Twin Peaks

Since its founding in 1993 as a family business, Scully RSV has worked tirelessly to fill a perceived gap in the market of cold chain logistics.

Having long ago broken through a myriad of barriers to provide an essential service to customers around Australia, the company, through quality service and an enduring vision, has expanded its presence over a formidable distribution network with large-scale manufacturing facilities across many states, to possess a fleet of reliable refrigerated transport vehicles for hire.

Last year was another year of critical success for the company, as it set the scene for testing its operational capacity after a period of sustained growth.

The Christmas holiday period, according to Scully RSV National Sales and Business Development Manager, Glenn Smith, was the year’s peak for logistical demand, and saw the company service a massive undertaking.

“We service some of the nation’s largest logistics providers, particularly during the Christmas peak season,” he says.

“During this time, the volume being moved in the industry increases. These logistics customers come to us for a solution to give them the equipment they need so that they can move highly demanded products. We play an integral role in enabling these deliveries of refrigerated goods that people want over Christmas time.”

Scully RSV’s refrigerated truck fleet mainly carries fresh produce such as meat and poultry, seafood, certain fruits and vegetables and a variety of dairy products according to the needs of its customers.

While this surge in demand for logistical services and deliveries might prove overwhelming for some providers, Scully RSV has worked meticulously to refine and prepare its offering while rapidly growing as a company.

Combining its operational capabilities and past experiences, the business has developed an ironclad process of rolling out its fleet to ensure the smooth navigation of the holiday season’s logistical frenzy.

Glenn believes this diligent planning and invaluable experience sets Scully RSV apart from its competitors, acting as a vital ingredient to the company’s successful Christmas period, which ostensibly proved busier than usual last year.

“We undertake a number of processes in advance of peak periods like Christmas,” he says. “Our fleet team thoroughly checks that everything is in order, because we know that almost everything we’ve got will need to go out for these customers in order to deliver the volumes that come through.”

It’s not their first rodeo. Scully RSV have been at it for many years now that the team anticipates when the delivery volumes will likely increase

“We get ahead of the curve and prepare ourselves so we can service demand efficiently,” says Glenn.

“During last year’s Christmas period, the volumes being transported were probably larger than we’ve seen over the last couple of years. The utilisation of our fleet was the highest it’s ever been.”

Because of this extensive experience in dealing with periods of high logistical demand, Scully RSV is able to effectively anticipate the physical hotspots that the demand can be connected to.

According to Glenn, areas with higher populations typically require a strong logistical presence, as a greater concentration of people want more refrigerated goods.

In addition to this focus on metropolitan areas, Scully RSV is equally committed to servicing more regional areas of the country, many of which do not have as much infrastructure to hold refrigerated goods, like supermarkets, compared to more urban areas.

As part of servicing these more regional areas with cold chain logistics solutions, Scully RSV is heavily involved in a swathe of community partnerships which focus on delivering food rescue to these areas.

Partnering with organisations like OzHarvest and SecondBite, to name a couple, Scully RSV assists in supplying food and other goods to these communities.

The company’s relationships with these initiatives are particularly strengthened over the Christmas period, when a greater number of people in these communities tend to need food assistance.

Scully RSV’s commitment to community partnerships is an extension of the company’s family values, which have remained tenets that guide the company’s business operations and mission despite its corporate scale.

“We’re very keen on making sure we participate on the ground in the communities that we service,” Glenn says.

“Having commenced as a family business and having carried those family values through to our management structure today, it is extremely important to us to employ local people and to engage with charities and community organisations in the places we operate. This is an essential investment that Scully RSV will continue to make.”

Coming off that recent intense peak period, Scully RSV is looking to expand its outreach further across Australia. Last year saw the company open its newest branch in Adelaide.

The expectant addition of another branch will be determined by where the demand manifests itself.

“We follow our customers where they take us,” Glenn says.

“We built a customer base in Perth, which is rapidly expanding, and the same thing happened in Melbourne and Sydney in Scully RSV’s early days. Now our customers have most recently taken us to Adelaide, so we put a branch there to support that.”

He adds, “We go where the demand is, and we fill that gap by putting operations on the ground to service our customers right.”

The 2024 Christmas period demanded a large, organised and capable cold chain logistics provider to connect customers with their desired refrigerated goods.

As a champion of the sector, Scully RSV wasted no time or resources to provide a consolidated service, ensuring these essential goods got to the right people in time for the holidays.