The expert was one of Mainfreight's first managers. He spent 35 years with the company, where he took part in all areas of Mainfreight's development. He was involved in Mainfreight's international expansion, development of new business lines and to a lesser extent, business acquisitions. He has a deep understanding of Mainfreight's way of doing business, from corporate strategy down to warehouse-level operations. The expert has close ties with Bruce Plested (Mainfreight's founder) and Don Braid (Mainfreight's current CEO).
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At that time, the New Zealand market was heavily regulated and controlled by the government. Free competition didn't exist and, within the freight sector, road operators couldn't compete against New Zealand railways due to government protection. A road operator couldn't cart more than 150 kilometers. This led to the rise of the mafia people finding ways around the system. Bruce, being a street fighter and maverick, was one of them. His legacy story, in the annals of Mainfreight was, in 1987, through his network, Bruce borrowed space on a coastal shipping alternative, which was exempt from regulation because no one thought anyone would put freight on it. He started a freight service between the two islands of New Zealand, offering 150% improvement in transit times at half the price compared to alternatives. This quickly gained momentum.
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Bruce Plested said, “I think if you are 80% ready, that means go”. That decision became the driving force of Mainfreight's culture, emphasizing "ready, fire, aim". That means not waiting for everything to be perfect before taking action.
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Bruce Plested understood that value introduces margin, and margin is relative to your value proposition.
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The expert was one of Mainfreight's first managers. He spent 35 years with the company, where he took part in all areas of Mainfreight's development. He was involved in Mainfreight's international expansion, development of new business lines and to a lesser extent, business acquisitions. He has a deep understanding of Mainfreight's way of doing business, from corporate strategy down to warehouse-level operations. The expert has close ties with Bruce Plested (Mainfreight's founder) and Don Braid (Mainfreight's current CEO).
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