“The roads are rare to travel, and life seems all complete;

The grind of wheels on gravel, the trot of horses’ feet,

The trot, trot, trot and canter, as down the spur we go —

The green sweeps to horizons blue that call for Cobb and Co”

From the poem – “The lights of Cobb and Co” by Henry Lawson

Who or what was Cobb & Co?

Cobb & Co was a coach company established in 1853 in Melbourne, Australia by a small group of Americans to service the Victorian goldfields. This was before the advent of railways. The company won mail contracts, gold escort, passenger and mail service contracts based on reliable and efficient schedules. The company pioneered transport routes, delivering mail, gold and passengers throughout the country and contributed greatly to social growth and the expansion of pastoral settlement across Australia.

The business grew rapidly up until the early 20^th Century. At its peak, its coaches travelled 44,800km each week, over 11,200 km of regular routes with over 6,000 horses were harnessed every day. Its network of tracks extended further than those of any other coach system in the world. The network extended from far north Queensland to Victoria and South Australia in the south, covering all of eastern Australia, an area larger than Western Europe. The logistics of operating without the information technology of today defies belief.

In 1924, the last coach trip was completed between Yuleba and Surat in Queensland. Two years before the last trip, Qantas launched its first mail and passenger flight, signally the changes in transport technology such as railways, aeroplanes and motor vehicles. This meant Cobb & Co’s days were numbered.

Cobb & Co’s operational success mirrored my earlier days managing an interstate vehicle transport operation.

What are the lessons for managers today in the rise of Cobb & Co’s?

• Technology

Cobb & Co: Coach design. The existing coaching companies used English vehicles that were heavy and had stiff metal springs. They were totally unsuitable for the rugged Australian landscape. Cobb & Co imported coaches from the American West, that were light weight, had leather straps as suspension systems and were far better suited to Australian conditions. This resulted in a faster and smoother ride.

Transport Company: The vehicle transport business was so successful that at the time it transported over 60% of all locally manufactured vehicles in Australia. Supported by on-board computers which were in their infancy, the significant difference to the competition was a revolutionary designed car carrying trailer that transported 10 cars instead of 8, with a revolutionary sliding axle and fifth wheel allowing the truck to travel off B-Double routes which the opposition could not match. Whereas Cobb & Co had the best coach design, we had the best technology in trailer design for vehicle transport.

• Planning and Efficiency

Cobb & Co: The ability to regularly change horses provided the competitive edge over the company’s rivals.  Horse changing stations were placed every 16-32 km along their routes, whereas their competitors had much greater distances. Fresh horses meant the coaches could maintain high speeds across long distances. This allowed the business to grow quickly and win lucrative mail and gold escort contracts combined with the rapid increase in rural settlement across Australia. Horses, harnesses, stables, grooms and stock feed supplies were organised; booking offices were set up in major towns and inns, shanties and post offices were used to service the passengers enroute.

Transport Company: With motor car manufacturing sites in Melbourne and Adelaide and a strategically located hub based in rural NSW, the transport company was through careful planning and geographically located drivers was able to run trucks continuously for over 6 days per week. Drivers changed over every 10 hours, keeping within the legal driving hours whilst more than doubling the number of kilometres travelled per week that was considered the industry average. This was before GPS technology. Much like the change-stations in the Cobb & Co network of over 130 years ago.

• People

Cobb & Co: The success of Cobb & Co was largely due to its people, from its coachbuilders to grooms, innkeepers, horse breeders, managers and drivers. The drivers, with their extraordinary skills with horses established the company’s reputation and ensured the service operated to the highest possible standard in all weathers, whether on bush tracks or well-maintained roads. At each changing station the grooms were responsible for 8-10 horses and their equipment.  Two kms out from the change station, the driver would sound a bugle alerting the groom, who would have a fresh horse team harnessed by the time the coach arrived.

Transport Company: If there is anything that makes a business successful, it’s the people. Like Cobb & Co we had a team that was prepared to ‘think outside the square’, customer and service focussed, understood what could be achieved and successfully planned the daily and weekly operations. This was backed up by choosing, training and rewarding our driving team who like Cobb & Co were proud of their position in the industry.

Post Note: Cobb & Co eventually failed through a combination of factors. If you are interested in the history of Cobb & Co, I would recommend the book Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Cobb & Co by Sam Everingham

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