James Dolder
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2013.
James Henry Dolder was born in 1956 and grew up near the small country town of Tallandoon inVictoria on the family farm where he learned to drive all kinds of vehicles. From a very early age Jim showed an interest in all things mechanical and loved to drive. When he left school at the age of 16 it was to start work as an apprentice diesel truck mechanic.
On the completion of his apprenticeship Jim went driving trucks which was what he always yearned to do. There is no doubt his training assisted him with his job as a truck driver over the years and he considers mechanical skills as a major asset to driving in those days when there was no such thing as an 'on call' mechanic. In 1975 Jim began driving for Norman and Heath in a 1975 Nissan UD carting wool from Albury to Melbourne. Jim also drove a 1418 Mercedes Benz for Archie McCleish until he moved to Sydney where he began work driving for Gosford Transport running general from Sydney to Melbourne.
After many years on the road Jim decided to return to his trade as a diesel mechanic and commenced working for the IPEC workshops in Sydney. IPEC had initially started business in 1955 as the Interstate Parcel Express Company. IPEC pioneered road linehaul and overnight freight sectors of industry including the concept of 'changeovers' where a truck from each end of the journey was despatched with freight thatwas swapped in the middle of the route so each truck and driver could return to their point of origin the same day. IPEC was purchased by Toll Holdings in 1998.
After a while Jim decided to open his own mechanical workshop. It was fine for a while but the yearning to be back on the road won out and Jim moved to Wodonga in Victoria to start driving for Hume's Transport of Albury. Humes Transport, owned by the Elliott family, hauls general freight throught Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. The company has a proud record of safety and efficiency of which Jim is pleased to have played his part.
In 2012 Jim was offered a job with Muntz Transport carrying loads of gas pipes from Albury to Injune in Queensland where the job requires escort vehicles. This is where he still works today in 2013.
Jim Dolder is well known along the road and respected by all for his broad knowledge and experience of the road transport industry. Jim well deserves his place here in the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame.
