OzWide Freight’s Luke Ashton takes immense pride in his business and the community he serves – exemplifying what it means to be part of the Australian trucking industry
Pride and passion run deep through Luke Ashton’s veins. Pride in himself and his achievements, his family, his employees and his business. And passion for his industry, his communities and, just as importantly, his country.
The depth of these feelings are proudly on display across OzWide Freight’s immaculately presented fleet, from the company logo set against the backdrop of a map of Australia and a hopping kangaroo in full flight, to the Australian flag and green and gold livery featured across all of his trucks and trailers, to the eye-catching custom artwork on its trailers.
Starting out in 2020 with a special Anzac-themed truck – a tribute to his grandfather – the fleet also includes combinations supporting ‘Wounded Heroes’, a program dedicated to helping soldiers who have returned from service, and, most recently, a testimony to ‘Aussie Legends’ Shane Warne, Slim Dusty, Steve Irwin, Don Bradman and Ned Kelly.
While the high-profile fleet comprising largely Kenworths and Western Stars is certainly great branding and marketing for the business, which marks its 20-year milestone in 2026, the motivation runs much deeper for Luke.
“I love our business being known for that. You spend the extra money on it because you can. You want them to stand out and to get people talking,” he says proudly.
I love our business being known for that. You spend the extra money on it because you can. You want them to stand out and to get people talking.
But, he adds, it also reflects an underlying concern about declining patriotism in Australia. “I love how patriotic Americans are. I think we’ve just lost it totally in our country.”
From little things …
Born and bred on the Gold Coast, Luke had a passion for all things trucking from a young age.
“I grew up around trucks. One of my best mates I grew up with, his dad managed JJ Richards on the Gold Coast. And we’d go out to Molendinar, the original yard they had there, and help put wheelie bins together. We used to get in and clean trucks out, and we’d move them around and park them up,” he recalls fondly.
After completing his trade as a plasterer, Luke moved into transport managing the Brisbane operation of national carrier Region Peak.
But he soon had a hankering to branch out on his own. “I was doing massive hours and I just got to the point where another mate of mine, who had trucks, said ‘why don’t you do it for yourself?’ I’d grown up on the Gold Coast, so I had clients down there I knew, and I just thought ‘yeah. I’ll give it a go’.”
The business kicked off around 2003 (though OzWide was not officially registered until 2005), with Luke’s first truck an old Volvo FL which he steered moving freight between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and out to Toowoomba, before expanding to a fleet of around six trucks travelling as far afield as Melbourne.
Not only is every truck checked mechanically and washed after a trip, all of OzWide Freight’s trucks and trailers carry the bold OzWide branding. Images: Thomas Wielecki
Northern horizons
Crucial to OzWide’s growth was the fortuitous recruitment of now General Manager Michael (Mick) Miller, who brought with him almost three decades’ experience as a state manager/operations manager with Sadliers Logistics.
“Mick’s here every day, he does everything. I’ll never replace him. Me and him have got a good relationship. He looks after me, I look after him and … I stay out of his way,” Luke says.
“He’s helped me grow it to what it is today,” he adds, noting this has been crucial in diversifying the business and reducing its early reliance on a key customer that once accounted for as much as 70 per cent of income.
“Obviously that’s always a worry. And that was my plan when I brought Mick on. I needed to get away from that. And we have. We still do a fair bit of work for them, but I just never wanted to have that feeling again where someone had so much over me. And now, while no one wants to lose a client, if we do it’s not going to be detrimental to us.”
With Mick onboard, OzWide expanded into North Queensland, starting out with two runs a week. Leveraging Mick’s contacts across the west, the company then added Brisbane-Perth as its second major route.
Today, its fleet of approximately 70 trucks, including around 30 line-haul combinations, operate eight-10 trips per week to Western Australia and 20-24 to North Queensland, carrying a wide range of palletised freight including agricultural produce, medical equipment, building and construction materials, mining supplies, and food and beverages.
I was doing massive hours and I just got to the point where another mate of mine, who had trucks, said ‘why don’t you do it for yourself?’
While its core focus remains transport services, OzWide also offers warehousing, with 8,000 square metres under roof at its 20,000-square-metre HQ at Crestmead in Brisbane’s west – plus depots in Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton.
Keeping it simple
Luke attributes the business’s success to good-old-fashioned customer service.
“All my depot managers are responsible for their operations, and they’re accountable for answering their phone, and that’s what we sell,” he says.
“You don’t have to always ring the customer service girls in the office. You can ring me, or Mick, directly and we can tell you exactly what’s going on, or where your freight is. Or if there’s anything urgent or anything out of the ordinary, we can make it happen.
“In a world where people can track that sort of stuff on their phone that’s obviously still valuable. [And online tracking] is only as good as the person that’s scanning your freight. It’s subject to human error.
“And we see that on a daily basis with trailers getting loaded. We can see what’s being missed. The girls do a report every day, then they come down and give it to Colin, and Colin can see what drivers aren’t scanning their freight when they do the pickup, what drivers aren’t scanning their freight when they get back to the depot, and then when we load and we’re missing stuff. So, we try to stay on top of that as much as we can.”
Born and bred on the Gold Coast, OzWide Freight founder Luke Ashton had a passion for all things trucking from a young age. Images: Thomas Wielecki
The business’s other key point of difference, Luke believes, is the “way we present ourselves”.Not only is every truck checked mechanically and washed after a trip (with accountability assured by a simple sticker system signifying who did the work), all trucks and trailers carry the bold OzWide branding.
“Everyone knows who we are. Our branding is everywhere. We always get comments, especially up north, especially from the older generations when they see the Anzac set,” Luke says.
OzWide is also a big believer in supporting the local communities in which it lives and operates. The company has been a long-time sponsor of local sporting clubs including the Redland-Victoria Point Australian Football Club, the West Townsville Thuringowa Bulldogs Australian Football Club and the Redbacks Suburban Parks Cricket Club.
Most recently, it stepped in as major sponsor of the Little Ships Club’s annual ‘Pig Day Out’, held in the township of Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island, located just off the coast from Brisbane.
Luke and his family have a strong connection to ‘Straddie’, with his wife’s family hailing from the island. They now own a holiday home in the small township of Amity Point, to which they escape as often as work and family commitments allow.
“Obviously, we’ve got a connection to Straddie. We get over every chance we can. The pig races have been run for the past two years and they were close to pulling the pin on it this year due to the cost and the difficulty getting volunteers to run it, so I just said I’ll sponsor the day to give you a head start … and it all happened again,” he says.
Everyone knows who we are. Our branding is everywhere. We always get comments, especially up north, especially from the older generations when they see the Anzac set.
For Luke, the race day is about more than just the races – a truly unique event that involves punters betting on a field of pigs manically racing through a small obstacle course, with the first to the bowl of sour milk the winner. Only in Australia!
As the promo says: “It’s about bringing people together at the Club. It’s about families on the lawn, friends catching up over lunch, kids enjoying the day, and the community coming together for something fun, light-hearted and unmistakably Straddie.”
While Luke and his mates had a cracking day enjoying a few beers and betting big on all seven races, unfortunately after winning three races last year, they struck out this time around, not managing to win a single race.
“Yeah, we had a pig in every race but didn’t win one. It was a good day, though, everyone was pretty cheery by the end,” he says.
The road ahead
OzWide is a family affair, with wife Bec and daughter Amity (yep, named after the Straddie township!) both working in the business. Son Archie, 16, has just begun an apprenticeship at Brown and Hurley – and while he’s expressed an interest in joining the fray, Luke’s not so sure he wants him to enter the industry.
Somewhat sadly, he laments the state of the industry, including the ever-increasing pressures of owning and running a transport business in Australia – especially the constantly rising costs and regulatory burden.
OzWide is a big supporter of the communities in which it operates, from sporting clubs to community organisations like the Little Ships Club on North Stradbroke Island. Images: Thomas Wielecki
“I can feel myself losing the passion for it. I’ve done it for so long now. It’s definitely hard when you’re trying to stay on top of all the different areas and processes in your business.
“And worrying about whether we have got enough freight this week, whether we’ve done everything right, whether we’re going to get another fine this week. We’re getting fines every week for really petty stuff and it makes it harder to get drivers, which we’re struggling with as it is,” he says.
“They [enforcement agencies] say it’s about safety, but it’s not. And drivers are now getting pulled over for petty shit.
“And the regulators can now go through their trucks and through their bags. Like, who wants to deal with that? They’re treated like criminals. Our whole industry is.
“The problem is that it’s affecting companies like us that are trying to do our compliance right, trying to pay our staff right, trying to do everything by the book. But you just never seem to be able to get on top of it.
“And then when you do, they rewrite the rules. With the new HVNL [Heavy Vehicle National Law], we’ve got to throw all the old stuff out and then redo it all. That’s thousands of dollars [of work].
We’re getting fines every week for really petty stuff and it makes it harder to get drivers, which we’re struggling with as it is.
“And you need to have people that are trained and understand all the changes, and they probably don’t want to as they get sick of the changes. Finding compliance people is hard now because there’s so much liability.
“I just wish the government could be held to account like we are. Because at the moment, they’re doing everything they can to ruin us.
“Whatever happens in the future, whether there’s just Toll and Linfox, whatever the prices are, when that happens, everyone deserves what they get, because we’ve let it happen.”
Amid these challenges, OzWide continues to grow and Luke remains committed to his roots and values. He takes immense pride in his business and the community he serves – exemplifying what it means to be part of the Australian trucking industry.
Whether it’s hauling freight or honouring veterans, Luke and his team are not just driving trucks – they’re driving a legacy of pride and patriotism across Australia’s highways.
The OzWide Freight fleet comprises approximately 70 trucks, including around 30 line-haul combinations, with an increasing number Kenworths. Images:Thomas Wielecki
The Kenworth Connection
In 2018, Luke made a significant investment in his fleet: he purchased his first Kenworth, which still proudly serves in OzWide’s operations today.
“You can see the way they’re built – they’re built for our country and for Australian conditions,” he explains.
After experimenting with various truck brands, Luke quickly realised why Kenworth stands out in the industry. He says drivers are drawn to the comfort and reliability of Kenworths.
“We had one driver who said, ‘Oh, I won’t drive anything else.’ He’d be happy to quit if he didn’t have a Kenworth,” Luke says with a chuckle.
The brand’s reputation is solidified by the strong relationships OzWide Freight maintains with Kenworth dealerships, such as Brown and Hurley.
