Worth a watch: This video produced last year captures the culture of the Mitchell’s Livestock Transporting business and the family values that still drive the company 85 years after it was founded by Mick and Margaret Mitchell at Waroona, WA.

ACROSS the endless red dirt roads and vast plains of Western Australian cattle country, red and white Mitchell’s Livestock Transport trucks travel over four million kilometres and transport over 650,000 cattle and 300,000 sheep every year.

Founded in 1940 by Eric “Mick” Mitchell and his wife Margaret in Waroona, south of Mandurah, Mitchell’s began as a small general carrying business, carting anything from timber and fresh produce to fertiliser and livestock.

Today, 85 years on, Mitchell’s Livestock Transport is the longest-running family-owned livestock transport business on this year’s Top 25 Australian Livestock Transporters list, and also one of the largest nationally, with 32 livestock trucks criss-crossing the vast western half of the continent from the Great Southern region to the Kimberley on a daily basis.

At the wheel of the company’s modern era is John Mitchell, a third-generation leader who inherited the business under the most difficult of circumstances.

At just 23 years old, John was working at Alcoa as a fitter and plant mechanic when tragedy struck, in a heartbreaking case of history repeating.

His father Jack, who had taken over the business after his own father Mick’s sudden death two decades earlier, passed away unexpectedly in 1988. John, supported by his brother, sister and mother, suddenly found himself learning how to run a multi-faceted livestock transporting business from the ground up.

At the time Mitchell’s had eight prime movers, but also a tight-knit staff of dedicated long-serving employees who John also credits for helping to keep the business driving forward through those hard early years following his father’s death.

Fast forward 37 years, and today Mitchell’s Livestock Transport boasts a modern fleet of 32 Volvo and Kenworth prime movers, with innovative trailer configurations designed to maximise both road safety and productivity.

John told Beef Central that Mitchell’s Livestock Transport handles the “entire ecosystem” of livestock delivery work that is needed by every facet of cattle and sheep production in Western Australia. “From cow-calf producers to graziers, grassfed, grainfed, shipping and pastoral cattle — we handle everything. Wherever livestock need to go we get them there,” John said.

Today, Mitchell’s Livestock Transport runs 32 prime movers with the trailer capacity to upload 164 decks of cattle in a single uplift.

A culture of constant innovation to maximise road safety, animal welfare, productivity and efficiency has underpinned Mitchell’s growth in recent decades. The company was among the first WA transporters to introduce B-Double trailers, and in 1998, it pioneered the “Double B-Double”—a 53.5-metre, (double b Double) two-B-double combination. That same year, they also introduced Australia’s first five-deck cattle road train.

Building on his early mechanical training, John continues to maintain a keen interest in understanding heavy vehicle dynamics. In his time at the helm, Mitchell’s has been responsible for driving a number of firsts in road transport, including Australia’s first ‘Double B-double’ (two B-doubles hooked together in a 53.5 metre combination) and Australia’s first five-deck cattle road train at 36.5 metres in total length in 1998.

In 2003 the company engaged a vehicle dynamics engineer to benchmark the Mitchell’s road train fleet’s performance against traditional vehicles, data which was then used to guide and adapt the company’s trailer configurations into safer and more efficient combinations. “Safety is everything. We’re always trying new things to protect people and animals,” John said.

Now the mainstay of the 27.5 m network configurations is a short B Triple which is what John Mitchell regards as “the safest, most efficient high productivity vehicle in Australia. These vehicles have a payload in excess of 46 tonnes and “can not be overloaded – they hit the sweet spot at a number of levels including infrastructure protection.”

Since appearing on Beef Central’s list of Australia’s 25 largest livestock transporters in 2013, when it appeared at No.13 with 16 prime movers, 29 trailers and 60 decks, Mitchell’s has expanded considerably through organic growth and by increasing its geographic footprint through the acquisition of Esperance Livestock Transport in 2019, while also establishing a base in the Kimberley.

Like all livestock businesses in WA, Mitchell’s is also facing the fallout of the Albanese Government’s controversial decision to shut down the live sheep export trade by 2028 – a decision John says will have disastrous consequences for Western Australia.

“The market in Western Australia will shrink by 30 percent, and therefore the vehicles that service the flock will be at a 30 percent surplus, because of a decision we didn’t have anything to do with.

“Imagine if Australia’s GDP dropped by a third? Imagine the mining industry being chopped by a third and see what would happen.”

More than trucks: A family business

Despite the challenges, asked what he likes most about working in the livestock transporting industry, John wastes no time giving his answer.

“The people,” he said.

“The relationships and the quality of people we deal with and the quality of people we employ are just incredible.”

“It is a not a highly financially rewarding business, but it makes up for it in a lot of those areas.”

“It’s not a highly financially rewarding industry, but the people, the relationships, the quality of people we work with—that’s what makes it worthwhile.”

Mitchell’s doesn’t just move livestock, it also invests heavily on training people. The company regularly runs Low Stress Stockhandling Schools at its bases in Waroona and Esperance, where staff and producers alike learn how to move livestock safely, calmly, and humanely.

As the business looks to the future, a fourth generation is now coming on board.

On the day Beef Central contacted John to get details for this article, his son Jarrod – an auto-electrician – had just started in the business, working in the workshop.

Somewhat poignantly, Jarrod is the same age John was when he took over the management of the business following his father’s death as a 23-year-old.

Developing staff is a key focus of the business and John says he is excited about the next generation of young leaders coming through. “The younger group we have got, they bring something different, which is going to be good for all of us”.

John is a self-described hands-on manager who oversees every aspect of the business, but he is also quick to acknowledge the leadership roles many others play in Mitchell’s – including his second wife Lisa who is “an integral and huge part of the business”.

Now approaching its ninth decade, the Mitchell’s Livestock Transport’s story is still being written, but retaining family values is one thing that will never change, John believes. “We are definitely like a family,” John says. “We have our squabbles, for sure, and the odd crazy uncle, but the people we have are brilliant. They’ve been a massive part of our journey and they’re the best part of this job.”

Waroona

Phone: 08 9733 1246

Email: bookings@mitchellstransport.com.au

Esperance

Phone: 0429 396 054

Email: bookings@esperancelivestocktransport.com.au

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