PFM Turns 30

30 + Years of experience moving sensitive freight across Australia.

200 + People working together to move business further, safer.

30 + Years ahead, built on trust, innovation and strong partnerships.

Every journey starts with an idea.

Thirty years ago, PFM began with one simple idea.

After leaving a career in accounting, Grahamme McDougall took a chance on building something of his own. With a handful of industry relationships and an opportunity to broker freight, Personalised Freight Management was born — a name that reflected a simple belief: freight should be personal, accountable and built around the customer.

The first customer was the Queensland Arts Council, and from there, the business began to grow.

In those early years, every decision mattered. Every customer mattered. Grahamme tracked every dollar by hand in diaries he updated week after week for more than fifteen years — understanding the business, learning from it and building it with discipline.

Long before national depots, specialist fleets and technology platforms, PFM was built on looking after customers, taking ownership and finding a better way forward.

Thirty years later, those principles remain at the heart of PFM.

“I still have a diary of every week’s work… every dollar, every profit, every week.” — Grahamme McDougall

One Opportunity Changed Everything.

Every business has a defining moment. For PFM, it came after years of persistence.

Grahamme had been knocking on Canon’s door for some time when the opportunity finally arrived. Another freight provider had damaged a prototype machine, and Canon needed someone they could trust. PFM stepped in, delivered it safely and proved what it could do.

A few weeks later, Canon presented a much bigger challenge: support its national distribution network.

There was just one problem. PFM wasn’t a national business.

The response wasn’t hesitation. It was action.

Drawing on trusted industry relationships, PFM built a national logistics network in record time. It was a defining moment—one that transformed the direction and scale of the business.

Thirty years later, that same mindset remains. When customers bring complex logistics challenges to PFM, the answer is still the same.

We’ll find a way.

“He said, ‘That’s your problem, not mine.'” — Grahamme McDougall, recalling the moment Canon asked PFM to build a national network.

1996 — 2026

Three Decades in the Making

Built on Trust

What started as a freight brokerage soon became something more.

As the business grew, Grahamme realised there was one thing he couldn’t compromise on — control. Relying on contractors made it difficult to guarantee the experience customers expected, so in 2001 PFM purchased its first truck. It wasn’t simply an investment in equipment; it was an investment in accountability.

Owning more of the journey meant delivering on promises with greater consistency. As PFM expanded across Australia, that same philosophy remained: build strong relationships, do what you say you’ll do and earn trust through every delivery.

Thirty years later, many of PFM’s earliest customers are still customers today. As Grahamme puts it, “They know they can pick up the phone at any time, and we’ll answer it.”

For PFM, trust has never been a marketing slogan. It’s something earned, one customer, one promise and one delivery at a time.

Now

Celebrating the People Who Move PFM Further

The Journey Continues.

Thirty years is a milestone worth celebrating, but for PFM, it’s also an opportunity to look ahead.

The business has changed significantly since 1996, but the principles behind it haven’t. Look after customers. Back your people. Take ownership. And keep finding better ways to move business forward.

With a national network, specialist capability and a team built on decades of experience, PFM enters its next chapter with the same mindset that started the journey.

Keep moving forward. Further. Safer.

30 Years of Moving Business Further