THE sheep and cattle livestock cartage division of TRAC Transport has been sold to Mitchell's Livestock Transport.
The deal, completed this month, will see TRAC retain its bulk cartage service to the region but its livestock transport services will operate under the banner of Esperance Livestock Transport.
Mitchell's Transport chief executive officer John Mitchell said acquiring the TRAC livestock fleet was an important opportunity to expand their small foothold in Esperance.
"We established Esperance Livestock Transport in November 2016 with Steve Crawford at the wheel of a brand new prime mover and C-train," Mr Mitchell said.
"Steve has a 20-plus year association with the Esperance region and has done a great job for us and now the TRAC Transport purchase enables us to grow our Esperance-based fleet, building on a business that shares a very similar set of values and culture to us.
"We have also elected to retain the Esperance name on our fleet down there to ensure every time one of our trucks is on the road we are promoting the Esperance region brand."
All the existing drivers and staff have been retained during the acquisition and the livestock cartage service will continue to operate out of the TRAC yard.
Mr Mitchell paid tribute to TRAC's owners Peter and Billy Bartlett who he said had forged an excellent customer base on the back of an excellent livestock trucking service in the region.
"The Bartletts also have a strong sense of community values and got behind many of the Esperance sporting clubs and community groups through sponsorship of their major events,'' Mr Mitchell said.
"We also recognise that the farms don't thrive without a thriving community and our intention is to continue the community support culture that the Bartletts have established."
