Bringing a new dimension to trucking

THERE IS no problem in being a woman running a trucking company in what has historically been a male-dominated industry, according to Maria Puzone of M&B Transport. Indeed, she suggested to FTW, it is actually an advantage in some ways. Men tend to take a more mellow approach when faced with a woman rather than one of their male counterparts, she added. Her venture into trucking is a more recent experience, with Puzone originally in the web printing industry where for 13 years she handled the marketing for Seculo Triweb. “What made me start the trucking business was that I saw that transporters and couriers were not really interested in distributing printed copy,” she said. In 1998, that led to Puzone and her brother starting X-Land Transport. “After six years,” she told FTW, “we had to expand, and saw two alternatives – either to buy a lot of vehicles, or take over a going entity.” The second proved to be the case, and M&B, specialising in cross-border transport to-and-from Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, was the choice. “That’s where we are now,” said Puzone. “Since we took over the business, we have grown – and have tripled the turnover, fleet and staff complement.”