Wellcamp Airport, Inland Rail brings RDO Equipment’s national distribution hub to Charlton

The CEO of one of Australia’s largest farming, mining and forestry machinery dealerships said he was enticed to the region by Wellcamp Airport and the promise of Inland Rail.

RDO Equipment is building its national distribution hub at Charlton, west of Toowoomba. It is expected to be complete by August 2024 and will employ more than 200 people.

RDO Equipment has broken ground on its new national distribution hub at Charlton that, when complete, will employ more than 200 people.

The 7.4 hectare site on Witmack Road will cost about $40 million to build and will serve as warehouse, dealership and distribution hub servicing RDO Equipment’s 29 branches across Australia.

RDO Equipment has its origins as a family-owned US business and consolidated its Australian interests when it acquired ownership of Toowoomba-headquartered Vanderfield along with Vermeer Equipment Holdings in 2020.

It supplies heavy machinery to the farming, forestry, transport, construction and resource sectors and is now one of the world’s largest John Deere dealers.

CEO Phil Canning said the company selected Charlton because it was close to Wellcamp Airport and the proposed Inland Rail route.

“The Charlton hub will be our biggest site,” he said.

“Along with distribution we will also have a technology centre there.”

RDO Equipment CEO Phil Canning.

“We collect data, process it and provide that information back to farmers so they can make the right decision around water allocations, land use and crop cycles.”

“We have a team of tech people and agronomists who work with farmers and we want to build that team out.”

The team is supported with a fleet of aircraft that service farmers from North Queensland to Tasmania, so having an airport in the hub’s backyard is handy.

Mr Canning also said he hoped to use the Inland Rail to move equipment around regional New South Wales and Victoria.

“We identified the site about two years ago and then got into in-depth discussions with Gary Gardner, from FKG Group.

“We have another major investment coming in Emerald and we wanted a good solid business that understands our values, we also wanted to work with a family business and that is what FKG is.

“By the time we put inventory and fit out it will easily be more than a $150 million investment, so it is a really big commitment.”

Work on the site has already started and it is expected to be complete by August 2024.