James Hussary has spent his working life in the business of moving vehicles, and after leaving school worked as a ‘yardie’ for Toll’s car carrying division.
During the ensuing years James progressed through managerial roles in operations, and as his career developed within the industry, James earned the respect of the people he worked with.
“When I was 19 it was hard to tell someone with 30 years’ experience what to do,” he now says.
In 2021, at the urging of many of his industry contacts, James and his wife established Xpress Fleet to provide a range of vehicle transport services including dock to dealer, and wharf to warehouse deliveries for cars and trucks.
Delivery of cab-chassis to body builders is another important service, as is the subsequent pick-up and return to dealers of the customer-ready trucks.
In just three months during 2025, 100 Woollies’ home delivery trucks have been transported by Xpress Fleet.
The client list consists of mostly automotive and trucking OEMs, dealers, and fleet managers who entrust even their most prestige models into Xpress Fleet’s care.
James took delivery of Xpress Fleet’s first truck, a Mercedes-Benz Actros, in November 2021. Four additional Actros’ and two Western Stars were subsequently added.
The fleet is now 16 trucks strong and includes two Hino FD500s, two Hino FE500s, a 300-Series Hybrid Electric and a 700 SS prime mover.
To achieve his goal of efficient flexibility, James realised he couldn’t buy off the shelf equipment and decided to design and build custom trucks and trailers.
Always innovative, Xpress Fleet has been an early adopter of the latest in OEM technologies, such as the Hino Hybrid Electric truck.
James has a 916 model Hino Hybrid Electric equipped with the unique Kyokuto single car carrying body which has been engineered to provide an approach angle of essentially zero degrees, facilitating easy and damage-free loading and unloading of low ground clearance race and prestige cars.
The Hino Hybrid Electric is fitted with a second fuel tank to accommodate trips outside of metropolitan centres, such as delivering a Supercars Porsche safety car to Bathurst.
“My aim is to be different in this industry. I couldn’t be just another general car carrier and I decided versatility was needed,” says James. “I can put a helicopter or a container on a truck or seven brand new Audi RSs.”
New technologies are not restricted to equipment and Xpress Fleet is predominantly a paperless business, and the drivers operate on electric work diaries and receive their work allocations via an app.
For the Hinos, Xpress Fleet also makes good use of Hino Connect, the factory telematics system.
“Live data of the trucks is the key to running a successful business,” says James.
The larger truck carrier trailers have been built locally. The B-double is pulled by a DD16 48X Western Star and operates under PBS at 27.5 metres and features a split deck A-trailer which has the ability to be configured to accommodate medium sized ’factory’ curtainsider and freight pack trucks.
Development in modern vehicles has created the need to think outside the box about the vehicles which transport them, with features such as wheel buckets to better suit 4×4 utes and the larger Ford F150s and Toyota Tundras, meaning three of this size vehicle can be accommodated instead of just two.
“All my drivers come with experience in the industry which makes my life so much easier”, says James.
“We are all ‘car’ people, even the office staff, and we actually treat the customers’ cars as if they are ours’.”
Hino is one of a number of key clients, and James expects to complete more than 2,000 Hino truck movements during 2025, including relocating trucks from the wharves, providing storage and delivering to dealers and body builders.
Xpress Fleet has a combined 25,000m² of storage space in Sydney and Melbourne which assists customers being able to minimise wharf demurrage fees.
As a motorsport enthusiast himself, it is logical that James is involved with the Supercars Championship, stemming from his relationship with Hino which is a high profile backer of the popular series.
An integral part of this arrangement is Xpress Fleet transporting the official vehicles key to the running of the events to and from various raceways around the country including the Porsche safety and medical cars as well as the VW Amarok recovery vehicle.
As with all other cars, each vehicle is secured using four wheel restraints rather than the minimum requirement of two.
“With four, if one fails there are still three to keep it secure,” says James.
“If only two are used and one fails, then the vehicle relies on just a single remaining strap.”
Trucks being transported are restrained by four or six chain systems, depending on the body type, and extreme care is taken to ensure zero damage to components such as brake lines.
Xpress Fleet trucks run daily to Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and it’s the team’s abilities to quickly create and implement logistics solutions which sets them apart.
“We’re the one stop solution,” says James. “We are here to provide a solution to customers’ problems. It might not always necessarily be perfect, but a solution, nonetheless. That’s what gets us across the line”.
There are many examples of this lateral thinking, including a motoring journalist undertaking a car test drive experiencing a flat tyre, so the Xpress team arrange for an Uber to pick up the journo and a recovery truck to collect the car and a tyre service to repair the puncture.
One manufacturer required six vehicles to be delivered to Alice Springs to film a commercial. Four were in Melbourne and two in Brisbane which posed no problem to Xpress Fleet.
On another occasion nine dual cab utes were required to be delivered to a stadium for an NRL event, then to be picked up at half time before the crowd started to leave.
“We had a solution for them from tilt trays to the big trucks. We even had drivers shuttling cars to and from the stadium because we couldn’t get trucks to the grounds,” recalls James.
A vehicle sponsor of the NRL State of Origin series required its cars to be onsite at rounds in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, and for the vehicles to be immaculately clean and detailed, all facilitated by Xpress Fleet.
Other high profile events in which Xpress Fleet has played a part include the Women’s FIFA World Cup, the A-League Final, and the AFL Grand Final, as well as OEM events such as Hyundai’s Sydney to Perth roadshow in 2024.
In addition to event setup, vehicle delivery and detailing, Xpress Fleet can assist with permits to allow for pre-production vehicles to be driven on road such as when required for filming.
The growth of Xpress Fleet’s operation requires additional equipment. The new Hino 700 Series SS, which will be used for local and regional work, will have a larger than standard custom mattress fitted for the situation where a driver is out of hours so that they can have a proper sleep with the comfort of a cabin cooler.
“It’s all about driver safety,” says James. “The truck is also being kitted out so if Hino need it for an event it’s got the branding with every available accessory including an aero flare kit, bullbar and a stainless steel drop visor.”
Dedicated to his clients, supportive of his staff, and passionate about his vehicles, James Hussary has an infectious drive for excellence which comes from his early days in the industry.
“I had one person believe in me when I was at Toll which got me to where I am today,” James says. “Now I look at young Aussie blokes who want to have a go, and you’ve got to encourage that”.
