Nortrans wins long wide load of gongs

TOWNSVILLE family business Nortrans is the toast of Australia’s transport industry for having an unrivalled safety record and demonstrating excellence in logistics.

The heavy freight service provider and its sister company, Northern Logistics and Warehousing, won two national gongs at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia’s annual awards in Sydney last weekend.

Nortrans collected the Excellence and Innovation Award for Safety, while Northern Logistics and Warehousing won the Excellence and Innovation Award for Moving Freight.

The company’s BOC Bulk Gases Team has driven trucks for an incredible 25 million kilometres over some of the most challenging roads in Australia without a single rollover and having never missed a delivery in circumstances that was within their control.

Nortrans operates throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The institute’s award judges described Nortrans’ safety record as “unrivalled”.

“The award was given to Nortrans because of their outstanding commitment to safety and their unrivalled safety record,” judges said.

The institute’s judging panel said the Northern Logistics and Warehousing site at the Bohle was the only regional service centre in Australia to batch track products from receival in store to customer receival on site.

Nortrans operations manager Kent Battle said it was the company’s first national award since the business was launched by his grandparents, Arthur and Eileen Battle, in 1969.

He said they were “really proud” of their safety record.

He attributed their success to running quality equipment and good recruitment.

“It’s a lot of hard work and good local people,” Mr Battle said.

“We run good equipment. We don’t run the cheapest stuff. A lot of it is in recruitment, what kind of people you recruit. We owe a lot of success to our staff.”

Nortrans is undergoing the busiest time in its history, much of it on the back of solar farm development.

About 1000 megawatts of solar farms are under construction, with another 1500MW planned, while major upgrades to the Bruce Highway north and south of Townsville require transport services.

Mr Battle said they had acquired several new trucks and were looking at purchasing more.

“I am still a little cautious about what the future holds but if it keeps going the way it is we have a very, very bright future,” Mr Battle said.