John Beer
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame 2023.
John Beer was born in Essendon, Victoria, in 1946. He grew up in nearby Sunbury, where he began driving tractors on the farm at age 10 and then a 1951 Bedford and 1952 Austin on the road when he was 15, before legally being able to drive at 18. John later married Melva, who, 55 years later, remains by his side doing his books and taking phone calls at home despite a full semi of wool rolling onto her car in the shed one night.
John’s father, Harry, drove livestock and general freight, as did John’s brothers. John completed automotive engineering whilst also driving livestock and general freight trucks on the weekends for his father. By now, he was also driving an F600 Ford and a Thames Trader.
In 1978 John and Melva started their own business and purchased a 1976 1418 Benz with a semi-trailer flat top and stock crate. They then purchased a second-hand 1975 Atkinson. A second-hand Kenworth followed in 1985. In 1990 John and Melva purchased a new Freightliner FL112, and with business doing well, purchased another FL112 and were able to put on employees.
A Freightliner Century Class and a Kenworth together with a set of B-Double crates were added after Wayne, John’s son, joined the family business. A 2012 Western Star was the last truck purchased.
Whilst livestock remained the central focus of the business, there was still general work on the side in the form of wool and fertilizer. John drove all over Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and into Queensland and the Northern Territory.
In 1987 John began his lifelong passion of advocating for drivers when he joined the Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of Victoria. John was President of the LRTAV for a total of 10 years and of the Australian Livestock & Rural Transporters Association for 2 years, also serving on the executive committee for another 4 years. John was immensely proud when he became a life member of both associations and when he received a lifetime award for his services to the livestock industry. John was elected to the Australian Trucking Association as the Owner Driver representative.
Whilst continuing to run his own business John lists his greatest accomplishments as leading the way for a ‘Ramp Guidebook’ and the ‘Ramp Standards’ as well as the ‘Effluent Code’ released this year. He worked on the first ‘Save the Diesel Grant’, ‘Working from Heights’ and was part of the committee that secured $15 million for saleyards and abattoirs to improve safety for drivers.
Currently driving the occasional water tank, John is currently serving on a Senate Steering Committee, tasked with finalising details for a $140 million heavy vehicle rest area initiative. John remains very passionate about driver welfare and working to make sure all drivers make it home to their families.
