Arkle Farms is doing big things in Western Australia. A mixed farming enterprise, they’re combining large-scale agricultural logistics with innovative technology. We chatted with Tamarra Cowan, admin officer for Arkle Logistics. She brilliantly manages a complex workload with the help of MyTrucking.
Arkle Farms was founded by the Cowan family in 2019. It consists of three enterprises (cropping, cattle and logistics), covering an impressive 30,000+ hectares.
What sets them apart? An ongoing commitment to sustainable practices and high-quality produce – starting with their renowned black angus cattle, thanks to their superior breeding practices.
Large-scale job management (all from a distance)
Managing large-scale agricultural logistics does come with challenges. Tamarra shares how a typical day runs.
There’s a lot to manage. Arkle Farms cropping enterprise consists of barley, canola & wheat – grown on two farms – located in Lake King and Munglinup in Western Australia. The transport portion of the business moves freight both internally (between their farms) and externally (bringing in feed and fertiliser, as well as, collecting produce).
Tamarra usually spends her days jumping between MyTrucking, Xero and emails.
What’s unique about Arkle Logistics? Tamarra is based over 3,000km away in Queensland!
While she does occasionally travel across to Western Australia (to visit their depots and farms), she can effectively manage the logistics solely remotely. How good?!
“I don’t know how we could without MyTrucking”.
“MyTrucking is literally our daily diary”
With MyTrucking, customers can configure their account to suit them and their business needs, and Tamarra has done just that!
Arkle Farms pride themselves on reliability and the best service – so having a simple, efficient software solution is vital.
Tamarra has been using MyTrucking for three years and went from knowing nothing to becoming their company expert! “At first it was a lot, but the chat option and your online articles came in handy”.
She credits MyTrucking for being ‘user-friendly’, which helped her learn all the tips and tricks she needed.
What does a typical day look like?
“I use MyTrucking daily. We enter jobs for our drivers, reschedule jobs, post completed jobs over to Xero so we can invoice customers, run reports like truck income, farm deliveries and product deliveries.”
MyTrucking helps keep their schedule tight and gives the ability to see jobs weeks ahead.
Any changes that are made are instantly sent to their drivers. “It has been a massive help from the scheduling side of my job”.
Family values
Fun fact: Tamarra and her husband, Paul, run the logistics division together! They’re the main users of My Trucking for all of Arkle Farms.
Paul is the transport manager and allocates all 8 driver jobs daily, from the palm of his hand using MyTrucking’s driver app. He prefers to use the app to add clients and allocate jobs, where Tamarra prefers the desktop (as she finds it easier to edit jobs and run reports from).
Keeping with the family theme… Paul’s uncle (also a Paul) and auntie, Deidre, own the company. Family is a core value for MyTrucking, so we love seeing family working together.
Arkle Farms show us how rural enterprises can leverage technology to focus more on what they do best – producing quality Australian produce!
