Star Track Express, formerly Multigroup Distribution Services and Discount Freight Express is a national Australian transport and logistics company.

History

Star Track Express was founded in 1974 in Dee Why

Dee Why, New South Wales

Dee Why is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dee Why is located 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Warringah Council, and along with Brookvale is considered to be...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. In 1982, the name Discount Freight Express was adopted and the company logo was placed on the trucks for the first time. The company currently has over 55 depots and agents nationally with their head office located in Gordon, New South Wales

Gordon, New South Wales

Gordon is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gordon is located north-west of the Sydney Central Business District and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...

. The majority of the companies business is generated from express road freight, which accounts for around 90 percent of total reveune.
Greg Poche, the founder of the company, sold the business as a joint venture to Qantas

Qantas

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...

 and Australia Post

Australia Post

Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...

 on December 23, 2003.

On the 18th of May, 2011 it was announced the merger of the retail division of Australian air Express

Australian Air Express

Australian air Express is a logistics company based in Melbourne, Australia. It operates freight-only services within Australia using leased Qantas, National Jet Systems, and Pel-Air aircraft and a fleet of land vehicles...

(AaE) with Star Track Express. Star Track Express will be a solely retail-focused business and AaE will focus solely on domestic air linehaul and cargo terminal operations. The changes follow a review of the businesses guided by AUX Investments, a company established in 2010 to guide the review and provide streamlined governance across the businesses.

Timeline

• 1974 First office established in Dee Why.

• 1975 First operating terminal at Brookvale opened.

• 1976 First major client, Modern Teaching Aids, commenced trading with us. They still use Star Track Express today.

• 1979 Established Dynamite Express, a specialist road express service from Sydney to Perth. Company restructure to create separate Sales and Customer Service Divisions. Adelaide Branch opened.

• 1980 Melbourne Branch opened.

• 1982 Discount Freight Express name adopted; Company logo put on trucks for the first time. Brisbane Branch opened.

• 1984 Perth Branch opened.

• 1988 Centralised Proof Of Delivery (POD) processing and retrieval system established. Major branches connected to Wide Area Network to service customers with POD copies. Darwin branch opened.

• 1990 The Fair Dealing Policy is formalised, endorsing seventeen separate provisions which guarantees the fair treatment of all employees.

• 1991 Installation of Transport Efficiency Analysis and Management (TEAM) national computer system.

• 1992 Installation of Pickup Booking system.

• 1993 Installation of Star Track Freight Management system linked to TEAM computer system. Opening of a purpose built depot in Smithfield, Sydney. Our first depot with an automatic sortation system. Implementation of microfilm POD based computer system.

• 1995 Installation of mobile data terminals in Star Track Express trucks.

• 1996 Opening of new facility at Tullamarine, Melbourne. second barcode driven automatic sortation system. Remote access facility released to customers to view details of freight movements and key delivery information in real time including electronic POD signatory.

• 1997 "Air Courier" business, a combined air and road priority express delivery service, is re-badged as "Star Track Courier". Launch of "one stop shop" third party warehousing.

• 1999 Paperless Despatch delivery service commenced. Digital POD system implemented. New Accounting and Human Resources systems implemented. Book-in management system introduced.

• 2000 Trading name changes from Discount Freight Express to Star Track Express. Opening of Minchinbury, Sydney third barcode driven automatic sortation system capable of sorting over 16,000 cartons per hour.

• 2001 New purpose built depots in Canberra and Adelaide. Niteroad Express acquired in Western Australia, building on our existing infrastructure. National television and in-flight advertising campaign launched with a series of customer "testimonial" commercials.

• 2002 The opening of new Brisbane depot, a purpose built facility located at Darra. This completes east coast network, with automatic freight sortation systems now in place in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. New Perth depot opens at Perth International Airport. The facility brings Star Track Express and Niteroad Express together on the same site. Web Despatch introduced. New third party warehouses opened in Melbourne and Brisbane. National Enquiry Management System (EMS) introduced to all branches providing coordinated management of customer enquiries nationally. New Gatecheck Security system implemented to enable more frequent and comprehensive security checks of delivery vehicles before freight leaves the depots.

• 2003 Major expansion to Melbourne depot. New purpose built depot opens in Tuggerah. Star Track Express acquired by a joint venture between AUSTRALIA POST and QANTAS on 23 December 2003.

• 2004 Star Track Express celebrates 30 years of service. New purpose built depots opened in Geelong and Wollongong. Business Review Weekly (BRW) recognises Greg Poche's contribution to the Transport Industry with a cover page story. Sydney commissions a new 10,000 m² third party warehouse. Opening of new company operated depot on the Sunshine Coast.

• 2005 New purpose built depot opens in Bendigo. Opening of new company operated depots in Rockhampton and Dandenong.

• 2006 9,000 m² purpose built bulk facility is opened in Minchinbury, Sydney. $8.5 million upgrade to the Sydney automated freight sortation system.