Fonterra takes on the extra weight
Increases in milk supply across the country have led Fonterra to temporarily re-evaluate loading regulations for its milk tankers.
Increases in milk supply across the country have led Fonterra to temporarily re-evaluate loading regulations for its milk tankers.
The dairy giant's tanker fleet will be able to collect and transport an additional 1.2 million litres of milk each day for the next three months thanks to the temporary increase in loading limits.
Managing director of Fonterra Trade & Operations Gary Romano says that government agencies have given the co-operative the all clear to increase the operating weight to the end of this year from 44 to 45 tonnes.
“A one tonne increase in our operating weight means every tanker can collect an additional 1,000 litres of milk on every run. With 450 tankers on the road during peak production, that’s a big help."
He said some of the best weather conditions in years have resulted in a wave of milk coming in earlier than forecasted.
Mr Romano says that the weight increase of one extra tonne is well within the tankers’ design capacity, assuring that Fonterra’s drivers are fully trained to handle these sort of load increases.
With these new load capacity implementations in place to cover costs and efficiency within Fonterra’s milk transport system, it is unsure whether the extra tonne of weight per tanker will affect any traffic flow or roadside ‘wear and tear’ on our roads over the coming months.
New Zealand currently has over 480 milk tankers in operation, delivering raw milk for processing at 76 plants across 26 sites in the country.
The higher volumes of milk collected in the last quarter meant that an additional inventory of 23,600 metric tonnes has been on hand as of 31 July 2011 compared to 31 July 2010.
In the 2011 season, Fonterra and its business partners sourced around 22 billion litres of milk globally, with New Zealand representing 89% of the country's milk production collecting 15.4 billion litres of milk.
Robert McCambridge
Thu, 13 Oct 2011
Thu, 13 Oct 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Fonterra takes on the extra weight
17351