64 | TRANSPORT KAM Transport Family-run business that spans NZ T T Virginia Wright Part of the KAM Transport fleet of modern trucks. KAM Transport is a family run business run out of Wellington with operations in Picton and Hastings and a service that spans the country. When Bill Bamber joined them as General Manager in 2008 they were looking to grow the business beyond its home base in Wellington, which at the time was the extent of its operations. The company together with its trucks had been bought by Rod Preston in 1989 off Ken Wilson who did the deliveries to the Preston family’s retail chain of AEP Master Butchers around Wellington. Over the last 13 to 14 years they’ve expanded on the basis of picking up transport contracts and building the business around those contracts. “Hence the reason we’re in Picton is because of New Zealand King Salmon,” says Bill. “We have an operation there whereby our tankers go out on barges to the farms where the salmon is harvested directly into those refrigerated tankers and we take it to the factory in Nelson for processing.” The Hastings arm of the business is largely a produce carrier. They deal with the horticulture industry transporting goods mostly from the Hawke’s Bay out into the regions, mainly into the distribution centres for Countdown and Foodstuffs and to the fruit and vege markets in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and the South Island. The goal in a trucking/transport business is to fill capacity wherever they go, so those trucks return to the Hawke’s Bay filled with general freight. “Ideally they’d be full with contracted runs but if not we’ll go looking for work to backload those trucks back out of those major centres,” says Bill. Apart from one contract which sees them delivering to the door of several fast-food outlets as part of that brand’s logistical supply chain, KAM Transport contracts to deliver primary and wholesale goods. Their fixed runs in the South Island see three trucks moving back and forth across the Cook Strait. “We transport for Premiere Beehive Bacon from the factory in Carterton to their Distribution Centre in Palmerston North and they take it from there; and we take perishable goods to and from Christchurch .” Bill Bamber has been in the trucking and logistics business long enough to remember the days when every child’s dream was to go in the cab with his (usually) dad for longhaul trips when it was holiday time. Trucking ran in families and kids got the bug early. New Health and Safety legislation in the 90’s changed that and these days recruiting is “We are desperately in need of people who can drive these trucks because they’re $650,000 worth when you put them on the road so it’s a capital intensive industry. There’s a real shortage of that skill set, of people who can drive those truck and trailers.” increasingly an issue although the idea of a career in logistics has a lot going for it according to Bill. “You don’t have to have a degree to do this job or spend time at a university. You just have to be a good thinker, have good logic and be good at solutions. We are a solutions provider to our clients. If they have an issue or a problem getting product into their factory or to their market we’ll come up with a solution as to how we’re going to do that in the most cost-effective way. “We are desperately in need of people who can drive these trucks because they’re $650,000 worth when you put them on the road so it’s a capital intensive industry. “There’s a real shortage of that skill set, of people who can drive those truck and trailers.” Bill’s keen to reach down into schools to promote the industry and get more people through. Training on the job is definitely possible although it might take two years to get someone with a Class One license (standard car) fully competent behind the wheel of a truck and up to five to get them confident driving up the main trunk line. “It can be quick moving through the process and their wages go up as their licenses go up the grades, so they can make good money. It’s up to us to provide the trainers and keep them engaged,” says Bill. “It’s a great industry to make a career in and we still want to see those people who’ve always wanted to drive trucks.” PROUDLY SUPPORTING KAM TRANSPORT bridgestone.co.nz Bridgestone provide KAM Transport with market-leading products, advice and support to help them achieve the lowest cost per kilometre possible. GROUP LIMITED Proud to support KAM TRANSPORT · with Refrigeration · D HOLLANDIA Tail Lifts · EUROScan Temperature Monitoring 09 269 0660 transcold.co.nz
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