Michael & John Carey
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2015.
Mick and John Carey have worked in the transport industry their whole working lives, following on from their father Harold, who started Carey’s Freight Lines in 1947. Mick, the elder of the two brothers, joined the Air Force and became a qualified aircraft mechanic before joining his father’s business in 1973. John, the younger brother, began at Carey’s Freight Lines in 1977 soon after leaving school. He literally learned the business from the ground up starting out loading trailers and doing local deliveries.
The two have worked successfully together for over forty years since; Mick in the maintenance side of the business and John in the operation of the fleet. Together they have built a large and successful family run enterprise.
In 1980 the two brothers bought their first two trucks, a Mack Flintstone and an F700 Mack. They carted grain, cotton and gravel all around the north west of New South Wales. This proved to a successful venture and they soon expanded to three F model Macks which they sub-contracted to their father doing linehaul to Sydney with convertible tippers and flattops.
The two brothers, bought the Carey’s Freight Lines business from their father, Harold in 1982. Within a couple of years it had expanded to a dozen trucks. The next decade saw the Carey fleet double in size with the inclusion of tautliners and fridge vans which dominated the fleet. During this time the two Carey brothers investigated the options in the heavy haulage salvage business. They purchased a Mack tow truck and established themselves as qualified tow operators.
The year 1991 saw the purchase of the first Kenworth, initiating the beginning of a long business and personal relationship with the Brown & Hurley Group. The 50th Kenworth was purchased in 2003 and in 2012 Mick and John Carey joined a very exclusive club and took delivery of their 100th Kenworth.
The fleet today consists of 70 trucks, predominantly Kenworths but also Western Stars and Freightliners. With depots along the Eastern Coast of Australia, Carey’s Freight Lines remains one of the most well-known family run freight and trucking businesses along the New England Highway.
