Like many before it, Hawk Logistics was built on a chance.
This chance was taken by Amrit Paul and Harmanpreet Singh, two university students who saw potential in the market for a new kind of logistics operation.
Hawk Logistics formed in 2014, when the two students combined their limited resources to acquire their first truck, and it now celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Hawk Logistics is now an industry powerhouse. Mainly servicing refrigerated transport, the company has grown to a team of 500 people with more than 800 assets – a mix of fleet vehicles and logistics equipment.
Much of this unprecedented growth was experienced over the last three years, according to Hawk Logistics CEO, Miguel Vitug.
“We’ve had exceptional growth in our business, with almost 35 to 40 per cent year-on-year growth in this time period,” he says. “Our trajectory over these last few years has been remarkable.”
This rapid upwards trajectory has come with new territory – Hawk Logistics’ acquisition of Adelaide-based AR Logistics last October saw another 50 new staff join the team, along with 100 new pieces of equipment. For Miguel, this constant addition of employees is a vital aspect of Hawk Logistics’ team.
“Hawk Logistics invests significantly in people,” he says. “We’ve had extraordinary growth in our business, but to support that growth, it’s been essential to attract new and specialised talent within the industry.”
To support this new wave of valuable team members, Miguel has worked extensively to restructure Hawk Logistics’ management in the 10 months since he joined the company, meticulously creating new roles and developing others where necessary to provide the most efficient framework for success.
“We’ve created new senior management and leadership roles across our business, informed by the talent we have and based on what we want to grow into,” he says. “For us, it’s crucial to have that structure to support our journey.”
At Hawk Logistics, this careful investment in people extends to its business ventures and partnerships. The company has conducted fruitful business with Vawdrey for five years, showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
“Vawdrey has been instrumental in our growth,” Miguel says. “Without Vawdrey supporting us and being a major trailer manufacturer for our business, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to grow as fast as we have.”
Both Vawdrey and Hawk Logistics share core values in their business approaches, placing immense importance on domestic production, ambitions for long-term growth and customer service. Miguel views Vawdrey as a diligent business partner which takes care of its clients through every step of the process, from product purchasing to aftersales care.
“They are extremely supportive in their after-sales relationship,” he says. “Vawdrey definitely holds a similar focus to us, where customer relationships are paramount in business.”
In its latest trailer delivery, Hawk Logistics obtained 23 Iceliner combinations from Vawdrey.
Dedicated to the fleet’s logistics corridor between Melbourne and Adelaide, the order consists of 15 34-pallet Iceliner B-doubles, two 30m Performance-Based Standards (PBS) quad-quad Iceliner B-doubles and six 36.5m PBS Iceliner A-doubles.
“These particular road trains have been made for one of our major customers,” Miguel says. “You’ll be seeing six to eight of these road trains in a convoy every single day, travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide.”
36.5m Performance-Based Standards Iceliner A-double. Image: Vawdrey.These vehicles have been greatly customised to carry out their refrigerated transport tasks, featuring full-length chassis trails, 40mm fibreglass and styrofoam insulated side walls to retain cold temperatures, full width skidplates, fully welded knurled distribution alloy floors, BPW Transpec axles and suspensions, E-Max Air-Weigh digital weighing systems for On-Board Mass (OBM) compliance and more.
In Miguel’s view, many of these specs exceed the industry’s standard for transport equipment, guaranteeing quality delivery.
“We always strive for the best specs in our equipment because that is how we bring value to our customers,” he says. “For example, our E-Max Air-Weigh digital weighing system enables drivers to check the payload weight of what customers are loading, giving them control and knowledge of the freight and making sure we’re safe and compliant.
“We also use quad-quad Super B-doubles to maximise the value of what our customers can have transported, the cost per kilogram. These add-ons are above and beyond the industry average.”
In addition to efficient transport, Hawk Logistics’ new road train freezer vans were designed and ordered with safety in mind, aiming to uphold the company’s longstanding commitment to safe practice amongst its vehicles for transport drivers and other motorists sharing the road.
As of 2018, all Hawk Logistics fleet vehicles have included fatigue-monitoring software which ensures drivers are fully attentive behind the wheel.
According to Miguel, the design of the Vawdrey vehicles coupled with this technology will minimise road risks.
“Increasing our carrying capacity by using road trains mitigates the number of individual trucks we need to run on the road,” he says. “That means we’ll have less risk. For us, we’re concerned with putting our best drivers out there, preparing them for success and mitigating their risk using proven technology.”
Hawk Logistics’ 10-year history has been defined by the company’s investments in people.
From founding friends and growing employees to established partnerships with key industry players like Vawdrey, the company’s personal investments in those around it have seemingly paid off at every turn. Hawk Logistics’ rapid expansion and subsequent management restructuring has become something of a watershed moment.
“This year has been a milestone and turning point for our business,” Miguel says. “The two directors took it to a particular level, but through their investment in people, it has been taken to an enterprise level. We rebranded our logo in May of this year to solidify this milestone.”
Preparing for more success ahead, Miguel is certain that the tried-and-true approach of investing in people will take Hawk Logistics far in its newly christened era of business.
“This is the new Hawk,” he says
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