Corporate History

Kain & Shelton ("K&S") was formed in 1945 and operated for many years supporting Mt Gambier and Victorian based businesses.  In 1978 K&S expanded into national rail freight forwarding with annual revenues in that year topping $5 million.  By 1986 revenues had reached $50m per annum and in 1988
Allan Scott purchased K&S, turning it into a public company.

In 1991, K&S started operating the first B Double combination in Victoria and by 1993 K&S revenues
had risen to $150m per annum.  In 2000, K&S sold its Express Division and in the same year we expanded our geographic coverage by acquiring the Brisbane based FH Transport.

In 2001 K&S acquired Stepnell Transport, and in 2002 we expanded into the New Zealand market and acquired Cochrane’s Transport in New Zealand.  This was complemented by the acquisition of two further businesses, McCarthy’s Transport (specializing in log haulage) and North Eastern Transport (specialising in primary produce haulage).

The development of Truganina in Melbourne’s West and the acquisition of DTM provided significant consolidation opportunities whilst the acquisition of Bunbury based Brookes Transport in 2008 again expanded our geographic coverage to include the South West of Western Australia.

In January 2010 K&S acquired the business of Pacific Transport which was focussed on the Perth to Broome and Derby regions of Western Australia.

In July 2010 K&S acquired the business of Perth-based Regal Transport Group, being focussed on the Perth to Pilbara region, with depots in Port Hedland, Newman and Karratha.

In January 2011 K&S opened its new depot in Kewdale (WA) and further aligned itself to the exploration
and mining industries.