A tube transport assembly is provided for a textile machine system in which tubes having yarn or the like wound thereon are transported to, and empty tubes are transported from, a textile machine. Two different transport apparatus are each operable to transport a different kind of tube support member along a respective endless transport path. In one aspect of the present invention, an alternating positioning device alternately positions the two types of tube support members and a tube transfer device is operable to transfer the tubes and full yarn packages from the type of tube support members on which they are initially supported to the other type of tube support members. In one embodiment of the tube transport assembly, the alternating positioning device is a rotatable annular disk having a plurality of tube support member retaining positions uniformly spaced annularly thereon. In another embodiment of the present invention, the alternating positioning device controls the feed of tube support members to a coextensive travel path in which both endless transport paths are coextensive, the feed of the tube support members being controlled to produce an alternating arrangement of the two different types of tube support members.