Mainfreight was founded by Bruce Plested and Neil Graham in March 1978. Both men are still significant shareholders in the business.

Mainfreight grew quickly, maintaining a strong focus on four guiding principles.

• To provide better service and standards
• To promote a team approach to problem solving and profit making
• Look after the customers, as they are the future
• Aim for at least a 100-year company

The company was publicly listed on 14 June 1996 on the NZ stock exchange (MFT).

Investment in Australia was driven by a vision to let our customers treat NZ and Australia as one market, with Mainfreight providing the bridge across the water and the hubs at each end.

The business now has interests in the USA and Asia. People development, service capability and technology have been primary focus elements as we strive to achieve world class performance. Our team culture is very strong with team members sharing equally in the percentage of pre-tax profit at a branch level.

Mainfreight continually invests in the long-term future of the company. There is a healthy blend of property investment and logistics infrastructure. Purpose-built facilities are critical to ensure service levels are met and enduring cost reduction in the long term.