Michael Bailey

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2008.

Michael Bailey was born in Isisford, one of nine children.  He left school at 14 to go off-side for Barcoo Transport in Isisford.  He was allowed to drive mail runs and stock trucks in the back blocks without a licence until he was 16.

For the next six years Mike drove roo meat to St George in open trailers with tarps and carted wool and general freight to and from Brisbane for Baileys Transport, Ilfracombe which was owned by his cousin. Mike and his wife Lesla moved to Brisbane where he ran roadtrains Brisbane to Darwin for Bill Cole.

He next worked for Rau Mantova doing low-loader work in Brisbane and Australia-wide before it was sold to Carpentaria Transport and Carpentaria Heavy Haulage was formed.  While there they took a 200 tonne, 14 axle low loader with 112 tyres down Queen Street in Brisbane the night before it became a Mall.  Carpentaria was sold to Long Specialized & Heavy Haulage where Mike worked as a supervisor and workshop foreman.  1984 saw Mike and his family move to Mount Isa and Alford Cattle Transport running the workshop and organizing maintenance on four roadtrains.

The business grew to include tippers, screening plants, loaders and nine roadtrains.  Mike was running operations when Gulf RTA Group purchased them in 1994.  In 1997 Gulf RTA Group bought part of the McIver Group which included six roadtrains each in Winton and Cloncurry while Mount Isa grew to 24 and Mike became their Queensland operations manager.  Hampton Transport purchased RTA in July 2006 and Mike worked as the QLD operations manager and depot manager for the Mount Isa region operating roadtrains all over the Territory and Queensland.

Mike has also had a long-term involvement with the Livestock Transporters Association of Queensland (LTAQ) working to improve the conditions carriers operate under.  He was the north-west delegate from 1995 to 2004, and again in 2007.  He was vice president in 2004 until he stood down due to the loss of his wife.