Border Express is a third-generation national transport and distribution services company which celebrated its 40th birthday last October. The company has been using Vawdrey trailers since 2000 to help deliver bulk and parcel express to Australia, with the brand taking up the majority of Border Express’ fleet.
Max Luff began the business in 1981 with his four sons, and the company has continued to grow since that day. It began by running its services from Albury to Sydney and Albury to Melbourne, but since then has opened its doors to rest of Australia.
“My father started the business in 1981 on his 50th birthday,” says Border Express Director, Geoff Luff. “He’s now still coming to work at 90 years of age.”
In 1998, Border Express acquired a business called Marsden Transport which enabled opportunities in national trade and substantial growth.
“When we bought Marsden, it gave us the footprint to start running nationally,” he says. “All of a sudden, we go from just being in and out of Albury to running all over Australia from 1 January 1999. Border Express continues to grow, we started off with five contractors in 1981 to today where we employ probably 1,500 people.”
Geoff explains that the acquisition also introduced his company to the high-quality trailer manufacturer, Vawdrey, which they have stuck with ever since.
“They used Vawdrey, so that introduced us to them,” he says. “We like the trailers. They’re durable, we’ve got some of Vawdrey’s trailers that are over 20 years old. We have nearly 500 trailers, 90 per cent of those are Vawdrey.”
Border Express’ relationship with Vawdrey goes back to 2000, and Geoff explains that their customer service and reliability is the reason why they have relied on their trailers for more than two decades.
“We’ve got a very good relationship with Paul Vawdrey as well as the staff,” he says. “Paul looks after us very well, so we’re just very comfortable with our relationship. They’ve always been able to work around our requirements and look after us. You have a look on the highway, everywhere you go, you see a Vawdrey trailer. It’s their reliability, dependability, backup service –all those things that go into a great product and service.”
By growing as a business, Border Express was also able to expand its depots. Geoff explains that the company now has 17 of its own facilities across all of Australia’s capital cities, as well as in Melbourne, Newcastle, Albury, Geelong, Mackay and Townsville.
“We’re looking where possible to set up our own facilities,” he says. “We recognised some time ago that we’re a stronger transport company if we’re not relying on others to do our deliveries for us in the regional areas. We do as much to regional Queensland as what we would do to the rest of Australia and Brisbane. So, you can just see when you have your own network in place, how much it can grow.”
Taking into account competitors and other transport companies in Australia, Geoff explains Border Express has the upper hand because of its size.
“There’s not many companies our size that are as strong in the regional as we are,” he says. “We’re originally a regional-based business, but one of the things we’ve worked hard to develop is our regional network.
“On the eastern seaboard we’re set up to run our own line-haul and have our own agents throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. So, it gives us a very big footprint.”
