James Colwell

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

If ever there was a person who personifies the image of the hard working, honest, down to earth truckie who contributed to the building of our great country then James Colwell could be the one.

Jim, as he is better known, has been part of the transport industry for over 50 years, starting in 1951 and covering over 2.5 million miles or 4 million kilometres (documented) as a truck driver and owner-operator before retiring in June 2005.Jim has never had an accident in over 50 years of driving. This is an amazing achievement and testament to his road sense and ability as a driver. The fact that Jim has never lost a load or been late with a delivery (without notification) is also tribute to his professionalism and shows why he has earned the respect of  his peers and the road transport industry.His mechanical empathy enabled him to achieve extraordinary mileage out of machinery and components; for example, he did over a million miles in his beloved B-model Mack with only one chassis rebuild. Jim is blessed with a wonderful memory and his ability to recall events that occurred many years ago with amazing detail and accuracy only adds to his status. His recollections are full of wonderful characters as the trials, tribulations and challenges of truck driving and outback life are recalled as just another day's work and nothing all that special. Jim says he feels as if he had never worked a day in his life,Yep, it was never work to me... loved every day of it... no matter how tired I was or how hard it was, I just loved every day of it.This is a man who truly loves trucks and everything that goes with them.