A Tradition Transported Through the Generations

Established in 1925 by Roy Bayley Russell, Russell Transport Pty Ltd has been successfully operating in Queensland for more than 80 years. When the business first launched, our initial contract concerned the distribution of motor spirit for Dalgety & Co, who had just been appointed the Queensland agent for the Commonwealth Oil Refineries. 

By 1930, our fleet had expanded to include three trucks based in a warehouse on New Farm Wharf. We carried out deliveries to Chermside in the north, Mt Gravatt in the south and to Moorooka. 

Further expansion over the next 20 years saw our fleet grow to 12 trucks, with our cargo including wool as well as motor spirit. As the business continued to flourish, we purchased land in Macquarie Street, New Farm, constructing a specialised workshop to service our fleet.

By 1965, we’d added an office and a whole new yard to accommodate our now 20-strong fleet. In 1970, we purchased land in Fison Avenue, Eagle Farm, relocating in 1971 with 19 trucks, 3 semi-trailers, two cranes and 17 employees.

At the age of 70, Roy passed the daily running of the business to his son, Philip, although he continued to provide valued advice and assistance well into his 80s.

Since the 1970s, Russell Transport has continually thrived, branching out into new areas like mobile crane hire. We also now hold a number of industrial properties in South East Queensland, while the original site at Eagle Farm has been expanded to include adjoining properties and is still used as the Russell Group's head office.

The Russell group of companies now consists of Russell Transport, Metro-Lift Cranes, Caloundra General Transport, Russell Properties Management, Bayley Industrial and Lytton Industrial. Through these complementary businesses, we can deliver a diverse range of logistics services, including: transport, storage and mobile crane hire.

Metropolitan Carriers Pty Ltd was originally incorporated in Queensland in 1936, operating as a master carrier in Brisbane, specialising in wool carrying.

In 1967, the business was sold off by owner Frank Vaughan, and purchased by Roy Russell to form part of the growing Russell Transport Group.

In September 1991, Metropolitan Carriers Pty Ltd commenced trading as Metro-Lift Cranes. The business launched with four 12T Franna Cranes, and the following year saw the addition of two hydraulic slew cranes.

Over the last 25 years, Metro-Lift Cranes has steadily grown, expanding its dominance through demand and reputation within the mobile crane hire industry.

Over the years, Metro-Lift has attracted and retained highly skilled operational and industry professionals and, as such has maintained low turnover. The Russell Family recognise the importance of that retained knowledge within the workplace for maintaining repeatable safe undertaking of complex and highly skilled tasks

Phil saw an opportunity to expand the reach of R.B. Russell Transport Pty Ltd into a regional area that still had strong links with Brisbane and his base fleet to support any overflow needs.

At the time, the business was owned by Neville Weyer and had been since 1979. Neville restructured the business and split it into two segments, Caloundra General Transport and Caloundra Furniture Transport. This business division enabled Caloundra General Transport to focus on alcohol contracts, which ultimately secured the interest of and sale to R.B. Russell Transport in 1994.

Under the ownership and direction of Phil Russell, Caloundra General Transport has continued to gain a strong reputation with distributors of alcohol on the Sunshine Coast as a reliable and reasonably priced transporter.  

The business in recent years has seen an increase in business and population growth on the Sunshine Coast. This, in turn, has meant the business has expanded. To accommodate this expansion, in 2015, the business relocated to new custom-built premises at Bells Creek. This facility provides more secure premises, undercover loading and easy access to B'Double configurations from the depot to the highway.