The Logistics People - EP003 Rangeview Transport

Tony:

Hey guys, here from CartonCloud. I'm here with Simon Brown, the General Manager of Rangeview and we just sort of went outside, it's a lovely morning. And I just thought we'd have a bit of a chat about transport and operations. And so Simon, you've been in transport now, a young fellow only in 18 months?

Simon Brown:

Yeah. So I haven't been in transport very long. Since I was five I always wanted to drive a truck and however, I didn't realize that dream until 18 months ago and decided to move away from what I was doing in the government space, semi-government space, and realize that dream, so.

Tony:

Yeah, okay.

Simon Brown:

So surprisingly, it wasn't my intention to get straight back into management, but that's just what happened and opportunity came along. And so I thought, "Yeah, that sounds good." and, "Oh, that sounds like something interesting to do."

Tony:

Yeah, so a completely different role than what you were doing before obviously.

Simon Brown:

Yeah, I mean, different in terms of the industry, but some of the general management stuff or management stuff is similar in terms of dealing with people and what not.

Tony:

Yeah, well managing people is always same.

Simon Brown:

It's similar.

Tony:

Yeah, but the industry a little bit different, yeah?

Simon Brown:

It's certainly different. And look, it's been fantastic because it's something new and there's plenty of challenges in this space.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

But at the same time saying that, there's a lot of things and a lot of challenges that are similar across any industry, that's my experience.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

So just things in terms of organizational issues are similar and what not. So that's, I suppose, some things that I find exciting, is that I can still apply a lot of the skills I have from my previous life and apply it to this role so that's a good thing.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

And my son asked me a while ago, he said, "Oh Dad, you spent so many years doing engineering, blah, blah, blah. Wasn't that a waste of time?" And at the time I didn't say anything back to him, but then I would like to say, "Well, it wasn't a waste of time. Because it actually, it does carry on to other industries. You don't have to be in the same industry to transfer those skills."

Tony:

It's like we said before, you're learning something new every day. The day you stop learning is the day you die.

Simon Brown:

Yeah.

Tony:

So it's good when you've come from another industry, and I've been in this industry my whole life, but working across also with other industries and people management is people management.

Simon Brown:

Sure.

Tony:

So tell us here about Rangeview. So how many trucks have you guys got here?

Simon Brown:

So Rangeview we've got five prime movers, they're B-double rated. And we've got, I'm probably going to get this wrong, but there's about six or seven rigids that we've got. Our primary is a predominantly, well, they're all Scanias and we've got a couple of Scanias and that's basically where we're moving to because we have a great relationship with Scania. And so we know they've been reliable and good trust so that's where we will spend our money in the future, so.

Tony:

And no doubt you get a chance every now and then to jump in a truck?

Simon Brown:

I certainly do. Recently I've thought, "Oh, I'm going to miss out driving." But I've been doing a lot of driving still, so.

Tony:

Yeah, okay.

Simon Brown:

Which I do enjoy.

Tony:

Because it is, it's good to sort of clear the mind. Jump in a truck, go for a drive.

Simon Brown:

For sure, and I love it too because you get to see the countryside. You go to see customers. You've got to have a chat with them, ask them, "How's things going. Is there any issues?" And you can often solve things very easily. You can have a chat with them and you can get some instant feedback 

Tony:

Have you thrown your son in the truck yet?

Simon Brown:

Ah...

Tony:

I had to ask because that was one of the first things my boys said like, "Can we go on a trip Dad?

Simon Brown:

I've taken him on a short trip.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Simon Brown:

I picked him up one day and he went, "Oh, this is awesome." But I said, "Look, one day I'll take him out in the semi. We'll go, we'll do an extra change over or something." He said, "Oh yeah, I can't wait for that." But I've got, my Mrs. wants to do it and my dad wants to come. And so I've got a whole bunch of people who put their hand up. So yeah, I can't wait for that too because it means I'm spending a bit of time with them and showing them.

Tony:

Yeah, and it's like you said, as a kid you loved trucks.

Simon Brown:

Yeah.

Tony:

And I suppose when you've grown up around trucks and been around it's sort of not much. But I didn't grow up around trucks. So when it come time to be able to jump in one, it was like a kid in a candy store.

Simon Brown:

Exactly same with me. I think the first day I turned up,  Matt said... I didn't have a license.

Tony:

Yep.

Simon Brown:

He said, "Jump in this semi and turn around there and back it in." And I was like, "Are you, for real? You going to let me drive a truck, I've got no idea." I was so excited.

Tony:

But it's funny in the industry, that's how you learn.

Simon Brown:

Yeah.

Tony:

I actually learned how to back trucks in off of the back street in Albert Park in South Australia. So I could back a truck in, put it on the dock, no problems. Could I put it into second? No way in the world. So I could drive it in reverse, but not in forward sort of thing.

Simon Brown:

Yeah, similar in my instance too because I spent probably over a year backing semis in, getting the experience before I got my MCHC licenses. But yeah, I could back a truck awesome but I had never actually driven it forward.

Tony:

Yeah. And it's always the way with operations people and forkies and that because you're always jumping in a truck. But it's always about going backwards and putting it on the dock.

Simon Brown:

Yeah. I've only been 10 Ks an hour in a truck.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

It's frustrating. It's a little bit scary when you got more than 20 Ks an hour. You're like, "Oh wow, this is different."

Tony:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Simon Brown:

So yeah, that's been fantastic. I've made a change in my career and it was the best thing I ever did because I just love trucks and transport and I love being around trucks. It's just, I don't know what it is, it's just something that I have a passion for. I'm not a truck nut, I don't know much about them, but I just love them.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Simon Brown:

There's something about trucks that I find very, very, I don't know, romantic's not the right word, but it's when I get in a truck I'm relaxed and it's a nice place to be, and so.

Tony:

Yep, yep. And good bunch of customers you're dealing with?

Simon Brown:

Yeah. So we've got some great customers. The industry that we're in we're not dealing generally directly with the public. So we've got regular customers that we know, we have relationships with, which is something that I'm passionate about is... They're customers but they're partners in our business...

Tony:

Yes.

Simon Brown:

... and it's a relationship that we try and nurture, I'm very passionate about that. And so that's something that is really nice because you get to see the regular people every now and then. And you build up a rapport with them and they're great. And they help out. So that's really nice.

Tony:

Yeah, and I think that's one of the biggest things, which in this industry is, that without the customers there's no work.

Simon Brown:

Yep.

Tony:

Without the trucks, the customers stop. So it is and I like the way you put I, that it's a business relationship.

Simon Brown:

Yep.

Tony:

They're our business partner because you just can't?

Simon Brown:

Yeah, and I say that, that's the way I see things. But look, even if you've got a guy who repairs our hydraulics on the back of our tailgates, that he's, it's a partnership.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

So to we've got to behave in a certain way with him like we would with anyone.

Tony:

Yep.

Simon Brown:

It's not just someone we just use and so we just pay the money and off we go. It's someone that we want to have a relationship with. I find that to be a good way to approach things.

Tony:

Yea. Because always in this industry it's the tailgate guy who you need to call it at 1:00 in the morning because the tailgate won't go up, the truck needs to go.

Simon Brown:

Yep.

Tony:

He needs to be being able to use that tailgate at 7:00 in the morning. And it is the business relationships you have with, whether it be a driver or the guy who fixes the tailgates or the customer, all of the bits, because you rely on each other so much.

Simon Brown:

Yep, you sort of put a bit more meat on the bone there. You're right, it's like they understand that you need to be out at 7:00. They're not saying, "Oh, why are you ringing me at midnight?" They go, "No worries. I understand where you're at. I'm tired and I'm a bit grumpy, but I know what you need and it's okay."

Tony:

Yeah, yeah, so no, excellent.

Simon Brown:

That's good, so.

Tony:

So yeah, you're fitting in well into the industry, yeah?

Simon Brown:

Yeah, no, I'm loving it. Yeah it's great. And look, like I said, the people have been fantastic.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

And the transition was, in some ways, a lot easier than I thought it was going to be in terms of just completely changing industries. And so that was something that I'd encourage anyone to consider wherever they are in their life. That if they want to make a change, not necessarily in transport, don't be afraid to do something about that.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah.

Simon Brown:

Because I've found if you need to take some risk in your life, and I'm quite a conservative person, and it's taken me a long time to do it, but consider all the options. But yeah, I found it to be a good thing to do and yeah, never look back.

Tony:

Yeah. And what do you think about the technology with the logistics industry and where it's going? Where do you see the logistics industry heading?

Simon Brown:

Not being having a great deal of knowledge about the industry, but certainly what do I see is a lot more technology integrated into whatever we do. And also that technology, that being integrated with our customers so that it's seamless.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

And as it's spread out across the country, whatever that might be.

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

Just so customers they're updated pretty much real time. I know what's happening. I might know where a truck is, I know at the moment we don't give that information to our customers directly, but certainly that sort of information could possibly shared like they do with some of... They have like, 'This is where it's at.' So customers can do their own self service so we don't have to. They don't have to ring us and bother us. And hopefully get onto us when they need us. They can do it anytime they want. They can look at 3:00 in the morning, "Where's that delivery?"

Tony:

Yeah.

Simon Brown:

So look, I'm not sure where that whole industry is going, but I certainly see that as being something that could happen, I'm not sure.

Tony:

Look, being honest. I think you're right. I think that's the way things are going. Nowadays, especially for the younger generation, everything's at their fingertips. They can jump on the mobile device. They can see where their pizza is. They can see what they're going to buy from overseas. They can, all of these things and they want to know now. They won't wait. They could never write a letter because it would take two

weeks to get there.

Simon Brown:

Sure.

Tony:

So they want it now. And I think that that's the way the industry with the information is going, is that people want it. And if you can't provide that information then they'll move to somebody who can.

Simon Brown:

That's interesting, I mean, and I think people can then look up, "Oh look, I know the truck's over there. So I know it's going to take an hour to get from here to here." So that's just what it is. And hopefully they can deal with that in their own way they need to. But if it's not what they expect, so.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah.

Simon Brown:

Yeah.

Tony:

No.

Simon Brown:

And so...

Tony:

All right. Well, thank you very much for your time.

Simon Brown:

You're welcome. Thanks Tony.

Tony:

Great talking to you.

Simon Brown:

Appreciate it.

Tony:

And we'll catch up with you guys on another podcast.

Transcribed from video 

Visit their Website - https://rangeviewtransport.com.au/