In December 1964, Gerard Cassegrain founded Expressway Spares. While many years have passed since the company started, the core values of the business remain the same.
Expressway Spares have come a long way since the purchase of their first piece of equipment in 1965, a Caterpillar D7 3T. Recently, the company was successful tendering for 52 machines that were at the end of life for the owner of the equipment.
Patrick Cassegrain, who has been working in the family business for 45 years and for the last 30 years as Managing Director, said it was a once in a lifetime deal.
“I have not heard of anyone buying 52 used machines in one purchase like this,” said Patrick.
“The open tender process was worked on by a small team internally and the purchase includes Cat D11 dozers (T’s and R’s), Cat 789C dump trucks, Cat 24H graders, Cat 16H graders, Hitachi EX 3600 excavators, Komatsu 830E dump trucks and more.
“The purchase allows us to better support our customers who are running these types of machines. We utilise the equipment we purchase to create parts and components (used and reconditioned) for sale.
“We will not be putting these machines out to hire, instead we will be selling some of the complete running machines to existing customers and breaking down the rest for much needed parts and componentry to support our customer’s requirements. Our customers appreciate that we are there to serve them and not compete with them in the hire business.” said Patrick.
This type of integrity is at the core of how the business operates. From looking after their customers, to looking after their employees, it’s a true family business. Patrick shared why the company has such great retention and longevity of staff.
“The family culture and positive work environment keeps our staff very happy. We simply try and keep everyone informed and involved. Around one third of our staff have been with us more than a decade, so I feel we are doing some things right,” said Patrick.
Geoff Fowler, who is the National Operations Manager, has been working at Expressway Spares for 48 years, starting there just before Patrick. Currently he is the longest serving staff member and said that it’s the culture that makes him happy to come into work every day.
“As Patrick says the family culture brings a lot to the workplace and all staff are treated as family, not just numbers,” said Geoff.
“Personally, I really enjoy the day-to-day interaction with staff, suppliers and customers and this recent large purchase we have completed makes work interesting and challenging to be honest. It’s very exciting times ahead for the whole team.”
Expressway Spares have five branches, their head office at Wauchope plus Mt Thorley and Gunnedah in NSW, Mackay in Queensland, and Perth in WA.
“We’ve got good coverage in all the major mining areas, and we are always looking to help equipment owners keep their machines running as long and as successfully as possible,” said Patrick.
“We remain committed to our existing and new customers that come along and whilst we’ve been in business for almost 60 years, we intend to keep going for a long time to come and purchases like this recent one allows us to supply our customers well into the future.”
