Coming out of the crisis around COVID has brought John Kelly Transport in Toowoomba challenges to the business it did not expect to deal with. After the initial shock, when it became clear the transport industry would continue even during shutdowns, operators knuckled down and kept the wheels turning. However, coming out of the pandemic has been a shock for many businesses.
As the economy emerged from the crisis, another one developed as the global supply chains couldn’t keep up with demand, and shutdowns elsewhere in the world meant limited imports of equipment and components.
“Instead of being told a new truck will be here in three or four months, it’s going to be here in years now.” says Mitch Kelly, John Kelly’s grandson, who now runs John Kelly Transport. “We’ve had to plan ahead. I’ve put in orders for what I foresee for the next three years and everybody seems to be doing that. That’s compounded their issue. I wouldn’t have ordered trucks for three years away if it wasn’t needed.
“You can see why some of these companies that might not have another generation coming through who are interested in running the company. If they’re going to get out in the next few years, they might as well get out right now.
“There’s a lot of big companies like that out there, which is probably going to put even more pressure on the on the freight task. Who knows what’s going to happen, there is a lot of expertise walking out of the industry. They’re just putting the trucks up for auction because that’s where they can get the best money right now.
“I know a lot of companies couldn’t get decent drivers. It’s so hard to get good staff, underemployment is through the roof. It’s the worse we’ve ever seen it with that many jobs available. The only young people coming through are those that have a family legacy and passion for it as opposed to the ones that are there just to grab money that don’t actually have a passion for it. It’s pretty hard to get them to actually be a good operator.”
It’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle, reckons Mitch, and he would like to see some sort of apprenticeship development. There’s also a need to pressure the insurance companies to accepting those apprenticeships without massive excesses. He would prefer to take someone on who has been through an apprenticeship and is 20-years-old, and would let them jump into a truck, rather than someone who’s 30-years-old, completed a one-day course in Brisbane and thinks they’re a truck driver.
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