Page 33 - CEN 13 Apr.indd

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“Over the years, Peterbill Transport has established
itself as a versatile and flexible logistics provider to the
medium-size enterprise, spending between R100 000 to
R400 000 per month on transport,” CEO Billy explains.
“We sit comfortably between a corporate carrier and a
courier operation and we’re proud to be able to offer
professional ad-hoc haulage options with hands-on,
personalised service.”
Geared for the future, with a FMCG customer list which
includes Nestle, National Brands, Kimberley Clark,
Colgate and Lever Brothers – either direct or via third
party logistic service providers – Peterbill transport has
the credentials and track record to effectively service
the growing local retail market.
Now in its 37th year of business, the company is looking
forward to the challenges as South Africa attracts more
direct foreign investment and establishes itself as a
leading emerging economy. “Any business today has to
be able to adapt to change in order to survive,” Billy adds.
Peterbill Transport has expanded its operation towards
warehousing and transporting Hazardous Goods.
The move was a gradual one, as the company came
to the realisation that to attract customers, the highest
standards of health and safety within the company had
to be established.
Peterbill Transport has expanded its operation
towards warehousing and transporting
Hazardous Goods.
Now in its 37th year of business, the company
is looking forward to the challenges as South
Africa attracts more direct foreign investment and
establishes itself as a leading emerging economy.
The company’s motto and the essence of the business was
‘Service Excellence’ and has now expanded to ‘Service &
Safety Excellence’.
Billy continues, “It has been an arduous experience moving
towards this status and a costly exercise. We viewed
the overall expansion to that of building a house: our
foundation was to be SQAS approved.
“In July 2012 the company obtained a SQAS score of
95.8%, giving Peterbill Transport (Pty) Ltd ‘Preferred Status’.
With the foundation now set we could begin building the
walls of our CAIA compliant House.”
He adds, “An important wall that was already in place
was the health and well being of our employees. Owing to
the growing concerns of Aids and STDs within our industry,
we established a clinic with a resident nurse and monthly
visits by a general practitioner, many years before the
implementation of the NBRFI Wellness fund.”
Billy goes on the explain, “The second wall of our
building was the training and advancement of our
drivers. We chose EC Logistics to provide our drivers
with a vigorous understanding of handling, loading,
securing and the transportation of dangerous goods.”
Continuing the analogy he says, “The third wall of our
structure was the monitoring, recording and investigating
of the company’s safety factors and standards. We have
used the services of the company Driver Check to be an
independent opinion on the performance of our drivers.
“The final wall of the structure was security. Security of
cargo, drivers and vehicles remains an industry imperative
and Peterbill Transport has equipped its depot and vehicles
with a state-of-the-art fleet management/vehicle tracking
system, to not only protect mobile assets but to enhance
efficiencies of its drivers and benchmark its regular routes
in an unbiased fashion.”
He adds that the windows represent Forward planning
“as we look to find solutions to issues such as the
implementation of e-Tolls and AARTO.”
Finally the roof is seen as the CAIA Responsible Care
Initiative, which Peterbill Transport is proud to be a part
of. This initiative is practiced in 57 countries.
“We now feature in South Africa among 144 South
African companies, including chemical manufacturers,
transporters of dangerous goods as well as spill
response and waste management companies, that
implement it. Peterbill Transport now has a measurable
impact on safety, health and environmental (S, H & E)
performance,” he says in conclusion.