Jo Williamson and her son, Shaun are Co- Directors and owners of Energy Logistix; a multi-million dollar transport logistics company, which they started from scratch just 7 years ago. Whilst Shaun is the driving force behind the South Australian company, Jo is far more than his off-sider – she’s an intelligent woman in a man’s world, and a trucking legend.
“My dad used to drive concrete trucks,” Jo says casually. “When I was eighteen, I followed in his footsteps. Then I expanded my horizons and starteddriving road trains in the Northern Territory, which I did for twelve years. I still have my license and drive trucks to this day.”
The transport industry has traditionally been (and still is) male dominated, but Jo sees Energy Logistix as a fore-runner for change. “There’s no question that women make great truck drivers – we have much better attention to detail, and of course we can multi-task. It’d be great to see more women driving for us.”
However, driving trucks is just a small aspect of the overall business that is transport logistics. “What we actually do is problem solve and mitigate risk. Most of the work is in the planning and management. We’re taking on more women in these roles, and now have a real mix of talent. From a business perspective, we’re definitely seeing an improvement in efficiency and performance.”
Jo is also for employing young people, using untapped local talent, and offering on the job training.
“We’re looking to the future, so it makes sense to employ young, savvy people who can see a future with us. So much of what we do is about building relationships, so we need to have trust and confidence in each other’s abilities. In this business, you’re only as good as your last job, so everyone has to put in. We see the drive in our young people – we set a very high standard, and won’t accept anything less.”
Jo also has the street cred (and desert highway cred) to impress and inspire the kind of work ethic needed to be part of the Energy Logistix team – there’s definitely no room for complacency when you’re striving to be the best.
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