flatbed truck Albert Toll established Toll in
Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1888. The business began by moving coal with horse and cart, and by the time of Albert's death at 95 in 1958, Toll was running a range of fleet trucks from five different locations. National Minerals purchased the business in 1959. It then became a part of mining conglomerate Peko Wallsend a decade later. Peko Wallsend utilised the Toll transport business for all its transporting needs, making Toll a popular domestic carrier across the country. The business changed name to Toll-Chadwick when its new owners wanted to blend their businesses and start using containerised shipping. By the mid-1980s, Toll-Chadwick had evolved into one of Australia’s most significant transport companies, operating beyond the nation’s capital cities.
Public company In 1993, Toll was listed on the
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The bid was not successful with Toll only gaining a 68% acceptance when 90% was required, with
Lindsay Fox using his 10.1% shareholding to veto the deal. A
scheme of arrangement, that only required 75% acceptance, was accepted with the transaction completed in March 2001. In 2003, Toll acquired New Zealand rail, road and ferry operator
Tranz Rail, while selling the rail network to the New Zealand Government. Tranz Rail was later renamed Toll Rail. Toll then sold Toll Rail, without its trucking operation, to the government in 2008. Toll’s acquisition of SembCorp Logistics (SembLog) in 2006 significantly increased Toll’s market presence and reach across South East Asia, Greater China and the Indian Sub-Continent. In this period, Toll acquired ST Logistics, a standalone subsidiary business in Singapore, which supports the Singapore Government with logistics in healthcare, defence, and homeland security. In 2008 Toll acquired BALtrans Logistics. In 2009 Toll acquired Express Logistics Group, one of New Zealand's largest freight forwarding companies. In the same year Toll acquired Logistic Distribution Systems, a Dubai-based international freight forwarding company. In 2010 Toll acquired United States freight forwarder Summit Logistics. In 2010 they acquired WT SeaAir and Genesis Forwarding. The acquisitions added significant scale to the Toll Global Forwarding division in Europe. In 2011 Toll acquired SAT Albatros, a Dubai-based provider of sea-air services. By 2014, Toll had 40,000 team members across 1,200 locations in more than 50 countries, and annual revenue of $6.5 billion. On 13 May 2015, Toll shareholders voted in favour of the acquisition. On 28 May 2015, Toll formally became a division of Japan Post. Toll remained headquartered in Melbourne and retained the Toll brand in Australia and around the world. Toll continued to grow in Asia, investing AU$228 million in Toll City, a multi-story logistics facility in Singapore in 2017. In 2020, Toll divested its logistics business in the United States, maintaining its freight forwarding operations; and on 1 September 2021, the Toll Global Express business in Australia and New Zealand was sold to
Allegro Funds and rebranded
Team Global Express. In 2023, Toll acquired a business in Australia, ASQ, an operator of uncrewed aircraft systems (drone), and became the majority shareholder in its joint venture in Dubai, CWT-SML. Today, Toll has dual headquarters in Melbourne and Singapore, with contract logistics operations across the Asia Pacific and a global freight forwarding business. In 2023, the company had 10,00 team members globally, 20,000 customers, and revenue of AU5.6 billion. ==Toll's service offering==