Zac Popov was just 19 years of age when he got his start in the trucking industry.
That move planted the seed for a lifelong career in transport, including starting his own business, Cannon Logistics, in 2006.
“I worked for a large multinational cold storage business, across a number of roles including admin, dock and operations, and management positions,” said Zac, who is now 55.
“I did that for 15 years, then I broke away and started out on my own with a few of my own trailers and a few tow operators, and I built it all up from there.”
Specialising in refrigerated transport from Brisbane and across Queensland, including into the harsh terrain of western Queensland, Cannon Logistics has continued to go from strength to strength.
Within his first two years in business, Zac built up to a fleet of 13 trucks and 15 trailers. Fast forward to today and the fleet consists of 34 prime movers and over 60 trailers, predominantly operating as B-doubles and road trains.
Queensland born and bred, Zac is a loyal supporter of the state’s rugby league team, the Queensland Maroons, and therein lies the reason for the colour choice for his fleet’s livery – maroon and white, of course.
As for the name, that’s derived from where the business started, the Brisbane suburb of Cannon Hill. Though, it’s now located around 10 minutes down the road at Lytton, in the Port of Brisbane.
When Zac bought the Lytton building, he says there was one major problem with it. It was light blue, the colour of his beloved team’s arch-rivals, the New South Wales Blues – and he couldn’t have that.
“So, I had to get it all painted before we moved in,” he laughed.
These days, the Cannon Logistics fleet can be found operating from Brisbane and through western and central Queensland.
“We travel all the way from Roma through to Mt Isa, from Emerald through to Bowen, along the east coast from Gympie to Yeppoon and everywhere in between all of those areas,” added Zac.
Refrigerated transport remains the company’s bread and butter, with about 80 per cent of the work revolving around temperature-controlled freight. The remaining 20 per cent, says Zac, is general palletised freight.
As he explained, Cannon Logistics expanded its reach quite early on in the piece.
“At first, we were looking after the Gladstone and Bundaberg area and soon expanded to service Rockhampton and Yeppoon.
“It was in 2008, when the mining industry got going again, that I got my first contract delivering through central Queensland. That’s how we expanded to service that region, as well as western Queensland.
“Cannon Logistics moved into those areas on the back of mining industry growth, supplying food services and accommodation companies contracted to the mines. We carry all sorts of refrigerated freight, including meat, produce and seafood, and also cater to the retail and food service industries too.”
Zac takes a great deal of pride in his fleet, with trucks typically replaced around every five years or so, and trailers typically turned over at the six-to-seven-year mark.
For the prime movers, it’s predominantly Kenworths, along with a number of Volvos and MANs; while the trailers are typically Maxi-CUBE with Thermo King refrigeration units.
Among the newest trucks joining the fleet this year are five 600hp Euro 6 Volvo FHs, delivered across May and June, before the end of the financial year, and three new Kenworths delivered at the start of May.
Road train-rated to 110 tonnes, the Volvos all feature the spacious Globetrotter XXL cab, I-Shift automated transmissions and crawler gear.
These Volvos were purchased through VCV Australia’s Wacol branch, with some of the finishing touches including LED headlights, stainless steel guards and Cannon Logistics 20th anniversary logo.
While the Kenworth delivery included two new K220 2.8 Aerodynes and a T909 with a 50-inch Aero integrated sleeper, with all three of the trucks featuring Cannon Logistics 20th anniversary logo, along with a number of other features to mark the milestone.
Purchased through Brown and Hurley Caboolture, the sales team worked with Zac to customise these rigs, adding all the special touches – including the words “Cannon 20 yrs” laser-cut into the truck exhaust guards, and inside, special leather embroidery on the seats, door panel, and back sleeper panel, completed by PACCAR Australia.
The Kenworths – all used to service western and central Queensland – are powered by Cummins X15 Euro 6 565hp engines, with RTLO 22918 manual transmissions, and are road train rated to 97 tonnes.
Asked what he attributes to the company’s growth and success, Zac listed a number of important factors – stability of staff, with many employees having been with Cannon Logistics for many years; offering consistent and reliable service to customers; being competitively priced; and being flexible and available to call on any time.
“We take a great deal of pride in looking after our customers. There are a lot of long-term customers, many who have been with us since the very start,” said Zac, proudly adding that his sons have also joined the business, bringing Cannon Logistics into its second generation.
“My eldest son Mladen looks after local fleet operations, and my youngest son Dilan works here too, washing the trucks and trailers,” said Zac.
On his plans moving forward, Zac had just four words to sum it up: “Steady as she goes.”
Acknowledging the challenges many operators are facing in the current climate, Zac added: “It’s a wild world out there at the moment. We just need to keep doing what we do best.
“Right now, we’re not looking for any significant growth. We’re happy to work with our customers on micro growth alongside them – and if things do pop up that require additional resources, we’ll look at things from there.”