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Russell Transport tons up: What’s the secret to success?

ATN spoke to Russell Transport's Phil, Julie and Ken Russell about the company's 100-year history, and its secret to success

What’s in a century? If you reflect on the past 100 years from any angle, the world has changed and evolved to become almost unrecognisable. There has been world war and recession, technological marvels and a new age of exploration. There have been dramatic highs and gut-wrenching lows the world over.

For everything that has changed over this incredible period, there have been a few constants in the Australian landscape. Even our currency has changed in this extended span of time.

One of these constants, though, has been the presence of Queensland-based company Russell Transport, which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2025.

The company was started back in 1925 by Roy and Beryl Russell. It was handed down to Phil in 1970, and now Julie, Ken and Michael Russell are the third generation driving the company to new heights.

Roy Bayley Russell, the founder of Russell Transport.
Roy Bayley Russell, the founder of Russell Transport. Image: Russell Transport

It’s a business that has consistently and successfully built on the work of the generations before it – despite the array of challenges it has faced in the past century – and rubs shoulders with the likes of Coopers Brewery and Hutchinson Builders as one of Australia’s oldest family-owned businesses.

Now, Russell Transport provides a variety of services and has brought multiple other businesses under its banner, and it is a staple of Queensland’s transport and industrial landscape.

Phil took the reins of the company back in 1970 and says he’s proud to not only see it succeeding, but to see it succeeding under the guidance of the family for the past century.

“Each generation grows it,” Phil says. “When my father started it back in 1925, it was tough going. The depression started in the 30s and they had to battle their way through that, and then we had World War II in the 40s.

“In my term, which was the second 45 years of the company, we drew from a base that was established by my parents. Now, the growth is incredibly successful in the third generation.

“You need the enthusiasm of young people, the work ethic of young people, because when you get to my age you want to start to slow down, but fortunately our third generation still has that energy.”

There’s an old saying that the first generation builds a business, the second generation grows it, and the third generation kills it. It’s a saying that, for all intents and purposes, has some statistical relevance at the surface level. According to the Harvard Business Review, roughly 30 per cent of businesses make it to the end of the second generation, and only 13 per cent make it to the end of the third.

Granted, that particular study was conducted in the 1980s and consisted of manufacturing companies in American state of Illinois, but its results have driven the myth and defined the way two whole generations of people look at the transition of family businesses.

Ken is part of this third generation of Russells, alongside Julie and Michael, to take on the challenges presented by Russell Transport. He says the close familial association with the business has driven him to be bigger and better in an industry known for taking no prisoners.

“Transport’s a hard industry. It’s low margin and high-risk, but so much satisfaction comes from Julie and I being the third generation, because for as long as I can remember I essentially had people knocking me,” Ken says.

“From grade eight or grade nine, people were saying the first generation starts it, the second generation grows it, and then the third generation destroys it because they don’t know how to work.

“I was hellbent on not being the person who collapsed the business based off those types of knocks along the way, and that probably builds your character and gives you the resilience to make it through.

“Some people used to say I was stubborn, but I can’t see that. Stubborn people don’t change, but I’m open to change. I was just bloody determined.

“For a business to survive there are hard choices that have to be made along the way, and dad empowered Julie and I to make those, and by him empowering us, and his parents empowering him, that’s how you get to 100 years and be able to successfully pass a family business down.

Phil adds he believes some of the success can be attributed to not shielding his children away from the heavy demands that come with being successful in the transport industry.

“There was always a belief that we enjoyed what we were doing, and we got job satisfaction from it,” Phil says.

“We felt we were doing something constructive, and there wasn’t any desire to shield the children from the idea of hard work and being responsible, and I think they’ve accepted that to their benefit.

“Some of my colleagues over the years haven’t been able to find the next generation to step in and take over because they gave them an easy run. A soft run.

“They didn’t expose them to the reality of this industry which, being frank, is very tough.

“70 hours a week is pretty much the norm, and if you’re not prepared to do that then you move off into a different industry where you might not have to work as long or as hard.”

That desire to learn the job and work hard to progress the business that has been passed down through the generations is obvious in both Ken and Julie, who have each held a variety of roles in their time.

Julie has established herself as a trailblazer of the transport sector. She was named National Trucking Industry Woman of the Year in 2015 and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023 for her services to the road transport industry.

She also didn’t walk straight into the business; she spent time working away from the family company before being brought back into the fold as a Director in 2007.

Ken, like Julie, also brought his talents back to the business as a Director in 2007, and has worked in almost every facet of the business to gain a close, hands-on knowledge of its inner day-to-day workings.

But what does the achievement of 100 years of operation – and that stellar growth in the much-maligned third generation – mean to them?

“For me, 100 years shows how much of a journey we’ve had to go on in the broader world,” Julie says. “This business has had to continue to grow and has had to face challenges front on.

“We’ve been through wars, we’ve been through depressions, we’ve been through big booms. We’ve had to scale up, scale down, adapt, modify.

“The way I see the journey of where we’ve got to today is as a reflection of how our family has adapted to the world around us, and there’s pride in that.

“There’s pride in the fact you’ve been able to keep the business in the family, that you’re looking at the steps of the people before you and sometimes take the same ones, but sometimes deviate.

“That foundation gives the job a sense of purpose and, this may sound terrible, but in this day and age a lot of people just change jobs if things get tough.

“When you’re a family business and all your connections to the business run so deep, you have to rely on a different type of resilience to get you through tougher times rather than defaulting to change, and it ends up being worth it.”

What, then, is the special secret, that secret sauce, secret potion, magical, intangible thing that has allowed Russell Transport to survive and thrive through the ups and downs of the past 100 years.

The big secret is that there is no real secret.

Russell Transport has survived in the same way all other long-standing businesses last, through strong management, good decision-making processes, agility and changeability, a brilliant reputation, and a litany of other key things.

It’s rare to see all of these things combine into three generations of the same business, which is what makes this 100-year mark such a worthy recognition of one an absolute institution of Australian transport.

The original Russell Transport team.
The original Russell Transport team. Image: Russell Transport

“Every business operates in its own rhythm,” Julie says. “It has its own cadence and philosophies that will drive things.

“It’s hard to say our business is different to anyone else’s because of this reason or that one.

“But when I look at us as family members, we’re not replicas of each other. We each have different strengths we bring to the table, and we’re recognised at bringing those and bringing those different focuses.

“The business is a reflection of the times it has operated in. In my grandfather’s day and age safety systems were not the focus necessarily, but when my father came through those wider focuses had changed.

“He’s brought in and added value to the business to keep it up to date with the times, and as Ken and I have come through we’ve each added our strengths and focuses from the outside world as it is today rather than trying to repeat what worked back in 1925.

“We’re adding to it, rather than repeating what has worked well in the past. That has formed the foundation and signature pieces, but they don’t define us, and in the future, we can continue to evolve.

“That’s not saying we stand apart, but that’s something family businesses have to ensure are considered and looked at when planning for succession.”

“My grandfather and my father gained a reputation for being legitimate, for being careful with safety, for paying bills on time, and those types of things,” Ken reflects.

“All of that adds up.

“When I first got a company branded car, I’d pull up at a service station and a random person would walk over and say ‘Beryl Russell? I worked there or I knew her from working somewhere’.

“Or they’d ask who I was, and when I said I was Phil’s son they would say ‘I’ve known Phil for 35 years, that business has such a great reputation’.

“Those types of things give you satisfaction when you make it here, because hopefully that reputation is the same today as it was then.

“All those little things condition you to want to do the right thing and to not cut corners if you care, which Julie and I do.”

Even though Ken, Julie and Michael are far from finished with their time leading Russell Transport into the future, the fourth generation may just be sniffing around, ready to take over when the time eventually comes.

(L-R) Ken, Julie, Phil and Michael Russell.
(L-R) Ken, Julie, Phil and Michael Russell. Image: Russell Transport

“I can remember somebody asking one of Ken’s daughters – when she was a lot younger – what she wanted to be,” Julie says. “And she said ‘just like my dad. Bossy!’

“The next generation is there, and they’ll have their own passions, but hopefully they find something aligned here.”

Russell Transport has set a benchmark for transport companies across Australia in its past 100 years and has achieved things that cannot be bought or rented but can only come with the passage of time.

So, here’s to the next 100 years, and hopefully more.

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