Raymond Milner

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame in 2023.

Raymond Kenneth Milner, known by all as Ray or by his close mates as ‘Plugger’, was born in Warragul, Victoria in 1937. Ray has spent his life in the Gippsland area. At the age of 14 Ray left school to start his working life.

Ray started driving trucks from the age of 20. For four years, Ray drove a livestock truck for Frank Grogan and Frank O’Brien. In 1961 Ray switched employment and began driving agitators for Ivan Wilkinshaw. During this time Ray not only drove agitators but drove tippers carting clay to Melbourne and dozers clearing land around Warragul. Graham, his middle son, would tag along with Ray any chance he got. Having gained this experience Ray saw the opportunity to create his own business and purchased four agitators in partnership with his uncle Phil Osler. Ray drove one of the agitators and they employed three other drivers.

In 1970 Ray and his uncle further expanded their business, they sold the agitators and bought an ERF truck which Ray started driving interstate. In 1972 Ray bought a Kenworth truck and became a subby driver for Roger Manson. He later sold this truck and bought a Transtar from Knights in Kilmore, Victoria, for whom he carted fuel for the next six years.

In 1978 Ray left the interstate game and began working as a subcontractor in his Volvo truck and dog for Ready-mix based at Yallourn North. He stayed there for ten years.

In 1988 Ray started Warragul Grain supplying feed grain to the local dairy farmers. Ray’s truck would collect grain from farmers across the states to provide for the farmers. It was during this time that his son Graham commenced driving for him. As demand grew so did the number of trucks in the fleet.

Around fifteen years later Ray sold the business and took a short break before driving buses for Warragul Bus Lines. The family would often joke with Ray and call him Stan, a reference to the hit TV show, ‘On the Buses’. Ray loved this work.

Ray drove buses for 19 years until he reluctantly retired at the end of 2022. The decision was definitely influenced by his wife and mother of their four sons, Desley, who he says would not allow him to renew his bus licence! Ray is well loved and remembered by the many people he saw come on to his bus as a child but leave as an adult.

Ray is a soft spoken, kind and generous man who like all transport operators has had good and bad times, but he has no regrets.