Abnormal haulage the focus at Messina Shipping

KEVIN MAYHEW MESSINA SHIPPING, based at Gateway Truck Stop two kilometers from the Zimbabwe border, has a 20-year track record in its business and like many of the freight forwarding companies in the area is driven by the fairer sex. Natacha Meek and Debby Joubert are the exports and imports managers respectively for the company, which has a long history of abnormal haulage to and from countries north of the border as far up as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “One of the major problems is still parking for the abnormal loads which cannot easily access the truck stop facilities. This means they sometimes have to be parked outside on the main road, which is not safe for the drivers and their loads, apart from being illegal,” says Joubert. With a staff of 55 people at the Gateway office and its warehousing facilities in Musina, the company is also embarking on its own training programme for new staff. They have already established manuals for study to enable their new recruits to master the business. The company will formalise its training by accreditation through its relevant Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) in the near future.