COMPANY PROFILE
2013
jackson transport
Refrigerated transport specialists
COMPANY REPORT
Refrigerated
transport specialists Editorial: Lauren Grey Production: Hal Hutchison
Following last year’s strikes, SA’s agricultural industry is in a state of unrest with many feeling unsettled with the outcome, but Burger Fourie, Marketing and Operations Director at Jackson Transport, says the company was fortunate enough not to be affected, he tells IndustrySA why…
The strikes and accompanying protests in the Western Cape began on the 27th August 2012, after farm workers surrounding De Doorns decided to take action against poor pay, bad living conditions and unfair labour practices. Once news of the strikes spread throughout the province, hundreds of thousands of workers joined the protests and soon almost every rural area in the south Western Cape was involved; affecting agricultural businesses across South Africa. The main focus of the protests was poor pay, with pickets and banners demanding a minimum wage increase from R69 a day, to R150 a day. As a result, what started out as a largely localised strike by De Doorns and other Western Cape farm workers, led to the announcement of a new legally enforced national wage of R105 a day from
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March 1st 2013, across the entire agricultural sector. Whilst many businesses suffered the immediate effects of the strikes, with little or no produce reaching customers, Burger Fourie, Marketing and Operations Director at Jackson Transport says the company was fortunate enough to not be affected due to the company’s ‘excellent workforce’ and relationship with farmers. “We have excellent people working for us and luckily none of them went on strike, they were standing next to us and all of the work got done. Also, when something like this happens, we actually work with farmers on labour related problems to try and find a solution.”
FAMILY HISTORY Jackson Transport specialises in refrigerated road transport; transporting fresh, frozen and dry produce
Jackson Transport
from farms to its clients. The business was established in 1990 by Managing Director, Jaques du Randt and his wife and Financial Director, Sandra du Randt, their son and daughter have also joined the business recently, making it a real family affair. “Jacques started the business with only two trucks, specialising in refrigerated transport; we now have 58 trucks and transport both refrigerated and frozen goods, as well as some dry goods” explains Fourie. The story behind the Jackson Transport name is also one with close family ties, as Fourie explains, “The name Jackson actually originated from Jacques’ grandfather, who always called him Jack-Son, and so Jacques always said that when he had his own company he would call it Jackson. That’s basically where the name originated!”
Since the company’s very beginnings as a family run business, it has grown rapidly and now has a staff complement of 180, with its two major clients being Simba, Africa’s biggest snack company and Natures Garden, a Nature’s Choice brand. “We supply Pepsi Co’s Simba with potatoes, that’s one of our big contracts; the other major contract is with Natures Choice for whom we also Transport potatoes for the production of frozen chips for their Natures Garden brand.”
CUSTOMER BASE Jackson Transport specialises in the transportation of refrigerated fresh produce across the border to neighbouring countries, but the company also has the facilities to transport frozen and dry goods inland.
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COMPANY REPORT “90% of our clients are fresh fruit farmers and we transport their products for export purposes. Many of our client’s products are being exported to Europe, UK and China, such as avocados, grapes, mangoes and soft citrus, of which we as Jackson Transport need to ensure the products get delivered to the different harbours in South Africa on the correct temperature for export. “A lot of our business is with fresh produce farmers who specialise in exports, but we also do a lot of inland transport to local markets within South Africa, from bananas, mangoes and vegetables for example.” Exports are extremely important for the company, because a big portion of its business is created within this market, however cross-border transport from South Africa into countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique generate 65% of the company’s business. “Jackson Transport is based in Johannesburg but for one of our clients in Port Elizabeth we transport goods into Zimbabwe. We’ve also got a big Fruit & Veg Client in Lusaka who we service twice a week and we also take a lot of goods from Cape Town to the Maputo area,” explains Fourie.
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Although export and cross-border transport of refrigerated goods are the two main markets for Jackson Transport, the company does not discount business within the frozen and dry goods market, and makes arrangements for such clients. “We are also involved in the transportation of frozen goods, such as fish,” explains Fourie, “and if a client wants to transport refrigerated and dry goods at the same time we can do that by partitioning the truck, but our dry produce customer base is relatively small.”
EFFICIENT FLEET MANAGMENT Jackson’s fleet of trucks are all supplied by Volvo and serviced and maintained by Jackson’s own workshop, but to ensure a break-down doesn’t affect the quality of produce, the trailers operate completely separate, as Fourie explains. “We have a South African trailer company which assist us with the trailer which is separate to the Volvo truck, we then combine the two. This gives us the edge because the truck does not supply the trailer with diesel to make the
COMPANY REPORT
unit work, so should you have a truck break down, your fresh produce will still be refrigerated and your goods will not spoil. All of our trailers are 30 pallets and can carry a load up to 28.5 tonnes.” When the company was first established, Managing Director, Jacques du Randt started by importing long-nose freight liners from America, but due to length restrictions imposed by South African regulations, he was unable to do so for the foreseeable future. Instead, du Randt started using a mixture of flat-nosed trucks some of which came from Volvo, eventually due to the blossoming relationship between Jackson Transport and Volvo, du Randt standardised all of his trucks and chose only to use Volvo in his fleet. “Volvo is now a big part of us and we are a big part of them; they treat us very well in terms of serviceability and maintenance; we know that should we need them, they are only a phone call away,” says Fourie. “Although Jackson Transport is an accredited Volvo service dealer and can service its fleet without sending the Truck to a Volvo Truck dealer, we stick to Volvo regulations by sending the truck at specific kilometres back to Volvo for a computerised service check and calibrating the settings of the vehicle,” he says. Aside from this Volvo also has a good distribution of workshops across South Africa and neighbouring countries,
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which makes the transition to a Volvo-only fleet a much more obvious choice. “In the past two to three years Volvo has opened up a workshop in Lusaka and they also have people in Zimbabwe who can assist with Volvo trucks and also trailer repairs. Therefore in the event that we have a problem with a truck cross-border we always have knowledgeable available support.”
EXPANSION PLANS Maintenance and servicing of the company’s trucks in the instance of a cross-border break-down is vital, particularly as Jackson Transport intends to increase business in Southern Africa as a whole. “We know how it works at the borders of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique and that’s why we have decided to concentrate on growth in those markets,” explains Fourie. “Zimbabwe is one of the most important routes going to the African countries, most of the guys from DRC and Malawi for example will come down to Zambia or Zimbabwe or even Lusaka to buy their fresh produce.” One of the more effective ways of growing business in Southern Africa for Jackson Transport is by servicing its clients and growing alongside their businesses, as Fourie explains.
“Our vision and mission is that if our clients grow, we
Jackson Transport grow with them; the guys may not take a full load, but they may decide to take 18-20 pallets of fresh produce or even frozen goods cross-border to Zimbabwe, Zambia or Mozambique, and we are happy to go with them” says Fourie. “As their business starts to pick up in those countries and they decide to transport bigger loads of produce, our business in those areas will also grow.”
STRONG RELATIONSHIPS Possibly the biggest contribution to Jackson Transport’s success, is its dedication to providing an unrivalled service to both its customer and supplier. Fourie explains that the most important aspect of the business is to work closely with farmers and clients to ensure that the process is cost effective to both parties. We strive for total transport, rendering our utmost best service. We are fortunate to have disciplined and dedicated drivers without whom the wheels will not roll. This single initiative is one of the main reasons as to why Jackson Transport was not affected by the farm workers strikes in 2012, and Fourie says that the company will
continue to build on its strong relationships to ensure they are not affected by future upheavals. “We work in a triangular structure between the farmer and client; so we are the middle point between the two and it is important that we continue to work with both to create a cost effective and strong transport relationship. “Should there be any future problems within the agricultural industry, we will work alongside our farmers to make sure we are providing them the best possible service and help them in any way we can to ensure the work gets done.”
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“We have excellent people working for us and luckily none of them went on strike, they were standing next to us and all of the work got done”
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