Full orbit

Based in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, Spiral Logistics delivers steel to Vawdrey’s manufacturing plant which is then used to produce the fleet’s extendable flat deck semi-trailers.

Spiral Logistics was established in 1984 as a general freight company, but it has since expanded to become a premiere steel logistics provider with a custom-built fleet of more than 200 steel specialised vehicles. These vehicles are operated by 200 highly skilled steel logistics drivers delivering over 40,000 tonnes of steel each month on behalf of its steel distributor customers.

“We’ve repositioned the business as a premiere steel logistics service provider and in turn we’ve invested in a lot of new equipment,” says Spiral Logistics Managing Director, Peter Jorgensen. “We replenished a lot of the fleet’s previous equipment with new trailers from Vawdrey to meet the market’s demand.”

While Spiral Logistics had been dealing with Vawdrey on-and-off during its history in the transport industry, the relationship between both companies began to strengthen four years ago. After undergoing a leadership change in 2019 when Peter and his business partner purchased Spiral Logistics, the fleet needed some extra support to accommodate the company-wide growth which would follow. So, Peter made the decision to get a head start with Vawdrey.

“We buy a lot of their extendable trailers for steel, and they’re very much custom built which is a big benefit for us,” Peter says. “The height of the headboard is engineered for safety reasons, the length of the tray is different and specialised, and the height of the side pins is suited to our needs.”

Spiral Logistics recently accepted delivery of another set of extendable flat deck semi-trailers, which has become a common habit over the years. However, Peter says it wasn’t just the quality of the trailers that convinced him to go ahead with Vawdrey one more time.

“They were chosen mainly because of my relationship with Paul Vawdrey,” he says. “We are very aligned in our values in regard to premium service, and he’s got a superior product to offer the transport industry in trailing equipment. They’re outstanding, and being custom built for our operations makes a significant difference. There’s also a lot of safety measures that they put in place in their trailers to help with things like even the weight scales and axle scales. They do things like that to help with safety.”

By being included in Vawdrey’s production process by supplying its steel materials, the benefits are also seen in Spiral Logistics’ orders.

“They’re brilliant with our orders, there’s no problems at all,” Peter says. “The relationship is very strong, so they’ve been able to be flexible with us. And, because we deliver steel to them, it works both ways.”

All of Vawdrey’s materials and trailers are completely manufactured in Australia to provide an unbeatable product with unmatched service. Peter says that this, as well as Vawdrey’s ability to meet his unique requests by customising his combinations to the steel industry, has been a real benefit to the fleet.

“When we talk about customising the build, they have the pin slots in the right position to accommodate the actual steel products we deliver,” he says. “Whether it be 15 metres, 16 metres, 18 and so on, they help customise the length of the trailer and put the pins in place to support the product length.”

Peter has also been involved in the manufacturing process of his trailers by discussing designs and diagrams in the presale process and having input right until they arrive onsite. With all of these factors each playing a part in the Vawdrey experience, customers like Peter are all left wanting to come back for more.

“We focus on the steel industry as a steel vertical for all types of products, and we’ve built our business on that vertical market,” he says. “Vawdrey has helped us to a great extent in this space. The level of engagement is very strong, and it’s a quality product.”