Women’s Work – How Women are Shining at a WA Freight Forwarding Company

Despite figures from the Federal Government showing that less than a quarter of people working in the transport, postal and warehousing industry are women, a freight-forwarding company is bucking the trend, now employing more women than men in their West Australian office.

Women make up just 24% of workers involved in transporting freight and passengers by road, rail, water, or air, and yet at EES Shipping’s Cockburn office, they employ 11 women and 10 men.

Among them is a veteran of the industry, Operations Manager Amanda Bradfield, who has been with the company for more than 25 years, after first joining the business as a 17-year-old.

“I started as a runner back when documentation still needed to be physically taken from place to place, and since then I’ve learned a variety of different roles in the company before ending up in my current position.”

“I came to EES after being sent for an interview by a recruitment agency and from there I fell in love with the industry and the opportunities that have been presented, but it sometimes blows my mind that I’m still here all these years later.”

Ms Bradfield says the industry has changed significantly in her time, largely as a result of digitisation.

“The advances in technology and the shift to online and digital documentation has completely changed the way we operate, not only as a business but as an industry.”

“Physical documentation has been removed to the point where we are now a completely paperless office. It’s created business efficiencies and streamlined our processes, and in many ways has created roles and responsibilities that didn’t exist 20 years ago.”

Ms Bradfield says her experience as a woman in the industry has been largely positive, and she hasn’t felt disadvantaged or discriminated against because of her gender.

“Of course, there are people you deal with along the way who might not always be pleasant, but I’ve had that experience with both men and women. For the most part, I’ve felt that women in general have always been welcomed into the industry.”

“However, the numbers don’t lie, and it’s clear transport and logistics are still quite male-dominated.”

Ms Bradfield says rather than women being excluded, she believes there are other factors that may play a role in a woman’s decision to enter the industry.

She says addressing a few key issues may help boost the numbers of female workers overall;

• Accessibility to Parental Leave for Both Men and Women: Ms Bradfield says allowing men to stay at home for longer following the birth of a child will greatly help women. “Supporting men to be the primary caregiver allows women the opportunity to get back to work sooner, if they want to, or perhaps not give up their job when they might otherwise have wanted to stay.”

• Flexibility: It might be a ‘buzz word’ but many workers are now pushing for greater flexibility in their jobs to be able to balance family and life commitments, and the industry must also adapt. While the pandemic created various challenges, it also highlighted the ability for employees to work remotely, which may be an attractive incentive to encourage new workers into the industry.

• Encouraging Younger Workers: The majority of workers in shipping and transport are in older age brackets, and Ms Bradfield would like to see a greater focus on encouraging younger people – both men and women – into the industry whether it be through word of mouth, school or government campaigns. “It’s not just about encouraging young women into the industry, it’s about encouraging younger people, period.”

• Highlight Career Opportunities: Having worked in a number of roles over the two and a half decades, Ms Bradfield says the industry needs to better highlight the training and growth opportunities that exist, as well as career longevity. “There are so many different positions available, for both men and women, and I think we need to do a better job as an industry in highlighting that.”

Despite having a female dominated WA office, EES Managing Director Brian Hack says the company has never set out to employ a specific number of women, but rather have always focused on hiring the right person for the job.

“While it’s currently resulted in us now having more women than men, it’s always been about who can do the job best.”

“We’ve always tried to surround ourselves with smart, knowledgeable people, and it just so happens we have a lot of smart, knowledgeable women working with us.”

“In fact, all our outside business coaches and mentors are also women, which once again wasn’t a conscious decision, it was about engaging with people we felt could assist us in growing the business and achieving our goals.”

The company is no stranger to having women at the helm, with EES Shipping originally established by Mr Hack’s parents Helen and Geoff in 1986.

“I know some companies are still trying to wrap their heads around having women in leadership positions, but for myself and my brothers growing up, that was just the norm.”

“Our Mum remains a key part of the business as Chief Financial Officer and is yet another example of having the right person in a particular role. Like Amanda, she knows this business inside and out.”

Mr Hack says while all team members bring specific skills and strengths to the team, he acknowledges women have a natural ability to bring more empathy to their roles.

“That empathy is vital in building genuine, strong relationships, and in our industry that’s a huge advantage.”

Ms Bradfield also acknowledges that empathy and says while some might try to use the idea of women being ‘emotional’ as a negative attribute, in her experience, it can be a powerful tool.

“I think showing some emotion and letting your clients, suppliers and colleagues know that you care about them and care about your job can actually be a good thing. In fact, that’s often the basis of a strong, trusting relationship.”

“At the end of the day, we’re dealing with other people, and what people want most of all is to feel like they’re being heard and that somebody ‘gets them’.”

“I think women do that especially well.”

Reflecting on what the future of the industry might look like, Ms Bradfield believes there will continue to be challenges around recruitment, which is why she’s passionate about encouraging the next generation of workers to look at transport and logistics for career opportunities.

“Whether it be young women or young men, there are so many job opportunities that exist, but we as an industry have to sell that more.”

“Having worked a variety of different roles in my time, I know firsthand how diverse and exciting it can be – it’s why I’m still here more than 25 years on.”

Ms Bradfield is a finalist in the Women in Industry Awards, Excellence in Transport, and was recently named a Gold Winner in the 2023 TITAN Women in Business Awards, in the category of Female Executive of the Year.

EES Shipping is one of Australia’s major international freight forwarders and plays an extensive role in the promotion and development of overseas markets for Australian manufacturers and suppliers. Led by Brian, Glenn and Shaun Hack, the brothers have a combined decades of experience in the freight forwarding and logistics industry. EES Shipping was named Champion Transport and Logistics at the 2022 Australian Small Business Champion Awards and DCN Freight Forwarder of the Year 2022.

Carol Messenger, Ray Pratt

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Whichever way you turn lately there is a tragedy and perhaps the one that has shook the Australian public the most is the bus rollover with huge loss of life in Singleton, New South Wales.

It is just so close to home and I doubt there would be few of us that had not been in the similar situation in our life when attending events.

This brings home just how responsible ‘every’ person with no exception must be on our roads.

At this time of the year, the articles about the grey nomads increase as they head up north to the warmth and who could blame them. This made me look into caravan accidents and what I found was not surprising.

According to IAG based on data collected through claims they isolated their caravan collision data to focus on the risk involved in towing a caravan on the Australian road network. It was found that 89% of collisions, or roughly 1,350 claims in 2016-17, were the result of the driver of the tow vehicle losing control of the caravan (because no other person or object was involved) or not driving with due care and attention (because they hit a stationary object).

This would in turn indicate that those towing caravans are more a danger to themselves (and to stationary objects) than other road users.

As always, thank you to everyone who supports the magazine and a special thank you to all the contributors.

Best,

Updated laws introduced by the State Government to safeguard the rights of Owner Drivers of heavy vehicles operating in the road freight transport industry in Western Australia have come into effect.

The amended Owner-Drivers (Contracts and Disputes) Amendment Act 2022 passed Parliament in October last year and is the result of extensive consultation with the Road Freight Transport Industry Council and the Road Freight Industry Tribunal.

The amendments will help improve business dealings between Owner Drivers of heavy vehicles who transport freight and

We have consulted extensively with industry to update these laws which will result in more streamlined and reasonable business dealings between Owner Drivers and people hiring their services outcomes in dispute resolution between Owner Drivers and hirers.

Non-compliance with Owner Driver guideline pay rates will now be factored into dispute resolution decisions made by the Tribunal. This change places more responsibility on hirers to offer fair pay for Owner Driver services.

In addition, workplace right of entry provisions have also been updated to allow an authorised Owner Driver's representative to enter a workplace to investigate suspected breaches of the Act.

Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said, “The updated laws protect the rights of small businesses and independent operators who own and drive trucks in the freight industry.

“These are the small operators who are making a big difference to our economy and our lives, by helping to keep our supply chains going and delivering goods across our State.

“Our new laws will provide them with better protection and improve their position in matters including job security and fair pay, as well as clear processes to follow to resolve disputes.

“We have consulted extensively with industry to update these laws which will result in more streamlined and reasonable business dealings between Owner Drivers and people hiring their services.”

For more information on the updated OwnerDrivers Act, visit www.transport.wa.gov.au/ ownerdrivers.

ALRTA representatives Athol Carter (Executive Member) and Mat Munro (Executive Director) attended ATA Council in Canberra recently. Also in attendance were Andy Divall (ATA Board and LBRCA member) and Kevin Keenan (ATA Owner Driver Rep and LRTAV member).

One of the primary matters under consideration was employee-like work.

The ATA Council considered the various positions articulated by members in response to Australian Government consultation on employee-like work and independent contractors. They said, “Included in this reform package are potential reforms that would establish a division of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to perform a role similar to that of the former Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT).

“While we understand that the former RSRT has no friends within industry, unions or government, it is reasonable to be cautious about the particular nature of the head of power that would establish the new FWC division – primarily to limit the potential for rogue independent Commissioners to embark on reforms not supported by regulated stakeholders,” the ATA reported.

After much discussion, ATA General Council passed a motion regarding the proposals:

That the ATA General Council—

• considers that the trucking industry must be safe, progressive and sustainable, and supports practical, evidence-based policy measures to achieve these aims

• nonetheless, agrees that the Government’s employee-like forms of work/road transport industry proposal presents potentially devastating consequences for our supply chains and national productivity

• agrees that responding to the proposal is within the ATA’s scope, while noting that ARTIO is responsible for and should take the lead on responding to the commission on IR matters

• calls on the ATA and its members to identify and articulate common positions on as many issues as possible, as well as being aware of where different views are being advanced

• to achieve the best outcome possible, agrees that the ATA and its members will need to work together closely to respond to the Government’s consultation process and to lobby parliamentarians

• agrees to establish a council committee to meet at least fortnightly once the proposal is released to develop the industry’s response.

ALRTA will remain engaged in the consultation process in cooperation with like-minded industry stakeholders.