LARGER payloads, reduced downtime and cost savings are reported to have been benefits for Hawk Logistics after its recent acquisition of a PBS-approved quad axle Vawdrey Iceliner freezer van.
Hawk Logistics trucks frozen chickens between Melbourne and Brisbane.
The new equipment is achieving efficiency gains of around 15%, according to Regional Manager Wilander Saldanha, when compared with other semi-trailers in the fleet.
“For every six loads we would do on one of our semi-trailers, the new PBS-approved 26-pallet Vawdrey Iceliner only needs to do five,” Mr Saldanha said.
“Approximately 40% of our fleet is made up of B-doubles and the other 60% are single trailers.
“To access many of our customer sites, we need to split up the B-double sets, which results in about 45 minutes of downtime to unhook and then hook the trailers back up.”
Hawk Logistics has a fleet of almost 100 trucks and 82 drivers, operating from Truganina in Melbourne, Huntingwood in Sydney and Griffith in regional New South Wales.
Started by friends Amrit Singh and Harmanpreet Singh in 2014, Hawk Logistics subcontracts to some of Australia’s largest transport companies, as well as catering to its own customer needs.
Meat transportation is its specialty.
Amrit Singh said about 99% of the company’s operations are now refrigerated transport.
“We have various trailers in our fleet, but when we purchased the first Vawdrey trailer, we really liked the way it was built and the fact that it is made locally in Australia,” he said.
Operating under higher mass limits, the Iceliner can carry payloads of up to 28 tonnes, maintaining temperatures as low as -28°C.
