Withcott Seedlings rolls out JOST Loc-Light sensors

Withcott Seedlings has always been a diligent business. This diligence is present across all facets of the company’s operations which, for the past 42 years, have been dedicated to the production and distribution of various seedling types.

Withcott Seedlings was established in the Queensland suburb of Withcott in 1983 by Graham and Wendy Erhart as a small depot for vegetable seedlings. The business originally revolved around a steadfast commitment to environmental sustainability and ethical practice, and as demand grew, it expanded to oversee the production of fruit seedlings and eventually tree seedlings.

Parallel to the business’ diligence towards environmentally conscious production is an emphasis on the safety of its distribution efforts – for the seedlings as well as the 300-plus staff members who transport them. This has been greatly assisted by JOST, and its more specifically, its Loc-Light sensor product.

Withcott Seedlings has long been engaged with JOST. The business has been using its fifth wheels for the last four years and has recently increased the range of products it uses after Withcott Seedlings CEO, Jeremy Callachor, sat down with his team to review the company’s safety protocols some eight months ago.

“We were discussing ways to mitigate potential hazards with our teams during seedling transport,” he says. “We talked about how critical it is to lock your kingpin when operating with trailers, and how a failed coupling obviously turns into a major hazard on the road for all motorists.

“We worked with our driver teams to assess the risk of that occurrence and started looking at different technologies and providers that would help us to prevent this. It wasn’t long before we came to JOST for this assistance.”

JOST’s Loc-Light sensor operates as a light system designed to complement the JSK Sensor Fifth Wheel range. Built with a dual sensor monitoring setup and LED illumination, Loc-Light indicates the status of a fifth wheel coupling through a combination of visual and audible alerts.

The system, while innovative, is also very straightforward to use and understand. This makes it very accessible for different types of transport fleets.

Visual alerts are provided via the LED light which will flash different colours depending on the status of the coupling process. A successful coupling will result in a green ‘Go’ light, while an unsuccessful one will activate a red ‘No-Go’ light and an audible alert sound.

The safety and efficiency benefits of JOST’s Loc-Light sensor are already being gained in Withcott Seedlings’ operations. The fleet, as it stands, is in the middle of rolling the sensor out on all of 10 its prime movers and 20 trailers over a nine-month period at its facility in Postmans Ridge, Queensland.

“We’re already seeing the advantages of utilising the JOST Loc-Light product for our transport safety and efficiency,” Jeremy says. “The system communicates the state of the truck and trailer coupling without the driver needing to get out and crawl around under the vehicle to investigate for themselves – a process which can make the driver unnecessarily vulnerable to risk.

“Meanwhile, the implementation of the Loc-Light sensor also saves great time for our operations. All drivers need to do is look for the green light which tells them if the coupling is locked. The inspection process has suddenly become much quicker, delivering great efficiency for us.”

The application of JOST’s Loc-Light sensors are also contributing to a more positive working atmosphere for Withcott Seedlings’ operators. Jeremy says his drivers have a much greater peace of mind when transporting freight due to their confidence that the couplings are being closely monitored. This peace of mind is paramount when considering the amount of seedlings being transported and the distances they travel.

“We move 400 million seedlings per year to the entire eastern half of Australia,” Jeremy says. “We have the capacity to distribute from the Port of Darwin through central and southeast Queensland, northern New South Wales, down to Victoria and back around to Adelaide. Those are long drives to be thinking about the correct coupling of the truck and trailer.

“The feedback we’ve received from our logistics and driver team have been overwhelmingly positive. When they drive with the JOST Loc-Light sensor attached, they no longer need to worry about the truck and trailer coupling. This allows them to dedicate more of their focus on driving safely.”

Withcott Seedlings’ positive experience with JOST’s Loc-Light sensor has been further bolstered by the product and aftersales support from JOST’s sales and engineering team – particularly by JOST Area Sales Manager, Jason Green, who communicated with Withcott Seedlings through the entire product purchase.

“Jason and his team were with us every step of the way to get the Loc-Light sensors,” Jeremy says. “They showed great care and attention to detail and were the reason why our adoption of the product was so smooth.

“The sensors efficiency and safety benefits are great assets to our company. With them, ensuring safety among our fleet is effectively fool proof.”