Dick Deen
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2007.
Dick Deen left school at 14 to work in the family business driving dozer
s, excavators, loaders and tip trucks on site doing excavation and sub-division work. As soon as he turned 17 he gained his truck, semi and E-Class licences so he could drive on the roads legally.
His first jobs were carting road base and filling materials in a variety of trucks including R190 and ABD184 Internationals, B and R model Macks. Dick left the family business to have a go on his own in a Dodge D2F tipper with a V8 Cummins engine and started carting gravel. He eventually replaced it with an F86 Volvo followed by an International 3070.
Dick soon started working out west carting bagged cement from Darra to Cunnamulla, then gravel from Amby to upgrade rail culverts on the Charleville to Cunnamulla line. Over the years he did a variety of work including carting kangaroo skins to the tannery at Narangba, meat to Dinki-Di Dog Foods at Lytton and screenings from Amby Quarries to Augathella via Charleville. Eventually he bought a Mack Superliner and low-loader to work for Ray Mantova Heavy Haulage.
Dick eventually started Richlands Heavy Haulage and transported over-dimensional wide loads, rig shifts and heavy earthmoving equipment around the country from Alice Springs to Darwin and all through western Queensland. A Mack fleet of trucks including old S-models, R-models, Superliners, Valueliners and Titans were used for carting wide and heavy, oversized loads. In November 2006 Dick bought his first new Mack Titan with 600 CAT 18 speed and 52.390 Eatons differential on six rod suspension and B5 bunk, a Hautech diesel air conditioning unit and new Drake 7x8 low-loader platform and 2x8 dolly. Dick's business also operates pilot vehicles. He says that is what happens to old retired truck drivers: they drive pilot vehicles.
Dick also owns a trailer business, which builds low-loaders, dropdecks, tipper conversions as well as heavy-rated prime-movers. His two sons now work with him in the family business.
