When handling the logistics of food warehousing and transport, it is essential that every aspect of the process is known, predictable and measurable. To fail to have control systems in place means that food service and food processing businesses risk contamination of the products they supply to their customers.

The HACCP accreditation system was originally developed for NASA to keep astronauts’ food safe when they had no access to alternative supplies and had to be 100% confident that their food was safe to consume.

Basically, without HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) food safety procedures were reactive.  That is, standards and solutions were developed after a problem was identified. But of course, this meant that there could never be any certainty that each new batch of food was OK for human consumption – hardly a satisfactory situation for any food producer or restaurant.

By adopting the proactive HACCP procedures, food handlers have a standard set of procedures that involve measuring and recording each step in the food handling process, and then taking active action to correct (or discard) sub-standard products.

In terms of how this impacts of all participants in a food products supply chain, it means that every point of contact or handling of a food item is subject to standardised and measurable testing and action to correct any short-comings.

At State Transport, we operate our warehouses as an integral part of our customers’ supply chain and so we have in place active HACCP procedures so that we can guarantee that all food lines handled by us are a known quantity that our customers can always rely on.

The same applies to food lines that are transported from interstate or overseas. There are certain quarantine requirements that are in place to ensure that there is no contamination to local food producers from introduced pest and diseases. These form the standards and procedures of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) and are also an integral part of the operations of State Transport warehouses and the company’s logistics standards and procedures.

Warehousing services represent a major component in supply chain logistics. As a local transport company, State Transport fully integrates its warehousing facilities into our customers’ supply chain operations.  We do this by providing quality 3PL logistics and warehousing services.

That is, 3PL, or third party logistics, are tailored and scaled to exactly match the freight and warehousing requirements of each of our customers.

As specialists in 3PL warehousing, we at State Transport have facilities far in excess of those of our typical customer, and so we have the benefit of size, economies of scale and specialisation, leaving our customers free to focus on their core business.

In delivering our 3PL services, State Transport is able to offer each customer the pick of a full range of logistics services.  These include a total of 8,000 square metres of warehouse space with 6,000 pallet locations, specialised services such as pick & pack operations, gift pack assembly, EDI scanning, labelling, container unloading and bulk goods breakdown and repackaging.

Each of these services means that 3PL warehousing becomes an integral part of our customers’ business operations and makes State Transport a critical supply chain partner – a role we take very seriously and stake our reputation on.

3PL warehousing services means that irrespective of the size or sophistication of each customer’s warehousing requirements, State Transport will tailor a suite of services to exactly meet the needs of each customer. This includes the flexibility to handle seasonal peaks and changes, variations in the product mix, personalised packaging for individual customers, and multiple delivery addresses.

Although we position ourselves as a localised transport and logistics company, with a focus on operations in Melbourne and Victoria, we have the flexibility and experience to handle all logistics requirements of our customers, including interstate and overseas freight, even if such services are only required on an irregular basis.

But it is as a local transport specialist that State Transport is able to provide the ultimate in personalised 3PL warehousing services.