We have been spending time helping with guides around services and pricing in ag, but as we come to the freight game and grain cartage rates, we are not touching pricing.
In 2024, Dillon Harrison, the founder of Broadacre Contracting, reached out to all the growers in our community and asked if he could remove trucks.
The decision that pushed Dillon to get so volatile over a sector was the rubbish that came with it, and we see in Broadacre Contracting it is still rattling through his head whether we try to help or wipe our hands of it.
As you probably read this as a freight business or an owner operator, you are probably going, “Well mate, that is bloody bullshit that we would discriminate.”
So I reckon we need to dive into this. After all, communication is the key to success.
Harvest presents its own challenges, and we are going to do the old harvest vs other times of the year.
So running a drop deck, 22 tyres, and out of those 22 tyres all it takes is to do one steer and your life, or a road user’s life and yours, may never be the same.
NHVR hounding a bloke who most of the time is doing the right thing, but gets pinged and thrown into court for a few errors on a compliance book.
We forget about this stuff though when a 15 litre Cummins is singing. It is pretty easy.
For anyone wanting to understand the compliance side better, the NHVR Chain of Responsibility page and NHVR Work Diary page are worth reading.
Oh, and do not forget diesel. 2026 has just shown us the new standard of $2.50 a litre.
Before I forget about the pits, once a year in the state of NSW, plus all the compliances and bridge permits.
We have not got it all down, but is the reader thinking the same thing here?
All of that rubbish, all of that risk, just to hear that motor purring and be on the road doing a backload.
Most freight businesses refer to harvest being the time to make money.
Yup, fair and somewhat true.
But harvest vs the rest of the year, why are we only making the real money for 4 months of the year?
Is it because at harvest time freight businesses generally deal direct with the grower, where the rest of the year there are many more parties or systems involved in the work?
Is it because the work each day of harvest is somewhat consistent?
I mean, it cannot be right. We all lose hour after hour in the paddock waiting or lined up at the grain receivals.
Mhhm interesting.
It is actually interesting that in this thought process are the answers, but do we want the answers?
We have been wrong before, we will be wrong again, and we could be wrong right now.
But what we can say is, we see a lot.
We are a proactive business that has been far from humble to create the best for the cropping sector.
Desperate people do desperate things. It is really that simple.
When a market gets saturated, the people in the market get hungry.
Strange really, because if saturated was the term for eating too much dinner, you would be full, not hungry.
So straight to the answer: pricing has overruled standards.
There are many standards, all the way from experience, attitude, quality and mentality.
We are not going to be a business who sits here and points the finger, but it is not just one end of the scales fault.
It takes two to tango, simply put.
For grain businesses thinking through grain handling, documentation and trade requirements, the Grain Trade Australia technical guidelines are a useful reference point.
Based on the conversation above, you might be wondering where Broadacre Contracting is going with the transport side in the future.
We are going to be heavily involved in the game, but we are going to be playing by a set of different rules.
Quality over quantity, encouraging how to be better, being a business and community who is going to provide education and all the right tools to give people the opportunity to grow a successful transport business and to enjoy the life whilst doing it.
So can we put our money where our mouth is?
Well, we refuse freight brokers and allocators in our systems.
We do not take any commission on any grain moved.
We do not take anything except for your subscription fee that pretty much gets spent on verifying your business, compliances and insurances.
We are going to end this here, but this is just the start.
We want to help, but the transport sector has to want the help.
Over time, if we do not progress because of that, we will be able to move on and say we did try.
These resources may help growers, freight operators and transport businesses think through compliance, responsibility, fatigue management and grain handling.
If you need transport support, want to post a grain cartage job or want to connect with the right people, Broadacre Contracting gives you a clearer place to start.
We are not here to clip the ticket on every load. We are here to help growers and transport operators do better business together.
Grain cartage rates can be based on per tonne, per kilometre, hourly rates or a mix of factors. The rate can depend on distance, wait times, loading, receival delays, diesel, truck setup, compliance costs and whether there is a backload.
Broadacre Contracting is staying away from setting grain cartage prices because transport has too many variables and the sector needs more than a race to the bottom. The focus should be quality, standards, compliance and better business.
Grain haulage rates are hard to compare because every job can involve different wait times, receival points, distances, diesel costs, truck costs, tyre wear, compliance, backload options and risk.
Compliance matters because transport operators carry serious safety, fatigue, insurance and road responsibilities. Good operators are not just moving grain; they are managing risk every time they leave the paddock or receival site.
Broadacre Contracting wants to support the transport sector through quality over quantity, education, verification, better standards and a system that does not rely on freight brokers, allocators or commission on grain moved.
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