Editor’s note: This Top 25 profile appears out of sequence, as we made a mistake during original research by including sub-contractors in the fleet. The Top 25 table (click here to access) has now been adjusted to correctly display entries.   

THOMPSONS Livestock Transport based out of Cowra in the Central West of NSW is a family owned and operated trucking business with an 80-year history.

Running the business today is Nick Thompson, third generation descendant of the founder Horace Walter (Jack) Thompson, who along with his brother Ted started trucking cattle in the 1940s on tabletop trucks from properties around Cowra, into selling centres at Cowra, Gooloogong and Canowindra.

Jack’s sons John and Barry moved into the business in the 1960s and Thompsons has continued to grow. Nick bought out his parents in 2021. The past 10 or 15 years has seen the business triple in size, with 25 Kenworth prime movers now operating in the company-owned fleet, with two new units about to start work. Total one time uplift capacity is 65 decks.

That fleet is supplemented with another ten vehicles run by full-time sub-contractors, many of whom bought their rigs from Thompsons, and work exclusively within the Thompson’s business. Some of the trailers used by sub-contractors are owned by Thompsons.

Combining company owned and sub-contractors’ vehicles, that gives a total livestock fleet access of 35 trucks. Sub-contractors have been an integral part of the Thompsons business for many years.

Trailers are various configurations, mostly B-doubles plus some B-triple and roadtrain work, depending on location. Many trailers are convertible from sheep to cattle.

Despite years of lobbying, road train access is not available in Cowra, meaning the closest hook-up point for road trains is an hour west at Forbes.

Given its location, the business is heavily oriented towards sheep transport, which accounts for about two thirds of total operations each year, although the ratio varies from season to season.

On that basis, Thompson’s is one of the larger sheep transporters on the Top 25 list. Others to appear later in this feature include O’Sullivan’s, Trans Australia and Stockmaster.

Much of the company’s sheep and cattle activity is within NSW, branching north, south and west from the Cowra base. Areas like the New England are busy, and the trucks also do frequent runs north into feedlots on southern Queensland’s Darling Downs, and the bottom half of Victoria picking up and dropping off stock.

Major NSW saleyards pick-ups and deliveries are also bread-and-butter business for Thompson’s, and the company does a lot of haulage for Coles grainfed cattle contractors, heading for slaughter into JBS Scone or Brooklyn.

Seasonality big driver

Seasonal variation across Australia provided a lot of impetus for stock movement, Nick Thompson said.

“For example, since last week’s big rain further north, I can see us being very busy in the next couple of months shifting local cattle north on agistment,” he said. “In fact I’ve already had one local producer from around Boorowa who hasn’t had any rain ring me yesterday, looking to shift up to 60 decks of cattle into the Walgett area.”

Lotfeeding expansion over the past ten years was another factor in the growth in the cattle side of the business. Perhaps half of the overall cattle work now involved a feedlot, either for delivery or pick-up.

Multi-generational family businesses

Asked about the reasons behind the strong trend in multi-generational transport businesses in Beef Central’s Top 25 list, Nick Thompson agreed that there were a lot of families with long history in the stock transport industry.

“I suppose it’s just in our blood,” he said. “It‘s not a job, it’s a lifestyle thing, and you get used to it – even if it’s 24/7/365,” he said.

Nick has two young sons, and while he has no expectations, has not ruled-out seeing a fourth generation of Thompsons one day working in the business.

Driver situation improving

Compared with a few years ago, access to competent drivers was better now than it had been in the past, Nick said.

“At this point in time, we have enough drivers to get by,” he said.

A rise in driver remuneration post-COVID had helped the driver access situation.

“We put our kilometre rate up 7c about three years ago. We felt we had to make it more attractive to get the type of driver we wanted, and it paid off,” Nick said.

The company’s Cowra depot includes state of the art facilities allowing an intensive maintenance schedule to be maintained on the prime movers and trailers. Multi-purpose service bays allow accredited mechanics to carry-out routine services and safety checks on all company-owned and sub-contractor equipment.

Booking inquiries: 0428423108 / 02 63424966

Email: admin@thompsonscowra.com.au

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