It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a new company English Welsh & Scottish Railway.

The USA based Omnitrax in association with Loadhaul management submitted an unsuccessful bid under the name "FirstFreight".

Headed by Ian Braybrook who was previously a director for Trainload Freight, the company was split into two operational areas, North East and Yorkshire/Humberside.

[citation needed] Coal formed just over half of the company's income, with much of the traffic originating from the Yorkshire collieries and in particular the Selby Coalfield.

These were primarily for industrial coal customers who relied on mechanical grabs to unload as opposed to having fixed hopper discharge facilities.

Deliberately breaking with traditional railway colours of Yellow, Green, Red and Blue, Loadhaul introduced a livery of black with orange lower cabsides.

The paintwork on the Class 60 locomotives was still under warranty and most remained in triple grey livery and received a large body side logo and orange flashes next to the cab doors.

Single car route learner DMU number 55012 also received Loadhaul livery, which it carried through the EWS era up to withdrawal.

Many wagons were repainted during the company's short existence, with revenue earning stock such as HEA domestic coal hoppers and BDA and BSA steel flats being reliveried during refurbishment.

The 40 new MEA open box wagons received a black livery upon completion but didn't feature any orange markings.

These included YGB and YGH ballast hoppers, ZFV, ZCA open spoil wagons and a shark brake van.