Mike Dawson brings more than 35 years of varied transport industry history to MaxiTRANS’ Western Australian dealership. It's this depth of experience that has blended well with a brand-new freight company that commenced operations in January of this year – Kimberley Freightlines.
Servicing the Perth-to-Kimberley route for several large mining and construction groups in booming WA, Kimberley Freightlines is a passion project of industry veteran John Kendrick, previously general manager of a large West Australian freight company. After 40 years in the industry, he branched out on his own just four months ago.
To make the new venture a success, the experienced CEO relies on transport equipment built by Freighter and as such, his latest two acquisitions to join the young Kimberley fleet are Freighter drop-deck T-liners.
John’s preference above all things is to deliver superior performance for his customers and so, in addition to the standard gates, he asked MaxiTRANS WA’s Mike Dawson to provide Freighter's patented LoadHold load restraint curtains as an additional level of load security. The trailers are also fitted with mezzanine decks and with these extra levels of safety, John takes great pride in guaranteeing to his customers that their freight will arrive on time and in perfect condition.
“This is one of the harshest routes in the country,” says John. “Some of my customers insist on gates and due to the sensitive nature of some of the cargo, I can’t afford any risk of damage at all. The additional stability that the LoadHold technology provides gives me a greater level of safety and peace of mind.”
The Perth-Derby-Kimberley run, at 2500 kilometres, is twice as far as the iron-ore regions dotted around the Pilbara and tests even the best of transport gear. Bad cambers, broken surfaces, wandering cattle and road temperatures often over 60 degrees are just some of the challenges thrown up at transport operators. Mike’s experience, along with the backing of MaxiTRANS’ dedicated design and engineering team at the factory in Ballarat, has provided Kimberley Freightlines with a specialised curtain and gate combination to make sure that all the cargo has maximum protection.
Due to the extreme conditions, John also ensures that each trailer is run over the pits and meticulously checked at each turn around. This helps avoid the disaster of a breakdown en route, which, apart from inconveniencing customers, would cost several thousand dollars in recovery charges.
“I market my business as a premium service using premium equipment with premium staff,” said John. As a result, he says Mike Dawson's level of service is a key reason for staying with the Freighter product. “Apart from the superb quality of the product, Mike’s customer service has been outstanding. He’s been here for the initial delivery, the first service and is always on the end of the phone if I have a question or problem.”
Mike has been in Western Australia for three years and enjoys the dynamic activity of the West Australian transport scene. With the WA dealership a key part of the MaxiTRANS group and its future, he sees a great advantage in the ability of his company’s factory engineers to design, develop, and build trailers specified for the task.
Supplying Freighter trailers, Maxi-CUBE vans and Hamelex White tippers to the WA market, Mike takes pride in making a difference to his many transport operator customers and, if John Kendrick’s response is anything to go by, he’s certainly struck a chord: “Freighter trailers are firmly entrenched as the standard for Kimberley Freightlines,” says John. It seems Mike can look forward to further orders as the business continues to grow.
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