If you’re a truckie who runs the East Coast, you’ve no doubt spotted some of Dan Russo’s rigs.
His bright pink trucks are so eye-catching that Russo has earned himself the nickname “Pink Dan” — and he’s fully embraced it.
“I started out in concrete, and the mob that I worked for had pink trucks,” he tells Deals on Wheels.
“When I left there and had my own pink truck, I got a bit of a following as ‘Pink Dan’.
“The pink stands out and people remember it, so I just rolled with it!”
From humble beginnings with just one Hino, Russo now owns a fleet of eight trucks with his company Dan’s Trucking, delivering bulk commodities across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
“If it can be tipped, we cart it,” he says.
“Grains, fertilisers, livestock feeds…
“We’ve got a tanker as well, and a walking floor, which does bark and light bulk materials.”
Coming from a long line of greengrocers, Russo broke the mould when he went into road transport.
“I come from six generations of greengrocers and my dad is still in fruit and veg,” he says.
“We had a truck for the shop, and I was always around trucks at the markets, so I had a love for them.
“I had my truck licence so I decided to leave the family business and broaden my horizons!”
Russo loves owning his own transport company, but admits it can be difficult.
“It’s 24/7, 365 days a year,” he says.
“There’s no off switch, and it’s mentally, physically and financially draining!”
With two young kids, six-year-old Sadie and two-year-old Oscar, it’s a challenge juggling work with family life.
“I’m lucky that my wife Jen comes from a nursing background, so she understands me having to work long hours.
“Her career has taken a bit of a hit for the business, post children as well.
“I’m mindful that she wants to work, and deserves to work, but it’s hard when she’s trying to sleep and I’m getting phone calls, and we have two children in school and day care.
“I’m grateful to her for being so understanding.”
With Dan’s Trucking experiencing major growth since Russo bought his first truck in 2018, does he have a secret to success?
“I’m a workaholic,” he admits.
“We also have a great team, from the drivers to the mechanics to administration, to the families of the drivers.
“It’s a massive team effort.”
Russo’s pet peeve in the transport industry is people with big egos.
“This might stir people up, but truckies don’t seem to remember where they started.
“If they see someone broken down, they tend to ignore them rather than asking if they can help.
“It grinds my gears, because I started in a simple Hino concrete truck and I would never turn down my nose at anyone.”
His advice to other operators starting out is to never make a decision in the heat of the moment.
“There will be times when you get a call in the middle of the night that a truck’s done an engine or a gearbox in the middle of nowhere, and you feel like banging your head against the wall,” he says.
“You’ve just got to take a deep breath and relax.
“It can really pay to stop, think and come up with the best course of action.
“Going out on your own can be tough, but it has its rewards. It’s all about the bigger picture.”