Travelling through transport

Straight after high school in 1984, Russell Baxter began driving trucks for his uncle at the family’s business located in a country town in Kempsey, New South Wales. Shortly afterwards he left to join TNT on the Gold Coast to deliver bricks and roof tiles, but after an accident left him unable to drive trucks for a period, he was positioned in an office role and was later influenced to go to university.

“I was going to be a mining engineer, but I decided to defer my university entry and was given the opportunity to drive trucks for my uncle. I ended up doing a Bachelor of Business in Management Economics and then I jumped up into management in the early 1990s. I also ended up driving a lot of different types of semis including flat tops, pneumatic tankers and crane trucks while I was at university because they had me relieving people while I was on holidays.”

Following his studies, Russell ran a wharf for TNT which was the company’s first venture into the waterfront with a fleet of tippers and storage sheds. This involved integrating the logistics of a minerals sand mining operation at Hawk’s Nest from dredge, to plant, to shed, to ship, and later led to a promotion as National Operations Manager.

After deciding to move back to the Gold Coast due to family commitments and following a position at Toll in its bulk and resources side, Russell joined the team at Brambles Industrial Services which presented him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“During this role I was running the first commercially operated dual-powered road trains at Burton Coal Mine,” he says. “I was heavily involved with the development and operation of those