Changes across 70 years of business

Like any transport business, there’s been plenty of changes along the way for The Careful Carriers. Even more so when you’ve been in business for 70 years.

Even across owner Zacc Smith’s time alone, trends have changed, compliance has evolved, and the trucks have grown bigger and more expensive.

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But as the saying goes, and there’s a good reason it’s still a saying, you don’t fix what isn’t broken. It’s a motto that seems to drive the operations to this day.

Zacc says this was laid out by his father and grandfather before him, and it’s something he carries forward into 2025 and beyond.

“We were always very process orientated,” he says.

“My father was set on that, and he had the systems that he would use in place. The biggest change I’ve seen is compliance related. We are TruckSafe and NHVAS Maintenance managed.

“That compliance, when I first started, was nearly non-existent. But with dad’s process, the movement across to accreditation was not that a big a leap from most of what we were doing anyway.”

While increases in the breadth of compliance have in ways made running the business more challenging, Zacc says it has also offered him a reprieve in certain areas.

Especially when it comes to running a smaller business, there can be a lot required in a single role, but having the oversight of independent auditors has made some aspects of meeting compliance easier.

“The biggest change for us was the audits, where we’re now having to have a second set of eyes come in and have a look over and make sure everything is going the way it should go,” Zacc says.

“In the compliance side, which I find more of an opportunity than anything, it’s good to wear many hats as a manager of a transport company. But to have someone come in and look over at what you’re doing with the compliance, and offer suggestions on what could change or what other companies have been doing, has been really helpful.”

Even outside of what happens inside the office, the operations on the road and out on the floor look significantly different than they did in The Careful Carriers’ early days, though these are most certainly changes for the better.

“Back in the day, there was no high vis or steel caps,” Zacc laughs.

“You see someone without a high vis now, and ironically they stand out so much!”