There’s No Business Like Transport Business

An early job in Errin-leigh Spratt’s career was in child care and she progressed to a sales-based job on the recommendations from some of the parents of the children she looked after.

This lead to a small courier company and it was only then that she became increasingly interested in much bigger trucks.

It’s also partly the reason behind her working the past decade at Brisbane-based Team Transport and Logistics where she very enthusiastically fills the busy role as Business Development Manager and Marketing, Staff and Community Engagement Leader.

“I’m now in sales, the marketing and brand ambassador and part-time fill in truck driver,” she says.

To enable her to better commit to the driving aspects of her varied role, Errin-leigh obtained her Multi Combination licence with manual RoadRanger gearbox endorsement.

Errin-leigh says that her experiences behind the wheel provides her with a much better insight from a driver’s perspective on what they deal with on a daily basis.

This change in empathy frequently means she tends to side more with the drivers than the customers.

“I used to go immediately with whatever the customer said,” says Errin-leigh.

“But then after getting my own licence and getting out there on my own or even just going with other drivers to difficult sites or difficult customers, I tend to side with the driver now.”

Errin-leigh also has the same understanding of the challenges for the Operations team.

“I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Operations during my tenure at Team Transport and I tend to side with my team in there as well,” she says.

“Overwhelmingly, in the majority of times everyone has done the best they can.”

During recent years, Team Transport and Logistics has deliberately embarked on a plan to provide a more diverse range of offerings in order to not only appeal to a wider group of potential clients, but to provide a more complete service to existing customers.

“I think a lot of transport companies that are specific to just a single type of transport such as palletised linehaul, may struggle as the world changes especially in areas of technology,” says Errin-leigh.

“The construction industry may slow down or speed up, and the import and export sectors may change radically as well.”

Additional transport services added to the Team Transport menu include crane trucks, truck-mounted forklifts and project logistics.

“We have divisions that support each other, so if our import/export wharf cartage division is slowing down, our general cartage will be picking up and supporting where any lull exists, or our projects division, or the warehousing team is producing extra revenue when we need it,” she says.

“So we’re a total one stop shop for most of our clients.”

This has required some sizeable investments into services such as providing the right facilities for working with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to provide a complete import logistics offering.

“It also means the teams need to work together seamlessly because in many cases we are dealing with large items coming off the wharves which gets our heavy haulage involved, and then back to the yard for the unpack and breakdown, and then the final deliveries,” says Errin-leigh.

“So we all band together, and if a weather event occurs freight needs to be stored so we get the warehouse team involved, and even AQUIS involved if need be, so we all work together really well in that aspect.”

After around 15 years in the transport industry Errin-leigh is qualified to make comment on the advancements in diversity and inclusion, especially in relation to women becoming more involved across multiple roles.

“As a female I’m pretty proud to say the challenges I faced back when I was starting out are very limited now,” she says.

“I’m also proud we have quite a few female drivers now as well, and I’m not the only one in Team Transport and I’m certainly not the only one with a MC licence anymore.”

Errin-leigh is considered by many to be an ambassador for women, particularly in the transport industry.

“I was when I started out but I’m more so now because I can give them a back story. The males I work with are very supportive and actually proud of me, which is very encouraging. I don’t tend to face the obstacles I used to or get the push back or the doubt of my knowledge,” she says.

Errin-leigh’s role at the company has continued to expand to now include being Events Co-ordinator and Staff and Engagement Leader.

Events include not simply the Christmas parties, but also Team Transport’s involvement in various convoys, as well as celebrations such as International Women’s Day.

Errin-leigh was the recipient of the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) Young Achiever award in 2017, and she and the company remain active members, attending all Brisbane-based QTA events.

As Staff and Community Engagement Leader Errin-leigh handles all the charity outreach programs the company involves itself in, such as its partnership with the RSPCA where they provide free transport for the adoption centres when they get large donations such as metal dog beds and large sections of cages.

To promote this important relationship a Team Transport Kenworth is now known as the ‘puppy truck’ around Brisbane.

“We originally wrapped the Kenworth in 2017, and rewrapped it last year,” says Errin-leigh.

“All the animals featured are success stories of adoptions and we happily parade that up and down the Gateway Motorway every day as it’s on container duty. I normally take it every year to convoys to really showcase it and get the word out.”

Errin-leigh considers 2025 is likely to be a defining year for Team Transport and Logistics.

“We had the biggest February we’ve had in a long time in terms of contracts coming in and I’m finding we’re changing a lot of the import items that we are moving including a lot of electric cars which we never really thought we’d get into in such a large scale,” she says.

“I’m very excited about our heavy haulage division because we have made a massive investment in buying three Kenworth T610SARs and a TIDD 28-tonne 3G mobile crane so we are positioned to support the heavy haulage space this year.”

Errin-leigh confides in us that part of her motivation in obtaining her MC licence was to have a fall-back position should she ever get out of sales. But that doesn’t now seem at all possible.

“I fall in love with my role a little more every day,” she says.