HAUL MA X TYRES PRE MIER COMMERCIAL FLEET GUIDE
LONG WAY TO THE TOP
Keeping up with a market currently governed by seismic consolidation makes the Australian commercial road transport an interesting one to observe.
T
he Haulmax Premier Commercial Fleet Guide affords the opportunity each year to take stock of the movers and shakers in industry and, progressively in recent times those that have fallen by the wayside. While a new year always offers renewal and renewed hope, the reality for key carriers in commercial road transport is that they have not paused while the rest of us went on holidays. In that sense activities of these fleets exist in a continuum that calendar dates might as well frame for the purposes of accountancy. It’s no secret that changes in the marketplace have had severe impacts on numerous operators and generational businesses, with some household names no less immune to 64
Febr u a r y 2026
them. There are always shifts in those dominant businesses that top the lists for mobile assets in a given category, but as we have seen with increasing regularity over the past year, major fleets, especially the independent ones, are no longer invulnerable. Ron Crouch Transport, Don Watson Transport, XL Express are headlines, lamentably, among dozens of others to have been brought undone by a combination of economic and market forces, some of which, it must be said, have been contrived against them. General insolvency data indicates that the business closure rate for the road transport sector in the 12 months to November 2025 reached 8.46 per cent, or approximately one in every 12 operators as the stressors of inflated
costs and compliance have taken a significant toll. We’re through the looking glass now. The road transport segment has never been considered, by any measure, a picnic. To that end seasoned operators know it can get tough and the days, let alone the weeks, are rife with obstacles to be overcome often with little warning. It’s always different, always the same to paraphrase a famous quote made by Radio One DJ John Peel on his favourite band The Fall. Longevity, for any group or organisation, hinges on maintaining a consistency of excellence that in this post-COVID era amounts to having, if a recipe can be summarised, shrewd digital integration, tried and true systems in place, additional