Ian & Helen Castles

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2005.

Ian started his lifetime involvement with road transport over 50 years ago with local  and then interstate haulage to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Townsville and Cairns subcontracting with Ansett Freight Express and  Oppermans & Hartridge. He drove everything:  R190 Internationals, 630 Diamond Ts, Bedfords and  Dodges.

During those years, it was a time of great mateship, when nearly everybody who was running the highways knew each other. The roads, by today's standards, were as primitive as the trucks that were driven. There was an unwritten law that you never bypassed anyone that was broken down.When the time had come to leave the highways, the involvement to commit to servicing the industry took a different direction.

In 1975, with wife Helen, Ian founded Truck Bits Australia Pty Ltd, offering a full range of transmissions, fleet maintenance, truck sales and one of the first complete truck accessory showrooms in the state. Helen was involved in all aspects of the development of the business. While working at Truck Bits Helen saw a  market for truck accessories and with a capital of only $2 800 Helen set out to see what she could purchase to start this new venture. This money bought just enough stock to cover a very small coffee table. Nevertheless it was the start to a dream that was to become one of the biggest accessory outlets in the industry, operating completely separately from the parent company, Truck Bits Australia. 

Over 27 years Helen built up the accessory business. The efforts of this lady, who made her dream come true, is just another example of women's unsung contributions to the road transport industry. Ian and Helen Castles are a true trucking couple.