WEBVTT - Mainfreight: where next for the blue trucks? 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:07.720 Joda and welcome to Shared Lunch, brought to you by 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:11.400 Chasis with Business Desk. My name is Rebecca Stevenson, senior 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.239 journalist at Business Desk. Today we take a look at 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.840 a favorite company of Chasy's investors, freight and logistics giant 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.720 Main Freight, to talk about Watson store for the year 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.000 ahead after some challenging times. We're joined by Main Freight 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:25.440 Managing Director Don Breit. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.760 Investing involves risk you might lose the money you start with. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.000 We recommend talking to a licensed financial advisor. We also 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.839 recommend reading product disclosure documents before deciding to invest. Everything 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:41.479 you're about to see and hear is current at the 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:42.360 time of recording. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:43.159 Welcome down. 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:46.239 It's great to have you here in the studio. What 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.680 people will be really keen to know about. What do 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.160 you see as the state of play for the environment 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.000 for main freight now? And has that deterioration in international 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.520 freight rates and domestic freight tonnage turned. 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.520 I think it's changed. I think we're getting back to 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:06.720 some normalization after you know, terribly strong peak of freight 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:11.600 tonnage movements over twenty two and twenty three. It's a 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.959 hard road right now. Across most markets. There's no doubt 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.720 that the state of the economy, state of retail has 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.400 curtailed the amount of volume that's moving. But frankly that's 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:27.160 good for us. You know, during twenty two and twenty three, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.640 we had far too much on We moved far too 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.520 much freight for the sake of our people and for 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.600 our customers, and service levels win as good as what 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.000 we would like them to be. So to get back 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.119 to some state of normality is a good thing. 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.760 How important are those service levels to the business, And 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.640 you know, we're you getting any feedback from customers through 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:47.560 that period. 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.480 Or services everything. Our quality is what we stand for, 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.160 so we've got to get it right every time. You're 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.280 only as good as your last delivery, as we would 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:59.000 say to the team. So for us, it was a 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:02.400 combination of things. You had such volumes of freight that 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.360 you couldn't get space on shipping lines or airlines. You 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.600 couldn't have enough warehouse space, so we had to have 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:11.000 overflow warehousing to take care of that volume. And then 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:17.160 the domestic line or requirements. You know, there wasn't enough 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.440 rail wagons, there wasn't enough trucks on the road. There 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.880 wasn't enough coastal shipping, so that caused delays and that 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:26.519 upset customers, There's no doubt about it. But a lot 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.200 of our customers were grateful, they were understanding and they 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.160 realized that we were performing as best as we could 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:34.600 in the environment. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:39.120 You've obviously mentioned their rail and that's you know, been 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.200 a really huge story, I guess with iraqs and the 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.720 kind of announcements and non announcements that have happened there. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.160 You know, what do you see as being a good 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.800 outcome now for that scenario, Well, to. 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.680 Get a decision would be good, wouldn't it. You know. Unfortunately, 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.079 we're all sitting in a question mark and there's certainly 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.240 something that main for it doesn't like to do sit 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.679 in a question mark, so we would like to understand 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:07.400 where it's heading. Unfortunately, I think we've got politicians that 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.639 think they know better than those using rail. Rail is 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.399 a big part of what we do and we see 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.000 it as an important part of the transport infrastructure of 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:20.760 this country. Unfortunately, we've got politicians and bureaucrats who perhaps 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:21.320 think they know. 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.120 Better, and have you had conversations with you know, the 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.880 Finance Minision, the people making those decisions and what are 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:29.600 you telling them or what would you like to tell them? 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.239 Who the financement, Well, they. 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.600 Have I mean they have not made contact and they 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.440 you know, I guess it's the way they behave. I 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.560 suppose they think they do no better rather than the 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.560 businesses that are at the cold face. And it's just 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.960 not us, it's our customers and our competitors who I'm 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.200 sure could offer some good advice as to what they 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.360 should do. But no silence is golden. 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.840 So you'd like to see, you know, investment though, and 0:03:57.880 --> 0:03:59.960 some sort of security around. 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:04.000 Rail well there needs to be some investment in particularly 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.440 the Crook Straight Fairies. I mean, the current fairies aren't 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:11.560 going to last much longer than twenty twenty nine. The 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.240 port infrastructure has got a problem definitely, and picked in 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.480 the napire Port is put forward to the government. We 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:24.560 understand an interesting proposal about what could be done in 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:29.640 terms of the Wellington port infrastructure for the rail fairies, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.960 but to date I don't think was you know, they 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.440 haven't heard anything back from the government either, So you know, 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.440 as I say, it's not just main fraid, it's also 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:45.279 our competitors and other port players who can offer some 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:50.599 good advice and some perhaps some views on what should 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.479 be done for the long term, but at this point 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.760 in time they don't appear to be listened to. 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.160 It's obviously probably quite a sort of fundamental basics sort 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.040 of part of the infrastructure that you need. But you've 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.280 also seen, you know, a lot of developments. I guess 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.760 around in terms of technology for freighting. You know, what 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.279 are some of the innovations that you're seeing in the 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.600 industry and also that you know main freight is adopting 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:13.400 or looking at. 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:16.839 Oh, the technology continues to evolve. I mean, if we 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.480 go back to the early days in the early nineties, 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:24.360 we had phone tracking and you know that was innovative 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.320 at the time. But today, you know, we're have got 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:31.080 technology on the dock, we have technology in the trucks. 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:34.360 We're using AI to try and find efficiency for our 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:38.200 customers and warehouses and across the supply chain. So it 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.000 continues to evolve. It's exciting and our people love embracing it. 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.520 I still think we probably spend more money on it 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.000 than IBM. But as such as life in terms of 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:50.360 what we. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.200 Do for our customers and what are some of the 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.640 ways that you're looking to use AI or are using 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:55.520 AI at the moment. 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.240 Well, we can look to trends in terms of freight volume, 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.400 and when freight VI in moves, we can look to, 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.440 you know, perhaps where AI thinks shipping rates and air 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.960 freight rates might go. It's just the trend that AI 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.200 can provide for us. It gives us another tool to 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:13.880 use on behalf of our customers. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:15.960 Yeah, it's quite interesting. It does seem to be a 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.880 lot of that kind of predictive tracking. You know that 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.400 in a lot of businesses, AI is actually a bit 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:26.440 more fundamentally useful than perhaps the sort of more elusive 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.760 ideas that are out there. 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.839 Yeah, I think it's useful. You know, we certainly wouldn't 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:35.760 reject using AI. It has a role to play. You know, 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.160 how deep that delves into the business of ours and 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.680 of our customers remains to be seen. But while it's 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:46.160 available and providing us with useful information data analysis, it's 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:46.920 it's a good thing. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.279 And if we could talk just a little bit about 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:56.640 your you know, divisions. You've obviously got transport, warehousing, air ocean. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.160 What's been happening in terms of those businesses? Are you 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.440 seeing any difference I guess in terms of you know, 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.720 freight volumes or waiting through your divisions. 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.240 No, not really, I mean all three work together. And 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.840 I guess where the big difference lies is that we 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.920 need to build new warehouses, either own warehouses or for 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:22.000 that matter, lease new warehouses, and we continue to increase 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:25.280 the size of the warehouses that we have. We're learning 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.440 all the time that we can't run with small warehouses. 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.160 And we've just opened our latest warehouse in Sydney and 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.120 more Bank, which is served by rail from the Port 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.960 of Sydney to electric straddle carriers for the container to 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:44.080 be placed at the door. It's capable of holding sixty 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.720 six thousand pellets of product on behalf of our customers, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.840 and then we're using that as efficiently as we can 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:55.480 for distribution of freight throughout Australia. I've just come back 0:07:55.520 --> 0:08:00.840 from Dallas and our warehouse there is two thousand square 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.720 meters and yet you know when we look to our 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:09.160 competitors in Europe that are building warehouses ninety thousand square meters. 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.680 So we've got a long way to go, but it 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.680 plays an integral part of the supply chain for our customer. 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.680 What's in our warehouse then gives us the ability to 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.160 either control the air freight and the seafret into the 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.440 warehouse and of course the outbound in terms of transportation 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:26.600 to the retail store. 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.440 You mentioned Australia there of course and Sydney. You know, 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.480 you have had the stated ambition around Australia of wanting 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:37.000 to grow the business bigger than New Zealand. How is 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.240 that tracking you know, And are there any sort of 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.560 potential opportunities that you see in Australia and what are 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:42.760 the issues for main freight? 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.240 Oh well, of course I'm not sure. It's an ambition 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:48.599 and being a proud key that we don't want the 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.080 Aussies to be bigger than the New Zealand business, but 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.719 it's just a matter of size of the market and 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.120 it was always going to come. And the team in 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:01.240 Australia have done a marvelous job of growing business and 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.960 in fact, in this current financial year they will be 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:06.959 bigger than the New Zealand business for the first time ever. 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.000 And you know, frankly, we still have us for small 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.960 market share, so we've got a lot more to grow. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:17.720 It's exciting. We're intensifying their network throughout Australia. We've found 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.200 a nice little niche for ourselves and are providing good 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.200 services for our customers. That could be better. We've got 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.959 a long way to improve our profile, but it'll come. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.920 And those that said to us in the early two 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.800 thousands to come home because we couldn't get Australia right, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.560 we're wrong. And you know, we have found our way there. 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.160 And I think if you look at what we're doing 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:47.920 in America and Europe, we're probably in the early stages 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.040 in the US, like we were in the early stages 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.680 in Australia in the early two thousands. So all three 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:59.200 of those markets have potential for growth for the business. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.400 A lot of people like to pick up on New 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.000 Zealand companies that have kind of founded in Australia or 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.440 found it difficult. You know what differences I guess do 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.080 you see in the Australian market, And how do you 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:12.520 see that mainfreight is succeeding? There is anything that you're 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:13.200 doing differently. 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:19.040 We're passionate, we're ambitious, We've got great people working for us. 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.760 I think the lesson we learned in Australia is that 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.840 you need Australians running the Australian business and that's helping 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.040 us as we grow around the world. We learned some 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.080 valuable lessons by being in Australia in the early days. 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.080 But it's just a matter of making sure that you 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:39.960 look after the customer and that your integrity stays intact 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.160 and you do as you promise. And I think our 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.320 team there have been marvelous at growing the business and 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.079 as I say, we're really only just scratching the surface 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:50.959 of what that market's got available to us. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.200 We've also gone into India. How's that going? And you know, 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.160 what differences do you see there as well? Or are 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.600 you just applying that same You need local people mindset. 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.160 Well, it took us five years to get ourselves open 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.920 there and the bureaucracy of the paperwork is unbelievable. But 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.120 again we needed a local that we could trust, that 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.679 could grow the business for us, that we had respect for. 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.920 So that took time to find that individual and it's 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.400 slowly slowly as we find our feet there. It'll take 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.440 a long time before we've got something of size, but 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.280 at least we're established. It's main threat. It's trading with 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.439 the rest of the main threat network around the world. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.960 And it's we see it as having potential just like 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:33.600 China did in the early days. 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.520 And are you able then to just offer that, you know, 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:40.920 to your existing customers in areas where main freight already 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.240 is Is that an sort of value add on country 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.200 that your customers wanted to see. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.960 Oh, there's no doubt about that. In fact, making sales 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.920 calls in America just last week, you know, it was 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.679 during some a number of the conversations with these potential 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.040 customers who just added that we've opened in India or 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.439 they've opened in India, and did we have the ability 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:05.119 to help them out in India? Now we can't do warehousing, 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.240 we can't do transportation, but we can provide them with 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.319 their in ocean services. And it comes as a surprise, 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.600 i think to a lot of them that hear this 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.120 little business from New Zealand's actually got its foot hold 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.920 in twenty seven countries around the world, and India is 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.440 one of them. But it's part of the network that 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.280 we have, which we are trying to intensify that network 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.600 around the world as we grow, and it'll take time. 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.560 We have a one hundred year horizon, so we're not 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.679 in any rush. But as we open in each in 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.880 a new country. It provides new opportunities for us. 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.120 Who else is on the horizon? Are there any other 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.000 jurisdictions or countries that you'd like to be in? 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:51.920 You know, the Nordic region is certainly attractive. We're in 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:57.080 the Americas, of course, Canada, Mexico, Chile, but we don't 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.520 feel like we've actually found our feet, particularly in Mexico 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:05.040 or Canada, or for that matter, of America. I mean, well, 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.800 I think we've got seventy two locations across America, but 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.520 still relatively small. If you convert the revenues that we've 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.920 got in America to New Zealand dollars, that's a billion. 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.040 So in New Zealand terms it's quite large, but in 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:23.400 American terms it's really small. I think the biggest competitor 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.280 there has revenues in the mid twenty billion mark. So 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:28.280 we've got a long way to go. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:31.520 And you know, what is it like there? You know, 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:33.760 going to the US Because a lot of people say, 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.200 you know, New Zealand companies need to be ambitshias and 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:37.600 just get there and go there. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.760 Yeah, it's good advice, but I think if you get 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.240 something half right, but you need to be prepared that 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.160 you can service the whole market. So I would suggest 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.320 some caution about how big and how quickly you try 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.960 and grow in America. And that's certainly been our problem, 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.720 as customers have asked us if we have a network 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.560 across the country. We've developed it, but don't necessarily have 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.840 enough freight to fill it. So those are teething problems 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.240 for us. And as I said earlier, I think it's 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.640 a bit like what we had in Australia in the 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.080 early two thousands. It'll just take time for us to 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:15.840 grow that market. 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.800 Would you do partnerships in the US to try and 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:20.240 you know, bolster your offering there. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:26.120 We're not We don't have a closed mind to partnerships, 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:31.560 but we're not the best of partners. We are pre 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.960 strong on who we are and what we stand for. 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.520 You know. Part of that network intensification is pick it 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:40.760 up on a blue truck, delivered on a blue truck. 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:44.280 So we don't necessarily want to be dealing with agents 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.960 who don't think like we do, who don't necessarily have 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:49.760 the same service levels. It's the same ethics, the same 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:51.400 integrity as what we think we have. 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:57.000 But never say no capital expenditure. If you're looking to 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.000 spend what are you going to be spending on. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.040 Well, we've said to the market it's two hundred and 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.800 fifty million this year, two hundred and fifty million next year, 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:08.160 and I think they would be right, the Annusk community 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.360 would be right to carry that through for the next 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:15.320 couple of years after twenty six. That's investing in the 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.080 network that's at this point in time. That most of 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.239 that is New Zealand and Australia. A brand new facility, 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.600 cross Dock facility and Brisbane being built and new cross 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:31.880 stocks actually here in New Zealand, Hastings Nelson just completing 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.520 completed some new sites here in Auckland, so plenty on 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.119 and it's exciting because actually when you have a new facility, 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:44.560 you're attracting new freight growth and new customers and that 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.960 just you know, the shareholders should look at. That is 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:52.520 confidence that we have in terms of growth and how 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.760 we feel about the future, which is quite positive. 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.320 You've had a really strong track record I guess on 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:02.840 sustainability and you know, talking about and being reporting about 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.560 what you're doing. I mean, yeah, there been any interesting 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.120 surprises that have come out of that work. For you 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.160 and what do you see the kind of key challenges 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.960 for mainfreight in terms of that sustainability picture. 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.120 Well, I think the interesting thing is that we haven't 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.880 actually got on our soapbox and shouted about what we 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.200 did from a sustainability point of view. If you look 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.320 at what Bruce did in the early days, he was 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:30.040 always recycling wooden palettes and plastic and the likes in 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.760 each of the facilities, and then he found a water 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.360 tank light which was an old milk tank lying on 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.160 the side of the road and thought about recycling water 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.120 off the roof. And today that's a big part of 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.600 what we do with our new facilities. If you think 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:49.960 about the new sites in Dandinong, the new site in Adelaide, 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.880 the sort of eighty to eighty five percent off grid 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:57.200 for solar power and water, and the new sites in 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:01.280 Dallas and Chicago are exactly the same. Mind you, the 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.960 Texans thought that we were nuts putting solar on the 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:07.120 roof when they're pointing to the ground saying that's where 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.560 the gas is. But it's our view about what we 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.680 can do and what we can control in terms of sustainability, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.600 and if we had more companies particularly here in New 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.280 Zealand that actually recycled the water off there, if we 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:24.760 wouldn't have a problem with shortage of water during drought years. Anyway, 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.840 for us, there's plenty of challenges. I mean, we are 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.959 running electric vehicles around town in some of the major 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.720 cities in New Zealand and Australia, but we can't get 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:42.280 electric vehicles to run efficiently long haul. You know, we're 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.800 still waiting on Tesla's long haul vehicle to operate in 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.120 the States. I think we've had an order place now 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:52.240 for three years. Still nothing on the horizon. We've got 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.359 two electric trucks to what they call draage off the 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.879 wharf in Long Beach. We've been waiting six months for 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.480 written it's just been for both of them and they've 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.119 been delayed another month. So it's frust that's frustrating for 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.880 us because we would like to be more efficient in 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.400 terms of sustainability across the supply chain for our customers. 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.760 I think the other interesting thing is the legislation that's 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.959 changing in Europe. If you are a company that owns 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:23.520 or employees two hundred people or more, you have to 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:28.000 report your emissions carbon emissions from next year on. It's 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.919 a legal requirement. And therefore what we have done and 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:36.280 what we've reporting is turning heads in terms of customers 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:41.000 and looking to I suppose supply chain experts like ourselves 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.720 who are taking sustainability seriously. 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.760 So it becomes a key selling point. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.560 You think there is absolutely no doubt. And in fact, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.520 a sales call we made in New York a couple 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.600 of months ago, we produced our sustainability report on paper, 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:01.159 the most sustainable paper we can find, and placed that 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:04.120 on the table with the managing director of that business 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.200 and he picked it up, flick through it and said, 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.639 this is exactly what we're looking for. And one month 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.919 later they've awarded their ocean freight out of Germany to 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:17.000 US into the United States. So clearly it strikes a 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.560 chord with our potential customers and we're winning business. As 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:21.240 a consequence. 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.919 Bonuses were a little bit down obviously, you know, because 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:28.000 of the results and the climate that you've spoken about. 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.800 You know, what sort of feedback do you get about 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.359 that for staff? You know there our team members, do 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:35.560 they understand the picture? 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.280 Well? Of course, we put up the profits every week 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.000 on the notice board and the cafeteria, so everybody does 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.159 understand how we are performing, and they do realize that 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:50.119 actually the bonus is based around profitability and more profit 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:54.280 than what we made last year. Naturally, they all encountered 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.320 those peak periods of twenty two and twenty three and 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.560 benefited accordingly. I mean, the bonus, Paul, I think out 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.879 of twenty three or twenty two was ninety four million 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.760 across the world. This year, I think it's twenty seven million. 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:10.800 But the good thing is that if you're open and 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.240 honest with your people, they understand that actually, when you're 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.480 not performing as well as what you did a year ago, 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:19.919 the bonus won't be as big, or in fact, in 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:22.919 some cases there isn't a bonus for Yeah, that's the 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:25.480 part of it. Whilst we share the profits with those 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.479 that make them, it's actually it has a capitalist intent 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.280 of about how much money we make. You can't share 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:32.919 a bonus unless you make a profit. 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.080 Yeah, that's right. And just in terms of you know, 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.760 looking forward, I guess you know you've had had this 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.560 weird bubble through COVID that you've mentioned already, But do 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.600 you see the picture settling down at all with you know, 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.240 the kind of economic climate that we're in and sort 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:50.280 of the uncertainties. 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.000 Yeah, it's a tough economic climate, there's no doubt in 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.800 different countries are in different stages of it. I think 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.359 I think New Zealand's probably in the worst situation. You know. 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:04.640 I wonder whether the Reserve Bank governor has actually been 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.400 looking at the economy from small businesses and how they've 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:11.240 been performing. He seems to be working from data that's 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.680 a little bit outdated to make his decisions. It certainly 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:18.960 this pain in this economy, whereas in Australia, certainly they 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:22.720 are feeling the pain in their view. Yet our business 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:28.480 continues to grow very well there, so trading continues to increase. Look, 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.400 it's still exciting for us and we've been in this 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:35.200 place before with tough economies. It makes us a better business. 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.680 It makes us having to work harder to look at 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.520 our cost structures, make sure we're delivering high quality services 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:44.399 and make sure we're on the front foot meeting customers 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:46.040 and growing sales. 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:49.080 What excites you most, you know about the future. 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:51.600 Oh, the business. It's just fun every day. We're so 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:54.800 lucky to have such great people, such great customers. And 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.199