Article from Project Cargo Weekly
An interview with Steve Baker
PCW 2017 Week #33
Silverback Container Management
Interview with Mr Steve Baker – Owner
The Silverback Group is made up of Silverback Cargo Care and Silverback Container Management. Silverback One-way Repositioning brochure
Tell us first about your logo; it is unusual and very special for a company involved in logistics?
We chose the name Silverback and our logo because the animal is strong and protective of those it cares for. As you can see, our logo is a Silverback gorilla with a baby gorilla on its back. We see it as carrying the most special cargo of all. A trek into Parc des Volcans in Rwanda to see a troop of gorillas was a fantastic experience, one I will never forget and hope to do it again.
What business is Silverback Container Management engaged in?
Silverback Container Management provides a matching service of container owners and users to reposition or supply containers in surplus and deficit locations around the globe. We have been providing this service for 22 years now, saving our customers millions of dollars in empty repositioning costs and container hire.
Our custom-built matching and tracking system allows shipping, leasing and logistics companies as well as traders and removalists to have their equipment repositioned and allows access to hundreds of thousands of one-way containers that were previously out of reach.
Our experienced staff are hands-on and very active in communicating with all parties using our system and alerting them to opportunities daily. Whilst there is a high level of technology involved, relationships are extremely important to us. We spend a lot of effort getting to know our customer’s wants and needs to offer more meaningful opportunities.
How did you come to work in logistics?
I have always been involved in the logistics industry. My first part-time job at the age of 14 was as a runner delivering milk from the side of a truck to customer’s letterboxes and doors before school in New Zealand. After other delivery jobs at 19, I emigrated to Australia and drove a scrap metal truck. That part of my career was very short-lived as I had never driven such a large truck, and coming from a town with only 50,000 people, driving a truck around Melbourne with a population of 3 million was fairly daunting.
Eventually, I made my way to a coastal shipping company in the logistics and equipment department. Whilst there, I learnt about the costs of repositioning empty containers and thought I could do something about it. From there, I started Silverback Cargo Care which supplies over 2000 consumables to the shipping and logistics industry in Australia and New Zealand. Not long after, Silverback Container Management also opened its doors. From very humble beginnings, we have repositioned nearly 200,000 containers.
Who are your partners?
Companies both large and small use our service. Maersk, Swire, MSC, Triton, Seaco, nearly 200 other shipping, leasing and logistics companies, and dozens of traders. Silverback Container Management is based in Australia. Virtually any company with a repositioning problem or uses containers anywhere in the world can benefit from using our service.
Learn more: Silverback One-way Repositioning brochure
Steve Baker
Owner/Managing Director
Silverback Container Management
www.silverbackcontainers.com
Silverback Cargo Care
www.silverback.com.au
[email protected]
Tel: +61 3 9211 2111
Silverback has been supplying and repositioning containers for over 25 years.
Steve Baker