no different if we are going to the wharf instead of the warehouse – we still have slots booked so the heavy equipment needed to unload containers as quickly as possible is not standing around waiting for you, or worse, starting without you on someone else’s load.”
Jackson says at LRT/VCT, the company is also investing significantly in its future – and not just in trucks.
It is also developing a much larger, multifaceted service facility for its growing fleet of trucks as part of its long-term strategy to remain at the cutting-edge of the transport industry.
“That means we also provide a range of refrigerated options for those targeting overseas markets – and it is a farmgate service to docks in Melbourne or Adelaide in a container, or to the airport via a freight forwarder of your choice,” Jackson says.
“We deliver to the markets in all major cities, and in addition to this we can cater for supermarket chains and fruit and vegetable warehouses – the business already deals with Woolies, Coles and Aldi.”
