Owner Neville Purtill believes that the Purtill Group has been able to continue growing by always looking ahead at the next innovation – how they can separate themselves from what everyone else is doing.
From father Keith’s early days, this was always the priority. They were the only business in the area delivering fuel direct to farms via semi-tanker, offering locals a service they had never had before.
This expanded into pushing where they could for developments in road access and the Performance Based Standards scheme, both of which they would take advantage of.
They would continue to deliver fuel direct to farm into the 2000s, now using B-double tankers with special access permits for local roads.
Neville says that he would often look to other parts of the transport industry for inspiration, and to see how he could go back and apply it to fuel haulage.
“We pride ourselves on innovation, maybe to our detriment sometimes,” he says.
“We took a look at what was happening in the industry. I tend to watch and admire what they do in milk cartage. They always seem to do things first when it comes to tankers.
“I was starting to see these A-doubles running around northern Victoria and into Southern NSW. At the same time, Victoria was starting to investigate high productivity vehicles and opening freight routes.
“We started to investigate what that meant for us and how we could get better productivity.”
One of the ways they did this was from an observation made at Newport Terminal, watching 30-metre-long container trucks transporting their goods around the Melbourne facility. This sparked a plan to figure out a way to do this with fuel tankers.
Technologically, this proved to be a challenge. Weight was a major factor to consider, with just a single pump and lead system being installed on a new trailer and barrel design to draw from both the front and back trailer at once.
This both maximised payload and fit with the ADR and PBS at the time. This then also had to be approved through multiple parties including the NHVR to gain road access from Purtill Group’s furthest NSW site all the way into Melbourne.
“We worked with a manufacturer and went through all the approvals for bridges and those sorts of things,” Neville explains.
“Originally when we started, our main route to Melbourne is via Echuca. It was the original old bridge, and we couldn’t take the weight over it. We had to take the trucks via Tocumwal, which adds an extra half an hour on the route.
“As soon as they opened the Echuca Bridge, it made a huge difference to our efficiency.
“All our A-doubles are run under PBS. It’s made a huge difference to what we do and how we operate.
“When we send the 19-metre on a job now we can’t fit everything on because we’re so used to loading up the A-double.”
Like every other operator, Purtills has continually been chasing improvements and advancements like these to make business run more efficiently.
Just getting bigger and better trucks on the road hasn’t been the only challenge though, with plenty to consider behind the scenes too.
“Safety and licensing have been challenges, but a lot of it has resulted in positive stuff,” Neville explains.
“The challenge is in recruiting, training and retaining staff, particularly drivers.
“In my time it’s become an aging workforce. The human resource side of it affects everyone at the moment.
“We’re lucky that we’ve got a great team and we’ve recruited well over the time. They’re very loyal.
“Whilst it’s a challenge for the industry, we’re happy with where we are as a local operator. Drivers like to work for a family company from our experience.”
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