Stonestreets Coaches operate depots across Queensland including Gladstone, Dalby, Ipswich, Roma, Chinchilla and the Bowen Basin with a large scale depot and Head Office in Toowoomba. Stonestreets large modern fleet of over 300 vehicles includes mini buses, luxury coaches and 4x4 buses available for wet or dry hire.Stonestreet's Coaches have been operating since 1983. During this period the company has grown from a three bus operation to a fleet of approximately 300 vehicles. Current Directors Phil Stonestreet and Bev Mules have drawn on the knowledge they have gained from many years in bussing supplemented by the extensive experience of their father Keith, who has been involved in the bus industry since 1975. On 1 January 1975 Keith Stonestreet, in partnership with his previous employer Allan Buttsworth, purchased three second hand buses to form 'Belvedere Bus and Coach Lines'in Newcastle, New South Wales. The partners added another three buses before selling the business in 1977. Keith and his wife Phyllis then operated a Caravan Park in Taree before moving to Dubbo in 1978 where Keith was appointed Manager of Love's Dubbo Bus Service, which operated 12 buses on town and school services. Keith grew the business substantially, focusing on charter and touring work and overseeing the construction of a new Depot. Eldest sons Allan and Wayne as well as son in law Garry, were all involved in the operations of the business, which changed its trading name in 1984 to Stonestreet's Dubbo Bus & Coachlines. The difficult decision to sell the Dubbo business was made in 1985, following this the family returned to the hospitality industry, purchasing the Golden West Motel.In 1989 Keith and Phyllis purchased a single bus run from Mogriguy to Dubbo, which they sold in 1991 to Fraser's Coaches, moving to Murwillumbah to found the 'Murwillumbah Bus Service' supplemented by the purchase of Tweed Valley Service Coaches. Bev moved to Murwillumbah to drive during this period while Phil worked for a number of other bus companies including Skennars, Polley's Coaches and McCafferty's. In 1992, after considering a number of Queensland bus companies, the family sold the Murwillumbah business and purchased the Centenary Heights and Middle Ridge Bus Service in Toowoomba. Keith and Phyllis, along with Allan and Phil, initially operated the three bus operation which incorporated two Bedfords and an Isuzu utilised on a regular town service to Centenary Heights and Middle Ridge and a morning and afternoon school run. Keith and Allan operated the town run, Phyllis took phone calls and managed the books, while Phil responded to quotes and completed the bus maintenance. The Isuzu was replaced with a second hand Mercedes Benz 0305 and a Denning Landseer coach was added for charter work. In 1994 Bev also joined the business. This period saw the acquisition of a share of Dunkley's Coaches and the purchase of three additional school runs from Cambooya, Greenmount and Wyreema. The fleet was further expanded with the addition of two AEC Swift 760s and a Hino AM100 minibus. In 1995 the company moved to a property at Sowden Street in Drayton in order to house the growing fleet. This was quickly followed by a move to an even larger site at the current Depot location on the corner of Warwick and Yaldwyn Streets, purchased from Max Sedl.In 1997 a satellite operation was established at Roma following the purchase of the Mitchell school run. This year also saw the purchase of the family's first new vehicle, a 54 seat 1997 MCA Classic III coach which was based in Toowoomba. In 1999 Stonestreet's submitted a tender for the transportation of construction workers to the Millmerran Power Station (located 80km South West of Toowoomba). Bechtel awarded the contract to Stonestreets which resulted in 17 vehicles being mobilised to this project which ran from 1999 to 2002. Following the completion of the contract the company acquired the remainder of Dunkley's Coaches and a portion of the Cambooya school run. A further lucrative contract with Bechtel resulted in over 30 buses being mobilised to transport construction workers on the Darwin LNG project, 25 new Hino, Iveco and Renault air conditioned coaches were purchased to service this project which ran through to 2006. at the end of 2006 Stonestreet's purchased seven Dalby school runs and an additional five buses from French's Coaches. Geeford Coaches was also acquired during this period.A third contract with Bechtel was awarded in 2007 to service the Yarwun #2 Smelter, this resulted in the establishment of a permanent base in Gladstone. In the following three years Stonestreet's acquired a number of other companies and services including additional Dalby school runs, the Ipswich Grammar and Girls Grammar School runs, Gold Coast Travel Club Aries Tours, the remainder of French's Coaches and Toowoomba Transit Coaches. In 2011 over twenty buses were purchased to service additional contracts in the Bowen Basin and Gladstone area including projects with BMC at Daunia and South Walker Creek. At the end of this year Stonestreets signed their largest contract to date to transport over 600,000 workers a year during Bechtel's construction of the three LNG plants on Curtis Island. In the period since 2011 the fleet and business has expanded further as a result of a number of projects in the Surat Basin as well as a significant increase in charter work serviced from the company's permanent Depots in Toowoomba, Dalby, Gladstone, Ipswich and Roma. Stonestreets now operates apporoximately 300 vehicles and employs almost 400 staff. Stonestreets remains a fully family owned business and Directors Phil and Bev have been joined in the business by Bev's daughter Michelle who has moved into the role of Operations Manager.
Company Name | Stonestreets Coaches Pty Ltd |
Business Category | Mining |
Address | 78 Warwick Street Toowoomba Queensland Australia ZIP: 4350 |
President | NA |
Year Established | NA |
Employees | NA |
Memberships | NA |
Hours of Operation | NA |
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Website | Locked content |