Silk Logistics Holdings has been working on increasing productivity to and from the wharf precinct by adding additional Higher Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFVs) to its Victoria-based fleet in recent years.
Silk’s Port Logistics operation in Victoria is made up of two businesses, Silk Contract Logistics and Rocke Brothers. It currently has 15 HPFV sets across the two businesses and it recently took delivery of three additional sets of HPFVs from CIMC to allow more operational flexibility and an increased capacity to deal with its growing customer requirements.
“We have 298 company-owned trailers of various brands in the Victorian fleet. The business also rents in excess of 200 trailers each day from Rentco,” says Chris Pearce, Operations and Maintenance Manager of Silk Contract Logistics. Chris is responsible for maintaining the Victoria-based fleet of both Silk Contract Logistics and Rocke Brothers, purchasing new equipment, Victorian port logistics depot maintenance, supplier relationships and supporting operations. “Our fleet choice is driven by our customers’ work requirements. It predominantly features 40’ skels but also includes retractable trailers, specialised equipment including 20’ and 40’ tippers, side loaders, extendable drop deck trailers for over height transport, 20’ skels, Super Bs and A-doubles.”
Silk’s new 30m A-double trailers from CIMC will be carting 20’ and 40’ import and export containers, between the wharf precinct in Melbourne and our strategically located depots in the south-east and western suburbs. The trailers have been fitted with purpose-built light weight Fuwa K-Hitch KIS Integrated axle and air suspension system with ConMet Alloy wheel ends. They feature three-way twist locks with side loader pads, and the dollies come with dolly-lock provision. The trailers and dollies have undergone a fully automated KTL surface treatment with powder coating finish. All CIMC skel trailers have dangerous goods wiring and raise/lower valves as a standard.
“The new A-double equipment was purchased with versatility and higher payloads in mind,” Chris says. “Other features include provision for dual kingpin locations, provision for ring feeders to be added to tag trailers, and Right Weigh digital on-board mass scales.
“One of our internal goals is to have a minimum number of vehicles on public roads to achieve our workload and CIMC are helping us with our journey to achieve this.”
The company’s relationship with CIMC dates back a decade across both the Rocke Brothers’ and Silk Contract Logistics’ fleets. Over the years, the two businesses have purchased several A-doubles, B-doubles and 40’ skels custom-built for container cartage.
“The majority of the units we have purchased through CIMC have custom-built grain loading platforms on the rear, which provide an anti-slip area for staff to work on while gaining access to container doors. To achieve versatility and increased payloads we had the trailers designed to be lightweight with use of light weight axles, light weight chassis design and alloy wheels. The three sets are also fitted with side loader pads to allow for heavy 20’ units to be lifted off trailers at long haul customer sites such as renewable energy projects in regional Victoria and New South Wales,” he says.
“One of the key drivers to purchase CIMC equipment is the value for money they offer. The equipment is very reliable and the strength of the relationship is built around the company’s willingness to assist at all times. The CIMC trailers we have in the current fleet have always proven to be reliable and fit for task, hence we have returned to purchase more over the years. There is no doubt these new A-double sets will be reliable and provide us with the flexibility and productivity they were purchased for.
“CIMC has been a pleasure to deal with and we look forward to maintaining this relationship into the future. Dealing with Sven and James has been easy, the information flow and regular updates on how the build was travelling ensured we were on top of the expected delivery dates and this in turn gave us the ability to source drivers for immediate start. Their knowledge of the product is excellent and this gives us comfort in dealing with CIMC going forward.”
