Morrow’s Logistics, a family-run regional logistics provider with specialist Dangerous Goods capability, is broadening its business model, assisted with safe and reliable trucks from Scania.

Scania is on track to become the sole truck supplier to the 40-plus fleet supporting regional transport, specialised freight, and Dangerous Goods delivery operations operated by Morrow’s Logistics, based out of Keysborough, south-east of Melbourne.

Established in 1983, David Morrow has led the family-run firm, along with partner Robyn, building it up from the traditional starting point of one man with a truck and a couple of clients as Morrow’s Freightlines, to its current position as a significant player in the regional and cross-border logistics across Victoria, with a strong foundation in Dangerous Goods and chemical transport.

“I was thrust into the business at age 17 after my father passed,” David says. “Today we have three locations in Keysborough, Noble Park and Ringwood, but our reach is as far as the outskirts of Adelaide in the west and Sydney in the east.

“While we established ourselves as DG experts for chemicals delivery, over the past 20 years we have expanded into infrastructure, energy and broader freight movements, including transporting transformers, cables and insulators for the Victorian power network, alongside introducing warehousing capability. Today, we deliver a more complete, end-to-end solution for our customers.

“One of the key things that we've sold our customers on is that we're here to protect their brand, so safety and reliability have been super important in our marketing and in our service model,” he says.

Driving the company forward since some of its earliest years has been Scania. David’s long-standing affinity for Saab cars morphed into the purchase of his first Scania 34 years ago, starting with the iconic 3-series, then moving on to 4-series, PGR and latterly the current NTG and Super series. The current fleet is a mix of prime movers and rigids, some of which have been imaginatively configured by bodybuilders to David’s specifications.

As an example, as far back as 2002, Morrow’s built an 8x4 Scania rigid that was configured to deliver exceptional efficiency. The twin steer was fitted with a short tautliner section for palletised goods, and an open deck for larger freight, such as a cable drum or a mini-container, as well as having a tail-lift fitted for easier loading. This set-up provided enhanced flexibility for the freight services, especially when visiting more remote locations.

Despite the variations in the roles the trucks are set up for, having identical cab layouts means Morrow’s DG drivers feel immediately at home if they hop from truck to truck.

“It gives them a sense of confidence,” David says. “We’ve developed a template for the specification of our Scania trucks. Tevfik Onguc, our Account Manager has helped us set the fleet standard, from the huge array of Scania options. For me it’s about finding functionality that is durable, comfortable and safe for the drivers,” David says.

Today there are 36 Scania trucks in the fleet and more on the way as older trucks, mostly lighter-duty Japanese brands, are retired. Over the years the business has acquired more than 100 new Scania trucks.

Morrow’s traditionally has held its trucks for around seven years, with some clocking up to 170,000 km annually, which means by the time they are replaced on the fleet, David is looking at selling them to parts breakers, although during Covid, even high-mileage trucks were in demand.

“It’s a conservative model, but it works,” he says. “We've had many Scanias that have done 2 to 3 million km. For servicing we like to keep things in house. We have four diesel technicians and a workshop to do all the regular services. The technicians are as passionate about the Scania product as are the drivers.

“The workshop is really important to us because if something small goes wrong, you can fix it straight away, and you're back on the road and drivers are happy. And you can do it any time of day or night,” David says.

“We keep good service records, and we believe in preventative maintenance. Our guys do everything from regular service to replacing turbos or refurbishing engines and gearboxes.”

Morrows remains a family-led business. David’s wife, Robyn, previously served as General Manager and continues to support the business in a leadership capacity, although she no longer holds the formal GM role. Two of the couple’s sons are also involved: one as a fourth-year diesel apprentice and the other within operations. To support the company’s next growth phase, Morrows appointed Valentin Teles as General Manager of Transport and Warehousing.

“Valentin’s appointment allows Robyn and me to step back from day-to-day management pressures while strengthening our capability to grow,” David says. Valentin brings deep third-party logistics experience, including 11 years with Mainfreight and a background in warehouse automation.

“We are expanding our contract logistics and warehousing offering within specialised, safety-critical environments,” Valentin says. “Our focus is professionalism, reliability and delivering exactly what we promise. We are taking that philosophy to a broader market.”

“We are now delivering a bigger solution for our existing customers and attracting new business as well,” David says.

“While transport remains at the core of our business, the addition of warehousing has allowed us to deliver a more complete supply chain solution. We now support customers across transport, distribution, storage and pick and pack, managing freight from receipt into our facilities through to final delivery.

“So, we can offer contract logistics where we manage the warehouse and handle all those operations on behalf of specific customers. Then there's the 3PL side, which is us having relationships with our customers, in multi-customer warehouses with different requirements. But we’re retaining our focus on dangerous goods, it’s our speciality.

“Given the fact that we've transported dangerous goods for all these years, it's been great to offer those companies more services, such as warehousing. It makes it more seamless when they're not having to deal with two different suppliers. They know we're ready with a truck to go within half an hour, which speeds up their fulfilment time. I think our control of the process makes things go a whole lot quicker,” he says.

Dangerous Goods transport brings with it a holistic focus on safety, and David and the team have eagerly embraced Scania’s safety innovations as they have become available, with his latest acquisitions fully armed with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and a genuine desire to provide his drivers with the safest trucks available.

“Comfort, safety, reliability are the key elements that kept us loyal to Scania, but also, post-Covid, we adopted Euro 6 as a company standard, to make a statement that even in the chemicals industry you can play a part in reducing emissions,” David says.

“We run a fairly stable driving group, and they love their Scanias, and they wouldn’t drive anything else,” he says. “The trucks are generally uniquely set up for their jobs, and the drivers are familiar with their regular routes and are great ambassador for the business and our brand. We take driver training seriously and have just employed an in-house driver trainer. There’s a lot to learn with the new Scanias with the safety gear and the new dashboards.

“It's not really training, they know how to drive and they're DG drivers, so they're pretty switched on, but it's getting the best out of the vehicle, reducing the wear and tear, and making sure that we get the best possible efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and longevity,” David says.

“We have had MT Data and Seeing Machines safety systems in place on the trucks for some time and we closely monitor the exception reporting,” he says. “Blind spot Monitoring is a great help, and we have always ticked every safety option from Scania. As each new safety system is implemented, I sleep a little better,” he says.

“Each year we try to bring on something new. Last year we spent a fair bit on the Australian-designed Spotto (blind spot monitoring), and the year before we updated every reversing camera. Each time we try to do another step.

“Features such as Advanced Emergency Braking help to protect our brand, and you can’t put a price on that,” David says.

“Presently with fuel prices escalating we have been able to hold our prices, because we bunker our own fuel, but that will have to increase as the new deliveries arrive. Fuel economy for our fleet is a focus, and we have seen around 7% improvement in economy with the latest Scania trucks, which is a meaningful improvement,” David says.

“Typically, we will run fully loaded to customers at around 40-tonnes and then return empty, though we are trying to change this by returning power equipment from the field, for instance. Also, because we deliver to farms and smaller rural communities there are possibilities to load their goods to backload to the major centres. In some locations there are no other transport options,” he says.

Valentin explains further: “We run a lean business. We don’t own the stock we hold in our warehouses or deliver on our trucks. We’re looking at opening a further warehousing facility in the northern part of Melbourne, but we will remain focused on our core activities and building stronger relations with our customers.

“We want to grow through the regions. That regional focus has been at the heart of Morrow’s since the beginning, with strong relationships built through local communities. It’s never been sales focused, it’s come from a genuine willingness to assist and provide a service,” he says.

With the broad-based development of wind and solar energy generation around Victoria, more poles and wire routings will be needed, providing a natural extension of Morrow’s broader logistics capability across infrastructure, energy and regional supply chains.

Another case of finding the perfect chemistry for success and growth for today and to-Morrow.