Mal & Nan Bakon

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2013.

Malcolm and Nancy Bakon began their married life in 1960 on their dairy farm.  In 1963 they entered the carrying industry. In a Ford F600 truck they carted grain and cattle around the Clifton district  and to and from Brisbane for the next ten years. In 1973 the Bakons moved to Cardwell in North Queensland where they set up a small depot at Kennedy to run their business, Malley's Transport, which, at the time, operated with two Transtars hauling produce.

Bananas were hand loaded and freighted south by flat top. Mal always strived to ensure that his produce arrived at the markets in the best possible condition. He created a system to cool the bananas as they travelled by flat top to their destination.While Mal looked after the operations and did a large share of the driving, Nancy managed the office and raised five children. Mal gave up driving in 1977 when the couple relocated their business to Tully.  Eventually, with the introduction of modern facilities such as cold rooms and loading docks, the business grew larger than Mal and Nancy could ever have imagined.

In 1988 Malleys took receipt of one of the first Kenworth T600 trucks in Australia beginning a strong relationship with the Brown and Hurley group and Cummins  engines.  Malley's green and gold colour scheme was formed at this time. By 1995 the business included 18 Kenworths and a variety of refrigerated vans and tautliners. Over the next five years the staff grew to 50 employees and the fleet to 28 prime movers. Malleys Transport was moving approximately 4,000,000 cartons of produce per year to all corners of Australia. Mal and Nancy had also developed a strong working  relationship with the NQX group and had numerous trucks and trailers working with them.

With Mal and Nancy wanting to take life a little easier on retirement half the business had been sold to the Carpentaria Group in 1993 and the rest was sold to TOLL in 1999. In 2001 Mal  Bakon was awarded an honour by the Australian Banana Growers Council for his selfless and dedicated service to their industry through his transport business.
stry. For Mal  it has been  hard to let go altogether and today, he still keeps his hand in by helping his sons load produce in and around the Tully region of north Queensland.  Nancy Bakon passed away in 2010 after losing her battle with cancer