Brisbane-based All Purpose Transport have made a substantial investment in their future by qualifying the entire APT workforce at a Certificate III or above. The result has been the creation of one of Australia’s most qualified workforces and accolades at the 2013 Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council Awards.
APT won the 2013 TLISC Innovation and Excellence in Workforce Development Award (Logistics and Warehousing) as well as a high commendations for Innovation and Excellence in Workforce Development Award (Road Transport) and Return on Investment in Skills Award.
General Manager for All Purpose Transport Paul Kahlert claims the company has the most qualified workforce in the industry in Australia with each employee now reaching a qualification above a Certificate III.
“This project addressed our mantra that we’ve had in place at APT for decades. We know that the Best People = Best Business and this is another step forward to recognise the skills of our people and establishing ourselves firmly as an Industry Employer of Choice,” Mr Kahlert said.
“Being the first transport company in Australia to reach this goal is a major achievement and we are delighted that we have been able to reach this incredible outcome together with our people.”
APT’s workforce consists of 80 employees and 180 owner-drivers, all of whom participated in this opportunity. When asked if they wanted to participate, 100 per cent of the workforce responded positively.
APT is Queensland’s only true specialised transport solutions company bringing together refrigeration, heavy transport, taxi trucks, couriers, furniture transport and removal and warehousing. And with that comes a management team with over 200 years of specialised transport knowledge. Their client promise states that if APT clients have a transport or logistics issue, then they can have confidence the team would have seen it and solved it before.
“Everybody says they want to be the best, but we have every single driver and employee of All Purpose Transport Certificate III qualified or above in their specialised area… it’s about having both the will and the skill to stay ahead. Project APT gives us both.
“As we are now moving from being a $30 million business to a $60 million business in the near future, we are positioning ourselves to attract and retain the best talent that is on offer.” Mr Kahlert says.
APT believes that Project APT was a great example of partnership between government and industry.
“We received incredible support from the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council with co-contributor funding from the federal government’s National Workforce Development Fund. We also received on the ground planning and support from Transform, the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Body (Queensland) and quality training services from Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE.” Mr Kahlert said.
Previous Director of Transform and Project Champion, Louise Perram-Fisk cannot speak highly enough of Project APT. “All Purpose Transport have raised the bar in terms of quality and quantity of workforce development in this industry. Transport and Logistics is a profession not only an industry, and having the most qualified fleet of drivers in Australia is certainly an outcome worthy of this award.”
Mr Kahlert summarises, “The program is a great outcome of what can be achieved when everyone works together. We also want to share our experience with other industry employers and help them to join us in raising the professionalism of our vibrant and diverse industry. Receiving this recognition from TLISC will help us to spread the message that our workforces are our most critical asset.”