Tasmanian operator Crawn Motors was recently acquired by Kinetic, with Burnie-based family operator now preparing to transition its two depots, 19 school bus services and 29 buses to the multi-national company.
The acquisition will see Royce Crawn, the figurehead of Crawn Motors, step away from the industry after 48 years in the bus and coach sector.
“I’ve had a fairly good innings and it’s the right time for the business to move into safe hands,” Crawn told ABC.
“I’m getting to the stage where I’m too old to try and move the business forward – every successful business needs to keep moving and improving its size and operations.
“I feel like I’ve done the most as I can mentally and physically.”
Crawn recently decided to look towards retirement. At the age of 71, he soon discussed the topic with Kinetic, with the operator interested in merging Crawn Motors with its wider Tasmanian operations.
Now, the acquisition has been confirmed, with Crawn set to retire on June 30 when Kinetic take over control of all Crawn Motors drivers and staff.
“I’m glad my drivers will be able to get more work with Kinetic, they’ll be able to do extra work,” he says.
“I could only offer it to a certain degree, so Kinetic will open new doors for them, I’m excited for them.”
Crawn says he’s only heard good things about Kinetic from fellow operators who were also acquired by the multi-national giant. Although he took his time to decide to the acquisition and retire, he’s confident that Kinetic will do justice the extensive history that Crawn Motors has in the northern Tasmanian region.
“Back when my father ran it, it was a town service with one bus that used to take workers in and out of town,” Crawn says.
“He then acquired some education department schools runs, involving picking up the milk crates for school students. It was a very different scenario compared to what it’s like now.”
His plan upon retirement is to do some travelling with his family. Although it was a bittersweet decision to sell Crawn Motors and bring to a close his family’s legacy in northern Tasmanian transport, the well-deserved break will allow Crawn to celebrate the past decades of success.
“I’m looking forward to the change in my life – I beat myself up for so long when thinking if I made the right decision,” Crawn says.
“We’ve been a big name in the municipality for nearly 80 years, but I think Kinetic has its fingers on the pulse and will look after it well.”