David Day
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2005.
David arrived in the NT in 1962 to work with the Dept of Primary Industries where he spent a year. Through a mate, Phillip Witte, he began work at the Darwin Crushed Metal Quarry on a very large dump truck. He worked his way into management of the mobile crushing plants for DCM, Jim Witte and Stan Kennon, all located in the NT.
David left the quarry industry and did short stints with Ron Barker Transport, Francis Creek Mine and John White Construction before becoming foreman for Vogliotti & LaPira Construction on the new Daly Street bridge in Darwin. Dave eventually took a job with Shell as a drumologist, until a driver's job came up. Apart from a short stint with Stevens Transport, he spent 20 years with the Shell Company. Driving the first three-trailer roadtrain with Shell tanks from Darwin to Alice is one of the highlights of David's time in the industry. Driving a Shell tanker in the Territory was considered the pinnacle of truck driving jobs and the story was that you actually had to wait for someone to die before you'd get a job.
With his wife Aidan and two of the three daughters (the third joined him a few years later), they purchased the lease on the Camooweal Roadhouse. Over the next 13 years, they developed the site into one of the most popular stopovers on the northern highways, and it became a home away from home for many of the long distance operators. During the 13 years David spent in Camooweal he owned and operated three trucks - Peterbuilt, Transtar and Kenworth, ran the RACQ towing service, and developed a droughtmaster cattle stud. After retiring from Camooweal, David and family moved to Rockhampton. David is still in contact with the trucking industry and is always available to take the wheel when a colleague or friend is unable to complete a trip.
Today David lives with his family in Rockhampton where they operate several small business but he still keeps his hand in the trucking industry with an occasional trip.
