Cargo Carriers’ transformation into a logistics and supply chain management specialist has resulted not only in renewed and expanded contracts with its existing clients, but also a high growth rate in new clients. Customised solutions have ensured the company maintains its excellent relationships.

CARGO CARRIERS HAS been in business since 1956 and has made a name for itself as a reliable, efficient and ethical haulier. When the company listed on the JSE in 1987, it was one of the largest privately owned transport operations in Southern Africa. In 2002, after more than 40 years in the transport industry, Cargo Carriers began a complete overhaul of its business operations, becoming a client and industry-centred specialist in logistics and supply chain management.

A decade later, the business is experiencing real turnover growth domestically and has added another 20% to its top line in SADC business. The marketing director of Cargo Carriers, Andre Jansen van Vuuren, attributes the high growth rate to Cargo Carriers’ ability not just to attract new clients, but to service existing clients to such a degree of satisfaction that they expand their contracts. “You have to be doing something right to realise this type of growth,” he says.

He lists a number of the factors that contribute to ‘the Cargo Way’: upgrading and expanding its fleet with vehicles so that they are not only more fuel-efficient, but also create lower carbon emissions; improving Cargo Carriers’ BBBEE rating from a level 7 to a level 4 in 10 years, which gives access to a broader client base; innovative programmes such as the owner-driver initiative; capital investment in regional, industry based and high-level BBBEE subsidiaries; and the achievement and maintenance of stringent safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) standards. “But the biggest single driver of growth,” he maintains, “has been Cargo Carriers’ ability to maintain excellent relationships with existing clients, some in excess of 40 years, by delivering custom-tailored logistics and outstanding service levels.”

Renewed and expanded contracts
Since February 2012, the company has grown its traditional steel business with Arcelor Mittal South Africa. This contract has a dedicated fleet moving steel to and fro the Vanderbijlpark and Saldanha plants. Each plant produces different grades of steel and a certain volume of the metal produced in Saldanha is sent to Vanderbijlpark for further processing. Much of the steel finished in Vanderbijlpark is, in turn, destined for the export market via Saldanha. Cargo Carriers keeps the supply moving in both directions. The Cargo Carriers fleet includes trailers specifically designed to carry steel coils to maximum capacity. World-class logistics software allows the tracking and tracing of all loads throughout their journeys and driver performance is monitored closely by on-board technology. Backloading is essential in ensuring an optimised supply chain. Innovations in both technology and operations are the key to client-centred value creation.

In 2013, ArcelorMittal South Africa awarded Cargo Carriers an additional contract to transport its pitch and tar – a fuelsource produced at Vanderbijlpark that has to retain a constant temperature of 200°C while it is transported to furnaces in Richards Bay, Mpumalanga and Zimbabwe. The company also holds contracts for bulk-haulage of cement with two leading industry manufacturers, both of which have expanded their business with Cargo Carriers – a sign of increasing activity in infrastructure development, but also of the confidence they have in their logistics provider. Various contracts within the fuel, chemicals and gas markets have also been secured.

Expanding footprint
Cargo Carriers’ capital investment in BHL, a transportbased logistics operation in Zambia, has allowed that business to increase its fleet by 40% and take advantage of increased demand for mining, industrial and agricultural chemicals in the region. More importantly for the logistics group, it has allowed them to offer a comprehensive and integrated service to clients who are increasingly describing their marketplace as SADC, or even beyond.

A history of steady growth
A demand of this transition has been the establishment and adherence to industry leading SHEQ protocols These improvements have resulted in improved service levels to clients and a significant increase in capability and capacity. When asked to sum up what the business does, Jansen van Vuuren replies: “We are in the business of value creation- of creating advantage from the waste in existing supply chains.” He sounds more like an alchemist than a supply chain specialist. It seems that Cargo Carriers is creating its own brand of ‘magic’ with its clients.