Board Members

Neil Findlay owned and operated Australian transport and logistics businesses for over 30 years until their sale in 2007.

These businesses won multiple, often repeat State & National awards in the government & private sectors in fields such as training, industry excellence & quarantine. 

Neil has been a director of the Australian Trucking  Association, NatRoad and Chair of TruckSafe.

Neil, an active speaker and writer has travelled extensively in third world countries undertaking relief & support work, and remains heavily involved in Not-For Profit fields spanning youth rehabilitation through to aged care.

He is currently:

• A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport.
• Deputy Chair of the Performance Based Standards Review Panel.
• An active residential property investor.
• Director of Circadian Australia, Used Trailers and Yukana Retirement Village.

Andrew Rankine inaugurated and chaired both the Port of Brisbane Landside Logistics Forum and the Ports Australia Logistics Working Group until his retirement in 2023. He also chaired the Operational Industry Sub Committee (OISC), which was a sub-committee of the Queensland Ministerial Freight Council.

Andrew has considerable experience in the development and operation of high productivity vehicles and as a road manager.

Prior to 1992 Andrew served for 23 years in the Regular Army as an artillery officer, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Andrew Higgins is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and team leader at CSIRO Environment, based in Brisbane, Australia. Andrew received his PhD from Queensland University of Technology in 1996 on the topic of optimising rail freight timetables. He has a passion in developing novel methods to optimise transport & logistics to increase profitability and resilience across the supply chains. Andrew started his career in CSIRO developing innovative tools to better manage seasonal harvest planning of sugarcane in Australia, and improving the logistics between harvesting sugarcane, transportation to the mill and marketing. Andrew expanded the research to a range of other agricultural applications, including harvest planning of horticulture and monitoring food safety risks across the supply chain, under seasonal climate variability.

From 2012, Andrew led the development of Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT), which is a state-of-the-art model for assessing and optimising infrastructure investments (road upgrades, use of rail versus road, processing and storage facilities) and impacts from weather related disruptions. The research has been used to inform a range of major infrastructure investments including the northern Australia Beef Roads Programme, Road and Rail Resilience Review and Inland Rail, saving millions of dollars per year in transport costs. The research has now been extended to Vietnam and Indonesia, addressing transport inefficiencies from up-country production to domestic and cross boarder markets. In 2020, Andrew was awarded the CSIRO medal for Impact from Science.

Neil Scales has 40 plus years of experience in the public, private and manufacturing sectors. Neil is now semi-retired and has shifted his focus to consultation and advising boards on all matters engineering, transport, leadership, and change management.

Neil is passionate about life-long learning, First Nations issues, and mentoring others and aims to continue to contribute in these areas.

As well, Neil is currently on the High Speed Rail Authority as a board member. He is also currently the Deputy Chair of the Australian Road Research Board and a board member of the Tourism and Transport Forum, Police- Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) Queensland and the Queensland Transport and Logistics Council.

Prior to semi-retirement, Neil was Director-General of the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Queensland for over a decade, where he proudly championed accessibility, safety, and domestic and family violence awareness. He was also the Government Champion for the Woorabinda Indigenous community – a role he was deeply passionate about.

Before moving to Australia, Neil was one of the United Kingdom’s most senior public transport executives. He was Chief Executive and Director-General of Merseytravel, the transport authority for Merseyside in the north of England.

Paul Kahlert is the Chief Executive Officer of All Purpose Transport (APT), a Queensland-based logistics business headquartered in Berrinba (Logan). He has been with APT since 1988 and has held senior leadership roles since 2002.

APT employs more than 400 people, including 290 owner-drivers, and services a portfolio of blue-chip customers such as IKEA, Cotton On, Castrol, and Rheem. The business has proudly operated in Queensland for over 50 years.

Recognising the challenge of an ageing workforce, APT launched an innovative workforce development program in 2012 to skill its entire team to Certificate III or higher. Thirteen years on, APT is regarded as the most qualified transport company in Australia. On the strength of this initiative, Paul was awarded a study fellowship by the ISS Institute, enabling him to research global best practices in workforce retention across the United States.

In 2023, APT received national recognition, winning the Australian Training Award for Large Employers for its industry-first workforce development initiative.

Innovation is another hallmark of APT. Since 2019, the company has introduced a growing fleet of electric trucks for new furniture deliveries, now operating 40+ zero-emission vehicles in Brisbane and reducing its carbon footprint by more than 60 tonnes of CO₂ each month.

Paul also holds long-standing industry leadership positions. He is a member of SCLAA and CILTA, and a current Board Member (and former President) of the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA).

Lauren Hewitt has demonstrated ability to liaise, interpret and mediate between parties facing critical environmental challenges. This has included work in project development for Queensland’s energy producers as well as GM Policy of Queensland’s peak agricultural body, AgForce.

In 2015, Lauren was awarded Queensland Rural Woman of the Year. Lauren applies her skills considering and improving the efficiency and footprint of the freight sector as CEO of the Queensland Transport and Logistics Council.

The activities of the QTLC and the advice the Council provides to Government are shaped and supported by the contributions of key freight and industry stakeholders through their membership and participation in QTLC Working Groups.

The Working Groups are convened as needed in response to critical issues related to Access and Regulation; Infrastructure and Planning; and Intermodal matters.

Industry are invited to to join the QTLC as members and participate in the Working Groups. As a member of the Working Group Register, you will be called upon from time to time to provide advice and expertise on issues relevant to your industry and/or organisation.

Your contribution will help shape the QTLC’s advice as we work with TMR to address current and emerging issues impacting the efficient and productive movement of freight.

Please direct any membership enquiries to admin@qtlc.com.au