Reginald Brond
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2010.
Reginald Duncan Brond was born in Mansfield, Victoria, eldest child of Reginald and Sarah Brond. Reg grew up on the family farm with his three brothers and four sisters. He assisted with all the chores around the farm until he was eighteen.
Reginald's first job after leaving home was managing a potato growing farm at Wattle Range near Tolmie for Merv Griffiths. At the age of twenty he purchased his first truck, a Blitz from Frank Quinn Tatong. This truck was mainly used on the farm. At the age of twenty-two Reg left farm work behind and did a bit of bumming around trying his hand at various jobs including plumbing and working in a timber sawmill in Mansfield before becoming serious about getting into the transport business. Reg started by driving trucks for various people. This work included carting general goods for Gordon Gray and carting logs on 'Snowy' Aiken's Bedford SL log truck from the Bindaree / Mt Stirling area to the Mansfield Timber Products (MTP) sawmill in Mansfield, a round trip of about 100 miles.
It wasn't long before Reg bought this truck off Snowy and took on the responsibilities of owning and operating his own truck. During the 1960s he also did a bit of tipper work carting soil during the construction of the Mansfield Water Board's new water storage dam. Reg settled down and married June Sullivan in 1964. They adopted their only child David in 1968.
Reg's next two trucks were Ford 600s. Next he purchased an AEC Mustang as owning a truck with a diesel motor seemed to be the answer. It wasn't long before the demand for bigger loads grew so he traded the Mustang in and settled on a Diamond T bogie drive with a V6 GM motor. The next truck he purchased was an International DCF 402 871 GM which enabled him to do tray and float work and stock carrying. The stock crate he used had three decks for sheep and two decks for cattle. Reg operated this work horse for fourteen years before, owing to ill health, he had to sell in the late 1990s.
In 1981 Reg and June purchased a small farm in Deadhorse Lane, Mansfield. Sadly after enduring several years of ill health June died in 2005. While continuing to live in Mansfield Reg has been fortunate enough to have Marian come into his life and they were married in November 2007. Reg still does the occasional load of hay on a little Toyota Dyna as he is not ready to give up trucks just yet!