| 69 Concentrating on doing the basics well When it is quieter on the farms the company is busily engaged in carting trees all over New Zealand for Dale’s parents tree nursery. Sue Russell RURAL SERVICES » Michielsens Transport Dale and Melissa Michielsen own and operate Waitara-based Michielsens Transport, a company they established 10 years ago. “I had been working for other transport companies and decided the time was right for me to step out on my own. Initially it was just me and one truck, but once we grew our client base, slowly picking up more farms, we were able to purchase a new truck most years and grow our team of drivers,” Dale says. Today, the company has 8 trucks, carting a whole range of product, from bulk goods such as palm kernel, blended stock feed, fertiliser, bagged calf-feed, hay and silage and general freight. The fleet also includes a truck with Hi-Ab. The fleet works over a geography that is Taranaki wide, however its not unusual to travel further afield, particularly to ports to pick up fertiliser. The business also services a fair few farms in the Manawatu. Admitting that 2024 was pretty challenging, Dale says they came through the year intact by just knuckling down and concentrating on doing the basics well, along with prudent spending. “Yes it wasn’t a good year at all, but I knew we would be OK. We just had to work smart and watch our dollars. It’s quite a responsibility when you’re the company creating incomes for your staff and their families.” Melissa works behind the scenes taking care of all the administration, paying the bills, wages, keeping a track of orders, compliances and the like. “I think it works really well with the two of us looking after specific elements of the company. Life is busy with three children as well, but we work well as a team and we’re both proud of what we’ve achieved to date.” Dale believes this year, which has got off to a really solid start, will be better than last, however, given recent experiences, there won’t be any expansion of people or fleet this year. “I’ve got a good team of drivers and enough work to keep everyone busy and the business ticking over, so we’re quite happy at the size and scale we are.” Costs associated with maintaining the fleet continue to increase and, like many in the industry, Michielsen’s Transport applies a Fuel Adjustment Factor (FAF) to ensure fuel costs are met. For the most part, the trucks are busy on the road five days a week, however when there is a shipment to be picked up from the port or during the busy calf-feeding times, the trucks will work during the weekends. Asked about how he’s found his team of drivers, Dale says generally good drivers are few and far between. Winter is a quieter time when farmers have dried off, but the picture soon changes when calves arrive and need feeding. When it is quieter on the farms the company is busily engaged in carting trees all over New Zealand for Dale’s parents Tree Nursery, Michielsens Tree Nursery, and the other local tree growers in Waitara. “It’s also a little quieter over December and January, so we manage to get a break which is important for the team.” Dale’s brand of choice is Volvo. He says they’re great for driver comfort and very easy to handle. “They’re just a great set up and are extremely reliable.” When Rural North spoke with Melissa and Dale, they were expecting to get busy as the drought conditions kicked in further. “We’ll be carting supplements to farms all over the district if this dry continues to bite.” Proudly supporting Michielsens Transport 06 7582864 | www.advantagetyres.co.nz Cnr Mustang Drive & Connett Rd, Bell Block, New Plymouth www.bhlfeeds.co.nz Proud to support Dairy Farmers with their feed and animal nutrition requirements
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