CENTRAL Australia’s Tanami Transport arguably has the longest average haul distance of any large stock transport provider in Australia.

Servicing Central Australia’s far-flung beef industry, Tanami either hauls the 1600km up the Stuart Highway to Darwin for live export, or 1500km south or east to feedlots, saleyards, or meatworks in South Australia, Queensland or Victoria.

Occasionally it even pushes across into northern Western Australia.

The business was established in the 1960s by the Rodgers family, as northern and central Australia’s beef industry started to open up with the Federal Government’s financial backing of the northern beef road system.

Principal Alan Rodgers, the son of the original founder, sold the business five years ago to Alice Springs businessman and cattle producer Viv Oldfield and his partner, Deanne Sealy.

Mr Oldfield also runs a large beef cattle enterprise including some 50,000 cattle across seven stations in the NT and SA, plus a small feedlot near Balaklava in SA.

Tanami Transport today runs eight Kenworths (904s, 508s and 509s) and two Mack prime movers, all in six-deck roadtrain configuration, hauling a one-time total of 60 decks. The company operates from a single depot at Alice Springs.

Major repeat clients include S. Kidman, Consolidated Pastoral Co and larger local Central Australian cattle producers.

Contacts:

Tanami Transport

Depot:  14 Sargent St Alice Springs NT 0870

Mark Castagna, operations manager

Ph: (08) 8952 1166

Mob: 0419 856 921

Email: tanamint@internode.on.net