Merging a new acquisition’s assets into his existing fleet quickly revealed to Harper Jack Haulage’s owner Rick Steadman the financial benefits of the Scania Repair and Maintenance contract.

As a second-generation Scania customer, Rick had been convinced of the Scania product’s suitability for his business model a long time ago, but when he integrated some trucks not on the R&M programme, he saw repair costs spiking.

“The Scania R&M is a fixed cost. You know what each truck is costing you every year, your cost per kilometre, your cost per day, your cost per month, whatever. You don’t get any nasty surprises,” Rick says. “Plus, the Scania Retarder is a big help reducing your brake servicing costs.

“The last time we had a truck in for repair that was not on R&M it cost us a $7,000, that’s nearly my R&M fee for the whole year. And that's why we're recycling the older trucks for new ones all the time, because we want to constantly recycle the R&M and keep the trucks all covered.

“We run trucks over five years on the Scania R&M programme and then turn them over with around 400,000 km on them, so there’s still plenty of life left in them.

“One of the other key elements is if you know what your costs are per day, you know what the cost is of having a truck off the road for a day, and that's before you even consider the impact on your customers and the business,” Rick says.

“I started off working with my dad and when he retired with my brother and we had about 10 trucks, but then he left the industry and I took my own path with Harper Jack Haulage and now we have 26 trucks, 23 of them are Scanias.

“Dad and I started off with Scanias and we just never really looked at anything else. I know the equipment, I know the truck, if there's something wrong, I generally know how to fix it, or what to do,” Rick says.

“We move containers from the wharf to our new distribution centre in Camelia, and then out to customers, and we’ll move 150 containers per day. Largely we pick up new business through word-of-mouth. We know we are not the cheapest, but we pride ourselves on delivering the best service and we like that our customers respect that,” Rick says.

“People come to us generally because of our service. They're happy with what they're getting from us, and they're not receiving calls from upset customers. Our customers are happy that we deliver them happy customers,” has says.

Rick says he gets calls daily from drivers looking for work.

“We have no problem with drivers. We just pick the good ones, give them a trial and set a high bar. It's attitude as much as being able to steer. We haven't had a high turnover of staff at all. I think once you're offering good, clean equipment, they’re keen to stay.

“We offer a really good atmosphere, there’s plenty of work, and many of the drivers live close by. Many of our newer drivers are Indian, and they're so polite, they don’t take sickies, I think they're fantastic,” Rick says.

“We’re running just a day shift at present with 26 drivers and seven people in the office or running the reach stackers. Our fleet comprises a wide range of Scania trucks, from new R-and G-cab Supers in 460, and 560 hp, to R-cabs with V8 engines up to the 620, as well as some older R and G 540 and G 450s. They do work hard, in stop-start traffic, and we have one client in the ACT we send an A-double out to everyday. We tend to keep one driver in the truck, which helps ensure they’re really well looked after. The drivers are responsible for how clean and tidy they are inside, and we’ll look after the outside. You can look in any truck and it will be spotless.

The efficiency provided by Scania trucks is enhanced by finding trailer solutions that build on these savings. HJH has recently acquired three split-quad axle side-loader trailers which allows them to carry a heavy load directly to the customer without needing to send a second truck to manage the offloading.

“The split quad is a relatively new idea, and there's not a lot of them around in Sydney,” Rick says. “They run on PBS permits but deliver us and our clients a huge advantage. They can cope with about one-and-a-half times the weight of a container that can be handled by a standard side-loader, with a maximum of 34-tonnes, which is handy for imports of pavers or other dense materials. It means our customers can fill up their containers more by volume than weight, helping reduce their shipping costs.

“Now we don’t have to send two trucks to a job for an overweight container. A standard side-loader can cope with a 22-tonne gross container, so when we have a 26-28-tonne load we had in the past to put it on a flat-top and send a side-loader to lift the container off, whereas now we can avoid that. We've now got two Hammars and one Steelbro split-quads. Our Steelbro was the first on the road, it was the unit on display at the last Brisbane Truck Show in 2023,” Rick says.

“The two rear axles steer, which helps as the overall length is 2.5 m longer, so the drivers must get used to the length. They do corner quite tight for the length, a bit like an A-double,” he says.

HJH is on the move, literally, having shifted from a depot of 5000m² to a new location that is four times as big in 2022, but the small business mentality continues to permeate the way Rick thinks about his customers.

“Look, we've gotten bigger, but we still have that small business attitude. We like to be personal with our client base. My phone is on all the time. So, if anybody has a problem and they can't get hold of the office, they know to call me, and we'll get the problem sorted. I've made a point of speaking to clients, and going to see them, especially if there’s been a problem, I want them to know that I want to know what the issue is so we can resolve it. I like the size we're at now, if you are going to grow you should grow step-by-step, don't jump from 25 to 50, take small steps.

“When we have been dealing with Kaashief Boonzaier, the Sales Manager at Scania in Prestons, we have said to him we will call when we need a truck, and he’s always ready to help us.

“Scania has always helped us, even from back in the days when Scania was at Chipping Norton. The (R&M) programs have tidied up a lot of things. The branches’ communication is fantastic. When we send a truck in for a service, within a couple of hours we've got an email to tell us know if they have identified any other issues that need to be fixed. Kaash always picks up the phone, even at seven o'clock at night he'll answer, because he knows you don’t ring him at that hour unless it's urgent. I think that Scania’s after sales service really helps keep me as a customer.

“With the R&M, the tow truck service, the 24-hour Scania Roadside Assistance hotline, there’s always a step-by-step process that we follow. If it's towable, we're straight onto the hotline, ‘we need a tow truck’, and they're there quickly.

“We used to use Scania Preston's for everything, but once Scania Easton Creek opened, we switched because it’s much closer,” Rick says.

Scania NSW Sales Manager Kaashief Boonzaier says that HJH is a perfect example of an efficiently run business that is careful controlling its costs and managing its growth.

“We have been very pleased to be a partner with HJH in its growth over the past few years,” Kaash says.

“Rick has a firm process-driven operating strategy, and he’s benefited from the Scania Repair and Maintenance contracts to take the worry out of ensuring his fleet uptime, as well as compliance with roadworthiness. His vehicles are more than just well maintained, they are also well driven and looked after which gives them extra appeal when he comes to swap them out for newer models.

“We look forward to working with HJH into the future and watching their continued success,” Kaash says.