Meet the Team: Freight Focus
We sat down with some of our fabulous Freight team to get an insight into the hard work they do ensuring our Customers’ stock is delivered to our warehouses by road, ocean and air!
Brian Wilson
Sea Freight Manager
Tell us a bit about your role!
In Sea Freight, we work with overseas partners to bring shipping containers from Europe and the Indian sub-continent to the UK. It’s my job to look after the staff in our Sea Freight team, making sure everything runs smoothly. I also help our salespeople with quotations and pricing to secure new customers.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
Being a helping hand, making sure our staff are as happy as they can possibly be, and coming up with ways to help the department be productive as possible.
What’s your work superpower?
I’m very good at calming people down in stressful situations, and helping them to rationalise things.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Be an excellent communicator. You’ll be dealing with a range of different stakeholders such as hauliers, customers, shipping lines and internal staff. It’s important to have a good telephone manner and lots of confidence!
Kimberley Wood
Air Import Clerk
Tell us a bit about your role!
Our Air Freight team is split into two sides, the booking and operations sides. I’ve moved to bookings, which deals with getting stock from its place of origin onto the plane – the ops side does the next half. Preparing quotes is a big part of the job, along with keeping in contact with customers, agents, and airlines.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
The people – I could do any job at all working with this team! It makes such a difference and they’re the main reason I look forward to coming to work every day.
What’s your work superpower?
I have an amazing ability to read people, my team reckon I can read their minds! I can easily tell how someone’s feeling from their behaviour, which is a good skill to have in such a close-knit department.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Never doubt yourself. You’re not going to get everything right first time, but one of the best things about having a good team is that if you need some help, you don’t have to be afraid to ask for it.
Azeem Mohammed
Sea Import Clerk
Tell us a bit about your role!
My day-to-day role typically involves booking deliveries with hauliers, booking goods in with customers, invoicing and keeping our customers up to date on their shipments. There’s a lot of talking to people involved in this role, both over the phone and via email.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
There’s no better feeling than being able to tell a customer “everything’s going well with no issues!” because you’ve gone the extra mile to plan out a job in advance for them. I also love the people I work with; I know I can rely on my team in an emergency.
What’s your work superpower?
I can be quite charismatic when talking on the phone to customers, which is something I enjoy doing. Customers appreciate it when I take the time to call them up and keep them updated on everything. If any problems do arise, the customer tends to be much more understanding!
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Be patient, shipping takes a long time! It’s a very busy time for sea freight, but the challenges are so worth it when you get another job cleared and filed away for another satisfied customer.
Simon Tandy
Regional Import Manager
Tell us a bit about your role!
I manage the Air Freight Import Department in our Leeds office. My role is to oversee the freight operations, negotiate prices with overseas agents and sell these prices to our clients.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
It’s very rewarding to see the successes and profit in Air Freight, but it’s just as rewarding to have made lifelong friendships during my time here. I’ve been at Torque for 18 years and was lucky enough to start the department by myself and build it from the ground up. I take a lot of pride in that.
What’s your work superpower?
I have as good a memory as anyone I know. I can remember what price I sold to a client 5 years ago, or a shipment from 3 years ago – and I do 50 prices a day! It’s a very useful skill to have in this trade.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Work hard, stay focused, stay determined, and the job will be incredibly rewarding.
Zarak Nawaz
Sea Import Clerk
Tell us a bit about your role!
I manage shipments coming into the UK for two of our largest accounts, from the approval stage in the stock’s origin country all the way to its arrival in the warehouse. I plan storage of certain shipments, ensuring that they’re getting into our depots on time, and keep in daily contact with the warehouses.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
It’s exciting to be presented with different challenges, especially during peak of the season. I enjoy finding new ways to do tasks and solve problems more efficiently – I think it promotes self-development!
What’s your work superpower?
I can always make light of something. Making people laugh and feel at ease is important to keep the atmosphere light-hearted so it never feels stressful.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Come in with a view to learn, and understand that even if you’ve been here for years, there’s always new information, terminology and procedures to absorb.
Claire Ogilvie
Road Import Clerk
Tell us a bit about your role!
I work on bringing stock to our warehouses by road, and no two days in Road Freight are the same. On any day I could be getting quotes, sorting clearance instructions, booking in deliveries, billing, learning systems… the list is limitless! There’s no strict description of a “typical day”, which is a really good thing.
What’s your favourite thing about working on the Freight team?
We’re a close-knit department that always helps each other out. It definitely feels like more of a family than a work team, it’s very cute!
What’s your work superpower?
I can always find the positive in any situation. Even when it’s not easy, I can always dig deep and put a positive spin on any challenge.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone looking to work in Freight?
Organisation is a key skill, and be as open-minded as you possibly can be. The industry is fast-paced and always changing, so even the most straightforward jobs, that you know like the back of your hand, can throw a curveball! It’s all so rewarding though, because you learn lots every single day.