Ship To Shore The Wallace Way

In-depth

11 Jan

For more than 40 years, Brisbane-based Wallace International has been handling the import logistics for a range of national and international customers operating throughout Australia.

With a focus on reliability, customer service and a personalised touch, the operation has expanded from the transport duties of just a handful of clients in the early eighties to offering end-of-end logistics and transport management of some of the country’s most recognised food brands.

Following recent growth, Wallace International, is now headquartered at the Port of Brisbane with satellite sites at all of Australia’s major shipping ports including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

**Managing Director of Wallace International, Bob Wallace**

“When we first started in 1981, there were five people, one ute and a station wagon,” Wallace International Managing Director, Bob Wallace, chuckled. “Now Wallace International employs more than 95 people, with a fleet of 14 prime movers and 12 rigid trucks. We operate container trucks, so we have a prime mover fleet as well as rigids to get all the work done.”

The multiple locations make logistics straightforward for national and international customers alike. Wallace International also handles the unpacking of the cargo and end-to-end logistics.

This is where Bob’s transport fleet comes into play, and having recently received a brand new 14-pallet FVL 240-300 Freightpack from Isuzu’s Ready-to-Work range, Wallace International’s famed efficiencies are sure to be preserved as per the company’s extremely high standards.

Handling everything from brokerage services to cold chain storage logistics and transport, clients certainly get bang for their buck – a business model Bob has refined over four decades of operation.

“Wallace International is a licensed customs brokerage and we act on behalf of importers bringing in their cargo by either air or sea. We clear the goods through customs and then arrange delivery of the cargo direct to the importer's shopfronts,” Bob explained.

“We fell into a niche market with importing dried and frozen foods. Our Isuzu fleet handles the lesser container-loads of cargo direct. We found we could control that side of things better by going direct to our clients' stores.”

Wallace International got a start offering warehousing for Scalzo Foods, an Australian enterprise that sources and processes grains, cereals, nuts and dried fruit.

Bob explained that the operation doesn’t only provide services to the dried foods sector, it also works with a number of suppliers to the steel industry, covering a range of products and capital equipment such as scissor and forklifts.

Agile and responsive, Wallace International is set-up to support their customers during the process of an order, working directly with shipping lines, and seeing the process right through to the stock appearing on store shelves.

“The importer might order their stock from overseas, so we would arrange for the container to be packed and to be transported to Australia. We then clear it through customs and quarantine, and in some cases the containers are brought back to one of our warehouses to unpack.

“Once we've got them unpacked, some go direct out to the clients, some stay here for storage, and then we'll distribute the product using our Isuzu F Series fleet.”

Since 1981 Bob has expanded the business step-by-step. It soon became apparent that clients were favourable to his brand of end-to-end service with personalised options available to meet a range of needs and demands.

“People wanted that personal sort of service that can be relied upon and that's what we've built the business on. We started with utes and trailers to deliver our freight. But when we were ready to upgrade to trucks, we knew pretty quickly that Isuzu was the brand for us.

“We rely on our F Series trucks day in, day out - to move things around. We began to work with Isuzu in 1995 when we were ready to upgrade to trucks. We were deciding between a few brands and due to their reliability, we ended up going with Isuzu. Ever since then, for our urban delivery, we’ve stuck with Isuzu and we’ve never had a problem with them.”

The FVL 240-300 Freightpack has GVM of 24,000 kg, and a GCM of 32,000 kg, which hits the sweet spot for much of Wallace’s customer base and the goods they’re moving around the country.

“Isuzu Trucks have been very, very reliable and honestly, they last decades. Isuzu have been really good for us.”

Powered by the ultra-reliable Isuzu 6-cylinder 24 valve 6HK1-TCS engine, the Freightpack has all the grunt required, with 221 kW of power @ 2,400 RPM and 981 Nm of Torque @ 1,450 RPM the FVL 240-300, its more than capable for the mostly container work it carries out.

“The FVL 240-300 have really good power to ratio to the loads. The Freightpacks are big enough to move around most of the heavy loads and small enough to handle around the city. And the boys don't have a problem even if they go to the coast or on long-distance trips, it's big enough for that as well,” Bob said.

The FVL 240-300 Freightpack also comes fitted with the popular six-speed Allison 3500 auto transmission, a favourite amongst Bob’s drivers who spend a lot of time in and around suburban industrial roads and loading docks across all the major capital cities.

Backed by many decades of experience in the freight logistics and transport space, Bob is acutely aware of maintaining not only the performance and efficiency of his fleet, but the overall presentation of his vehicles.

“We keep our Isuzu trucks in peak condition because we never want to see them being in a bad state or being dangerous on the road, so it's most important we keep that standard both mechanically and visually. To that end, servicing and maintenance is important for our fleet,” he said.

“It's the reliability more than anything that keeps us continuing with Isuzu. I am not done with Isuzu by a long shot, I can see the business relationship spanning for as many decades as it has already.”