Leopold Transport has been in the cold chain logistics game for quite some time. Established in 1976 in Geelong, Victoria, the family business initially ran as a one-truck operation for local meat abattoir, MC Herd.
After transporting meat under this contract for several decades, Leopold Transport’s capabilities noticeably changed form. First, it was in 2000 with the purchase of a second truck, and then again in 2007 when second-generation family member, Glenn Murgatroyd, assumed the role of Director.
Leopold Transport has since grown to service more customers with greater transport power. The business now runs a 16-unit fleet which is powered by modern technology like GPS tracking systems as well as mass and fatigue management accreditations for safe and timely deliveries.
In recent times, Glenn has observed a burgeoning trend in the market’s demand for meat products – one which is seemingly proposing changes to the way transporters operate.
“There’s been a lot of movement within the industry towards buying boxed meat directly from the abattoirs,” he explains. “That hadn’t been the case previously.
“Some places still require and order full carcass meat – like a corner butcher shop, but boxed meat has become much more common. We realised that we needed to follow the trend and cover both bases of delivery.”
This prompted Glenn to look at recruiting a new refrigerated body into the Leopold Transport fleet. After a casual conversation with a salesman at Scully RSV, the OEM was put on the transporter’s radar.
“I just happened to be talking to Dean Blair about something completely different, and I mentioned our hunt for meat bodies to him,” he says. “That’s when he told me that Scully RSV builds them and that they can be bought as opposed to rented. The stars seemed to align.”
Glenn didn’t look back after this conversation. He engaged with Scully RSV’s engineering team to create a customised rigid body that could carry a mixture of meat to accommodate the varied demand in the space. Glenn already had many ideas for his build and utilised Scully RSV’s manufacturing experience to refine them.
“I had some very particular ideas for what the unit should look like based on my experience in the meat industry,” he says. “Being able to get involved in the design process and communicate my vision to Scully RSV’s engineers was a really important aspect of our collaboration.
“I think the engineers benefited from my perspective because they then knew what I wanted to build. We benefited as well because the product we got ticked the boxes that we wanted.”
The end result is a rigid body which can comfortably transport Leopold Transport’s different forms of meat with two distinct segments. The front, reserved for boxed meat, was built with a side door for quick access and sufficient pallet space for easy storage. Meanwhile, the back of the body was spaciously designed for full animal carcass storage with features including meat hangers and extending quart doors.
Additionally, the body’s step setup was tweaked to accommodate the wear and tear it would experience in frequent delivery runs. Standard blue interior walls were also painted white to match the inside of other Leopold Transport builds – a personal preference of Glenn’s.
Glenn, having deployed this Scully RSV rigid body and two other slightly modified meat units in the fleet, is elated about servicing his customers with the specific components of the body’s meticulous design.
“This rigid body is definitely versatile,” he says. “It’s a thing of the future and exactly the kind of build we were after. With its accommodating design and high thermal efficiency, we’re confident that it will ride the industry’s changes well.”
In addition to its lauded versatility, the rigid body also boasts a high physical durability which enables it to last longer through a greater number of harsh operating conditions. This factor is common among Scully RSV’s builds as the solution provider offers many rental units to the market which, as Glenn describes, are known for their toughness.
“We know this unit is built to last because it came from a rental solutions provider,” he says. “Rental bodies are usually put through the ringer when they’re used, so it’s no surprise that our meat body is tough. This quality is going to make deliveries a lot easier.”
The durability of this meat unit is also maintained through Scully RSV’s available aftersales servicing capabilities which Glenn has taken up as needed to ensure his rigid body continues to serve as a breath of fresh air in the meat transport sector.
“This build is a combination of modern-day thinking with tried-and-true experience,” he says. “We’ve used a whole new set of information to create something that we think can last in the industry.
“Meat delivery may be a dying art, but with this unit, we’re putting some life back into the process.
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