True Grit

The wide, open spaces of Western Australia’s mining country are seen by many as the land of opportunity.

For Matt Henderson that land is not only a source of opportunity, but self-fulfilment and growth.

His eponymous MDH Transport, named after Matt Daniel Henderson, has been serving clients in the civil and mining, agricultural and infrastructure sectors for the past 15 years or so.

From managing side tippers in the Pilbara, which ply their trade between Dampier and Tom Price, to a cattle hauling company in the south-west, the 40-year-old Managing Director is right at home in the great outdoors.

MDH Transport operates a civil haulage business that spans thousands of kilometres, employs 50 full-time drivers and operates a fleet of over 45 Kenworths and a mix of Volvo and Mack trucks.

The transport company has grown into a significant civil haulage operation servicing some of Australia’s biggest mining projects, while also expanding into livestock through its sister arm, MDH Livestock.

Among all this growth, the man with country in his blood feels perfectly at home; still very much hands on.

“I’m not an office person,” he says. “I run most of it from my phone, and I have a team of six people in the Perth office, and a supervisor in the north-west, who do a lot.

“I still do a bit of driving when I can.”

Business basics
MDH Transport has developed into one of the largest bulk haulage providers in Western Australia, spanning across the Pilbara region and the state’s north-west, providing civil construction and bulk haulage services, while also supplying graders and water carts.

It is Matt’s knowledge of trucks and industry experience that has seen the business recently acquire six new Minespec T659 Kenworth prime movers, to add to his fleet.

The new acquisitions have added to Matt’s growing fleet of big rigs, complemented by more than 40 sets of Side-tipper and End-tipper trailers — ideal for moving aggregate rapidly and efficiently.

This steady growth has seen the company develop a site at the Karratha LIA as well as a purpose-built yard, workshops, and accommodation facilities.

It’s clear to see the haulage company that started from one man’s self-belief and determination now has plenty of Western Australia covered.

Formative years
Starting in the dog-eat-dog world of trucking 15 years ago to where he is now running a multi-million-dollar enterprise at just 40, it’s fair to say that Matt Henderson isn’t one to wait around for something to happen.

“The old saying is, you’d never pass up an opportunity and I’m a bit of an opportunist,” he says.

“I like to act on stuff. I want to keep the business pushing along and growing and taking on new ventures. Put yourself under pressure for a while.”

Like many young men searching for a future direction, after leaving high school Matt had something of a nomadic career.

“I left school, went on the machines for a couple of years, then worked on a farm. I’ve worked for myself for probably fair bit of my life. I’ve had a bobcat business down south in Busselton and then went up north,” Matt recalls.

It was the global economic downturn in 2007 that was the spur for Matt to look further afield – the lucrative mining regions in the north, where his experience with machinery would come to the fore.

Rather than sit tight in the south-west, he was north-bound.

“No one was building houses, and it was all pretty quiet, so I got into the mining area,” Matt recalls.

The allure of driving rigs on the open road saw Matt enjoy a stint as a driver for a haulage company called Earth X logistics.

Ironically, it was the GFC of 2007-2008 that would set Matt on the trajectory that would eventually cement MDH Transport on the mining landscape.

Growing up in Western Australia’s wine-rich southwest, a career in wine making beckoned early on.

“I was actually thinking of going into the viticulture industry,” Matt explains.

He graduated from the WA College of Agriculture at Harvey, not far from his hometown of Busselton. “I got plenty of skills and certificates through that college, which basically steered me to where I wanted to go.”

But between 2005 and 2007 Western Australia’s wine industry fell in a deep hole.

It proved to be a decisive time for the young man who enjoyed working outdoors.

“People were pulling out vines, so that sort of scared me away from that. It just steered me into the earthmoving and trucks and trucks and diesel, they all sort of go hand in hand and are fun,” Matt recalls.

Early setback
It hasn’t been all plain sailing for the entrepreneurial business operator. In those formative years growth was far from linear – more stop-start.

In 2014, working in Derby, Western Australia, renowned for its diamond mining, Matt’s young business was left exposed when a client collapsed into administration amid financial turmoil.

“We were owed a lot of money. We got done over and got very little in return,” Matt recalls.

For a fledgling company with just a handful of trucks, it was a brutal hit, almost bringing the business to its knees.

“You just work harder, you just to get yourself out of that problem,” Matt says.

“Some luck probably came my way with work, and you just got to work and be there and grow with your clients. That’s the way I see it.”

That perseverance has paid off.

“Now, I’ve got a very strong and healthy relationship with my client now. I’m their go-to for anything that needs to be moved on the back of a truck,” Matt says.

That client specialises in railway building for the mining industry.

“We’d be coming up to seven years with them, working in the mining industry,” Matt says.

“That’s what it’s all about, having reliable clients, and you can supply the goods they need.”

There’s no self-pity in Matt retelling the story – just matter-of-fact resolve. He describes himself as “wired a bit different”.

“I’ve always been a hard worker, a bit like my dad. You just can’t give up. I’m a provider and I want to succeed and grow and become a bigger company,” he says.

“Your company becomes a brand. In essence, your name sort of becomes a brand. MDH Transport – that’s Matt Daniel Henderson. It’s pretty easy.

“You have to maintain that sort of attitude and I tend to work hard towards that and see what happens.”

Even a setback that large hasn’t landed a fatal blow for his business, that would have otherwise ended many operators.

Pilbara power
In the Pilbara, opportunity came as a different form in the mining industry.

Matt noticed the side tippers working on rail and civil projects – steady, essential work supporting mining infrastructure rather than mining ore itself.

“I was up there for a couple of years and then I saw these side tippers and got the idea for doing haulage for myself. And the rest is history, it all grew from there,” he says.

Matt started out with one Mac truck and then another, before heading towards the reliability of Kenworth rigs.

“In the early days, it was a bit tough and a bit nerve-wracking. You find hard times for sure.”

Mining operations around Karratha, Newman and the Pilbara have been bountiful for Matt, helping him to get a foothold.

“It’s all based around civil stuff, carting aggregates and road base for the mines’ rail lines up there,” Matt explains.

Today, MDH Transport is firmly embedded in the rail and mining sectors of Western Australia’s rich mining country, specialising in civil haulage – aggregates, road base and materials essential to maintaining and expanding rail corridors.

That niche has proven critical for the company’s continued expansion, working with top-echelon mining and energy companies.

MDH Transport’s trucks are in constant use for short haul runs, from quick 20-kilometre trips up to 200 kilometres between Dampier, Tom Price and out to Newman.

One of MDH’s major undertakings is working to maintain Rio Tinto’s 5,000-kilometre rail network across the Pilbara, linking its mines to coastal ports. MDH Transport’s trucks work within that ecosystem, supporting contractors responsible for ongoing maintenance and upgrades.

“We’re in that space of working with our client, the contractor, maintaining that rail system, as they’re constantly doing upgrades on the go,” Matt explains.

“They’re also doing the new (rail) lines and doing constant upgrades on it. We’re the leading company with the haulage side of things.”

MDH has also worked with BHP, as well as a large project for Fortescue Metals Group’s (FMG) Eliwana Rail Project railway line, in the Pilbara region. It was also the leading haulage provider on the Roy Hill mine line from 2013 to 2014.

Working in the expansive mining industry Matt knows that reliability and consistency count. “In mining, it’s all about reliable clients and being able to supply,” he says.

“It’s about growing with your clients,” he says. “You supply, you perform, and you build strong relationships.”

Kenworth country
Central to the company’s growth has been a clear preference in equipment. While Matt’s early days included Mack trucks, today his fleet leans heavily towards Kenworth.

“We’ve got the six new Kenworth T659s and we’re moving into more of them – making it nine new ones,” he says.

The Kenworth T659 has become the preference for MDH’s fleet strategy, particularly with the Pilbara civil work, where they are paired with side tippers.

“It’s their reliability and it’s about parts availability. They stand up to the harsh conditions,” he says.

“They’re easy to service, as it’s a lot easier to get mechanics to work on a Kenworth, in comparison to other brands.”

In remote Western Australia, that matters. Trucks operating along isolated rail corridors can’t afford lengthy downtime waiting for specialised parts from interstate or overseas.

“With other brands, you need specialist techs to be able to do the work, and they’ve got their own parts so you can’t buy their parts elsewhere. But with Kenworths, you can buy a lot of parts from other providers, other suppliers.”

That serviceability is critical in conditions that Matt describes as “definitely harsh”.

Matt also highlights that the Kenworth specs enable his drivers to fully complete their pre-start inspections quickly and easily, particularly with Kenworth’s tilting bonnets.

Drivers can log up to 300 hours a month on site, working in heat, dust and isolation along rail lines that cut through some of the country’s most unforgiving landscapes.

With drivers in the seat for long, arduous hours, hauling materials, Matt says the Kenworth’s truck and cabin ergonomics also weighed favourably in the latest purchase of prime movers.

Although the Karratha jobs are relatively short haul – a short 20 kilometres one day, 200 kilometres the next – the terrain multiplies the wear and tear.

The rough road conditions mean the trucks need constant maintenance.

“It’s just too vast. You’re out there in the bush, in the middle of nowhere, working along a rail network.

It’s pretty harsh out there, and the trucks get punished by the terrain,” Matt says.

“In Karratha they might only do 50,000 kilometres a year,” he says. “But it triples because of the road conditions.”

With the punishing environment, it’s no wonder that MDH Transport employs three full-time mechanics in its Karratha workshop.

While MDH currently runs around 45 Kenworths, supplemented by some Volvos and Mac trucks, Matt has a definite fleet renewal strategy, aiming to have most trucks under five years old by the end of next year.

“We have had the T659 series Kenworth models and we’ll continue to get more, and with the fleet replenishing program by the end of next year I’d like to have most of my older stuff gone and have the fleet with inside of five years,” Matt says.

“There are some old ones here. There’s some late 2000s – about 2008 to 2009. “Then they range from a handful of the trucks from 2012 to 2016, and then there’s more models from 2020 up – the newer ones.”

MDH primarily hauls the mining and rail materials using side tipper trailers, working closely with Roadwest, running a large fleet of 30 road trains, or sets.

Behind the brand
After 15 years of hauling aggregate across Western Australia’s vast and unforgiving Pilbara region, the man, who once dreamt of becoming a wine maker, often has to pinch himself at the empire he has built.

“I’m pretty humble to see where we began, and how it all started. It’s nice to see where it’s all at now,” says Matt.

Looking back at his decision to veer away from viticulture and into transport, Matt is convinced it was the right decision.

“With trucks, you can source work all through the state, but it’s not easy to do. You can’t just create work with a truck, like growing something,” he says.

“You need to use them, help that client that people want to use, and they’re all little one percenters, and just try and make your company better than someone else.”

For Matt, it’s not just about working with a good range of clients.

“You need to have good staff. I can’t do all this without my staff. They are very important to me.

“Having good, reliable staff is a is a hard thing to get. So, when you have got them, you need to hold on to them,” he said of his tight-knit team in Perth and in the Pilbara.

Although his day can be filled with managing the business, true to his nature, Matt is more than happy to roll up his sleeves.

He still splits his time between Karratha and the south-west, dividing his time between rail projects in the north and cattle runs down south.

“It’s pretty full on,” he admits. “There’s always a lot going on.”

But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m still very hands on. I still do driving myself and do a lot of the hands-on stuff myself.,” he says.

“I virtually run everything from my phone.”

Cattle calling
While civil haulage remains the core of MDH Transport’s operations, Matt has quietly expanded the business southwards by way of livestock haulage, servicing WA’s south-west, eastern wheatbelt and beyond.

The business has expanded its fleet operations into cattle transporting, starting up MDH Livestock – operating mainly in WA’s southwest and the wheat belt.

“We purchased a company called Wedderburn Transport, they’re based out of Brunswick, WA and that’s wholly and solely cattle carting,” Matt explains.

For Matt the purchase wasn’t just an opportunity to grow the business, it was a chance to get back to his roots.

“I’ve been friends with the owners for many years, and when they wanted to retire, we purchased their company, so that’s growing in the southwest of Western Australia,” he says.

“We’ve got good employees down there as well, so that we’re just in a space of building that up over the next couple of years.”

MDH Livestock currently operates a fleet of trucks transporting the cattle, with plans to keep growing.

For Matt, working in the outdoors is a big part of what makes his job interesting. “I really enjoy it. I’m not a city boy. It’s nice. Relaxing. Being outside is what I like,” he explains.

Working in the state’s cattle region, MDH Livestock is doing a lot of transporting weaner cattle, from the farms to the saleyards.

Covering the huge territory of the south-west across to Western Australia’s wheat belt, the prime movers are each doing about 150,000 kilometres a year.

With operations at opposite ends of Western Australia to manage, one would think Matt Henderson wouldn’t have time for much else. Wrong!

For the past 12 years, Matt has been involved in a car haulage business to Darwin, with two trucks travelling around 250,000 kilometres each per year.

“We’ve also got two trucks that run to Darwin hauling cars for CEVA. Those two trucks will go through to Darwin two-and-half times a month,” Matt shares.

The Darwin trucks are the high-kilometre outliers in a fleet otherwise dominated by heavy site hours rather than highway mileage. He plans to introduce two new trucks to the car haulage business in the near future.

The two trucks are currently driven by Matt’s uncle, Max Henderson, and another driver.

Max, who is “70 years’ young”, and on the verge of retiring has been travelling up and down the highway to Darwin for 10 years with MDH Transport, covering about 2.5 million kilometres in that period.

“Max is a very reliable operator doing that amount of driving for 10 years. He’s well-known up and down the highway,” Matt says.

Future focus
Despite the size that MDH Transport has reached, Matt resists growth for growth’s sake, saying: “I still like to oversee things day-to-day and have a personal relationship with our clients and customers.”

Matt’s ambition is clear. “With both the civil haulage and MDH livestock I want them to grow more and grow with demand as well,” he says.

“We’ll keep growing it, growing the company to be WA’s leading civil haulier for big civil projects going on.

“To have MDH’s name at the forefront for any big civil projects going on; for anything that needs to be hauled in and out of site.”

That drive is balanced with pragmatism borne from experience. The Kimberley setback taught him the risks of over-exposure. Choosing good clients, maintaining healthy relationships and managing fleet age are now non-negotiables.

“You’ve got to work with good people,” he says. “Choose your clients.”

As an opportunistic man – someone who won’t pass up a chance to expand or improve his business –

Matt sees pressure as a motivator, not a deterrent.

“You put yourself under pressure and just keep going,” he says.

Fifteen years on from buying his first truck, that instinct has carried MDH Transport from a small start-

up to a respected name in Western Australian haulage.

“We’ll just keep growing.”

In the vast distances of Western Australia that steady, iron resolve continues to drive MDH Transport forward.