Robert ‘Bob’ Pout
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame in 2023.
Robert, ‘Bob’ Pout was born in Beaudesert QLD in 1953 but moved to Victoria at the age of 6, when his mother passed away and his father felt unable to look after him. Brought up by his aunt and uncle in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster, Bob started an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker but could not stand being locked up in ‘the shed’.
The wider family was in the earthmoving business but it was the big rigs and open road that warmed Bob’s soul. Like many drivers of his era, Bob was behind the wheel before he got his licence, but it wasn’t in a truck. At 16, he decided to find his father and in a not-so-trusty FC Holden Ute headed north. He became a farrier in Queensland before heading to the Territory.
Bob hung around yards looking for jobs and became a ‘jack of all trades’. One thing led to another and he ended up in Katherine, NT, with a broken down ute and an empty pocket. Bob walked into Noel Buntine’s yard and asked for work. Noel asked if he could change a tyre to which Bob answered ‘Yes’, and so, eventually, began his driving career. It would take 6 months of changing tyres before he got behind the wheel, with his first trip being a run down to Alice Springs, and another six months before he got his licence. He and a mate drove to the police station in Katherine, parked their road trains outside and that, decided the police man, was proof they could drive – no test needed!
Bob returned to Queensland, before heading back to Victoria. He worked for Laurie Elliot and bought a ’74 R-model Mack without a body, they pulled out an old low loader, cleaned it and registered it. Bob gained a job with Coates Hire and away his career went.
Bob worked that truck to death, first as a low loader, then he put a tipper body on and had a single axle dog trailer. Bob would do an 8-hour day, then two nights a week he would go to Grantville and pick up filter sand for a sewerage mob. Three nights a week he would go to Seymour and bring back pebbles for a garden supply centre. Bob said “That poor little truck just worked its arse off! If anything put me on my feet that truck did.”
Although now an avid Inter fan, Bob kicked off with the Macks- the first being the R-model followed by a 350 Econodyne. Then a Louisville and since 1998 it’s been the Transtar. Bob spoke with a bloke who advised him ‘If you have one truck you do it yourself, or you could have a hundred and never go near them’, so Bob decided to stay a one-man operation, driving the trucks he loved.
Bobs carted a huge range of loads over his time, from driving tankers for Marshall Lethlean, carting playgrounds, axels for Hercules, old school trucks to truck shows, stock crates, grain, to hauling road trains all over. He’s helped people move states and taken the utmost care of their entire homes’ contents and carried chooks with their protector, a Maremma. Bob once brought a lonesome ride on mower home, other times he’s had so much to load for a trip, he wondered if he could shove anything in the cab. Bob’s been to every roadhouse and tried every roast dinner they have to offer. He has said “Cheers,” with a jack in hand alongside many of the old school truckers that have hauled around Australia.
When Bob’s not on the road he is home with his childhood sweetheart, Irene. You’ll find Bob in his shed welding, fixing, servicing, creating. Bob’s shed has everything you could possibly need, no matter the job! If you were to drop in for a cuppa, it’s almost a guarantee you’ll find someone else in there with Bob, borrowing his space, tools and knowledge. If you can break it, Bob can fix it! Bob looks forward to continuing to drive but knows he won’t buy another truck. “The Transtar’ll see me out! Life’s well sorted. See ya’ through the windscreen!”
