UC Logistics Australia MD Urszula Kelly joins an array of worthy winners on the day
UC Logistics Australia managing director Urszula Kelly has won the coveted Young Professional of the Year Award at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia (CILTA) National Excellence in Transport and Logistics Awards.
The Perth-based transport innovator was also named a finalist in the Professional Woman of the Year category, further cementing her place as one of Australia’s top young businesswomen.
Ms Kelly has become a key figure in Australian logistics kicking UC Logistics off in 2015, building a successful transport operation as well as pushing to address key industry issues.
One of her particular passions is Chain of Responsibility (CoR) and Urszula has long been a staunch advocate of education and training right along the supply chain to ensure all involved are aware of CoR obligations.
Ms Kelly says she’s elated to have won such a prestigious industry award just ten years into her transport career.
“This year marks 10 years since I have started my career in logistics and it has been a journey filled with many challenges,” she said.
“Having this recognition of being named Young Professional of the Year by the industry peak body is an immense privilege and just goes to show that you can achieve anything if you keep your eye on the prize.”
Urszula moved to England from her native Poland at age 19 and began her career in logistics, an industry she fell in love with.
After moving to Australia in 2012, she began establishing herself in the local logistics industry, before deciding a few years later to go out on her own and kick off UC Logistics.
She says it was a slow start in a male-dominated industry but her international experience paid dividends.
The company clinched a preferred supplier agreement with two major WA mining contractors in 2015 that saw UC Logistics Australia as the primary point of contact for all its transport requirements.
This success helped secure other key clients in the mining services industry and earlier this year the company launched its IFR8 online booking platform.
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia chairman Dr Neville Binning says the awards recognise organisations and individuals that set global benchmarks for best practice in their fields of endeavour.
“They are leaders in their profession, showing world class expertise and innovation in developing and implementing transport and logistics solutions,” he said.
Other awardees are:
- Professional Woman in Logistics and Transport for 2017 (Sponsored by Move Bank) – Powerhouse Logistics business development manager and project management executive Kelly McGinty for business development including spurring a company leadership program for under-40 year olds
- Excellence and Innovation in Safety (sponsored by rt Health) – Nortrans’ BOC Gases team for an exemplary record in attention to driver and equipment challenges in remote northern areas, avoiding rollovers and controllable missed deliveries.
- Excellence and Innovation in Moving Freight– Northern Logistics & Warehousing for consistently exceeding customer expectations and demonstrating superior project management solutions for transport, warehousing and logistics services to northern Queensland and into the Northern Territory through. Northern Logistics & Warehousing is said to be the only regional service centre in Australia to batch track products from receival in-store to customer receival on site.
- Excellence and Innovation in Moving People – Inner West Council (with Canada Bay Council) for their recognition of the need to provide a contemporary, user-friendly, point-to-point transit system to support the NSW government’s proposal to revitalise Parramatta Road.
- Excellence and Innovation in Professional Development Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator (HVCCC) provides members with insights, advice and analysis to improve efficiency and maximise their value from the shared infrastructure.
- Excellence and Innovation in Humanitarian or Defence Transport and/or Logistics– Rotary Australia – Donations in Kind, Northern Region. Donations in Kind, based in Brisbane, has been providing health and educational aid throughout the greater Pacific for 30 years and has shipped 870 containers in that time.