Friday, September 7, 2018: Two of Woolworths’ transport partners have been awarded Supply Chain’s most prestigious carrier partner accolade at the 2018 Carrier of the Year Awards.

Centurion took out the Large Carrier of the Year category while Mystgold was awarded Small Carrier of the Year.

The winners were announced at the company’s sixth annual Transport Safety Day on September 3, 2018, hosted at Woolworths’ newly developed Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre (MSRDC).

WATCH: Centurion 2018 Large Carrier of the Year Video

WATCH: Mystgold 2018 Small Carrier of the Year Video

The Carrier of the Year Awards recognises carriers that have delivered outstanding performance in safety, compliance and service.

Centurion owns and operates more than 1,500 vehicles travelling the distance to the moon and back every week in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland. Woolworths began partnering with Centurion in 1999 initially to service our stores in the Karratha region in Western Australia.

Today, Centurion services all of our 14 stores north of Perth, the furthest being Derby which is just under a 5,000km round trip and a four-day turnaround from Perth Regional Distribution Centre. During the cyclones and floods earlier this year, Centurion went above and beyond using a barge to get to our Broome store.

Mystgold began in 1991 with one prime mover. Today, it is one of North Queensland's leading suppliers of refrigerated logistics and transport solutions. Mystgold services around 40 of our stores in North Queensland delivering produce, meat and dairy from Townsville Regional Distribution Centre. The Townsville-based transport provider is a fully owned and operated family business small enough to care but large enough to provide a professional, reliable and timely service.

With more than 6,000 heavy vehicle movements required each day to supply Woolworths Group’s network of supermarkets, Metro stores, BIG W and liquor outlets, Woolworths relies on its carrier partners to ensure safe and efficient transport on Australian roads.

General Manager International and Domestic Transport Chris Brooks said; "Woolworths takes safety seriously in every aspect of our transport business," Mr Brooks said.

“We work closely with our transport providers to continually improve road safety so everyone can return home safely to their families every day. Over the past 12 months, we have seen the adoption of fatigue detection systems which is a great demonstration of safety leadership by our carriers.”

At this year’s Transport Safety Day attendees got to tour MSRDC, due to open in early 2019, as well as hear from speakers including Paul Graham, Woolworths Chief Supply Chain Officer, and panels discussing best practice initiatives and emerging trends on road safety.