Barry Collins

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2015.

Barry Keith Collins born in Kyogle 1949 got an interest in the transport industry from his father who was a cream carter and timber hauler. Spending weekends with his father in the Casino forest, with all the logs cut, his father would hook his dozer up to the front of his Dodge Fargo and Barry would steer it out of the forest, his dad later also carting bricks in a Commer knocker with Barry by his side. After leaving school at 14, Barry's first job was working in the Wardell Cane fields as a stalky. In the afternoon he would haul 15-20 train carriages down to the sugar cane wharf in a McCormack international tractor 770, where they were emptied on to a barge.

Barry worked with Sartori's Transport in QLD in an Austin or a Ford 10 carting general. Buying his first prime mover at 21, an Albion Clydesdale with a 460 Leyland motor, he began subbying interstate. He later progressed into a 1418 Benz and began subbying for Combined Freight Services pulling two bladder tanks filled with resin that were old aircraft fuel tanks.

Selling his truck in the late 1980's Barry went back to Sartori's driving Road Commanders on the shuttle until he was put in a W model Kenworth with a 350 Cummins, a big truck in those days and started running the triangle. Five years later Barry bought an S-Line with a 350 Cummins and subbied for Hoepners, SCN Transport and Layton's. Then with his Transtar and B-Double he was carting Carlton beer to Adelaide and back loading general out of festival city or timber out of Mt Gambier for SCT.

Moved to SA in 2002 carting steel and fibre glass pipes and ended up running 11 of his own trucks, his fleet consisting of four freightliners, an ultra liner Mack, Sterling, Aeromax, LTL, S-Line and Aerodyne.

In 2012 Barry moved to Gympie with his partner Sharon where he is now in semi-retirement although still running four Freightliner Argossy B-doubles carting laminex to Melbourne and SA. Barry did anything to be around trucks as a kid, he loved driving and drove anything he could, now with 43 years in the transport industry, Barry has enjoyed his journey and met some fantastic people along the way!