Driven to deliver
About our Managing Director, Faith Dempsey
An industry icon, Faith Dempsey is one of Australia’s key players within the mining and resources sector. After starting her career at Utah Development Company/Utah-BHP Coal in 1979, Faith took on the role of co-marketing Jellinbah Resources’ vast new coal business where she furthered her experience in supply chain.
Seeing first-hand the inefficiency challenges that mining companies faced in getting their product to market in shared supply chains, she wanted to shake-up an industry ripe for disruption.
In 1999, Faith stepped out on her own, founding TransCoal to provide a highly efficient logistics management service that helps clients ‘move more coal, with less people’.
Her intricate knowledge of Queensland’s rail and port systems, as well as international shipping networks and procedures put her in good stead as she pioneered a smarter way to get coal from pit to port and beyond.
TransCoal’s biggest advantage in the market (and where her customers gained significant benefits from TransCoal’s independence and efficiency) is the ‘master planning’ of each coal shipment, starting 3 – 5 months in advance.
Faith knew that her model of actively helping customers avoid costly supply chain mistakes would make many of her entrenched competitors feel uncomfortable.
Undeterred, she grew her business around strong customer relationships and smart, data-driven decision making. This meant that clients gained exceptionally efficient access to rail and ports, no matter their frequency or production output. Today, TransCoal handles shipments totalling 37 million tonnes from 13 exporting Australian mines.
Not satisfied with just running a leading coal logistics company, Faith has also achieved an impressive list of accolades and commercial accomplishments, including:
- First female to be awarded the AUSCIT/NEDO Traineeship.
- First female to negotiate with the Brazilian Steel Mills joint coal purchase cartel.
- Inaugural Chairperson of the Blackwater User Group (a group of 10 mines, two power stations, Queensland Rail and Gladstone Port Authority) where she oversaw a reduction in freight costs of 30%.
- Faith has also won the Queensland Business Review’s ‘Woman in Business Award’ for Transport and Storage.
Collaborating with clients, regulators and supply chain partners, Faith continues to deliver incredible value to the coal industry and to Queensland’s economy as a whole.
Talk with a coal logistics expert today.
Let us share more on why we think our approach can bring you better results – and bring about a new wave of improvements.