Keith Dalziell
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2013.
Keith Dalziell finished a printing apprenticeship in 1969 having lost a finger in the process. However, since being a youngster, he always wanted to drive a truck and eventually gave in to the calling and got his truck licence in a 1418 LPS Mercedes Benz. His first job was with Autotrans driving AA 164 Internationals and Bedford diesels. The trips were usually overnighters to Albany and sometimes as far north as Port Hedlands. He also did a lot of local deliveries and driving all around town during the day.
Keith then took a job driving for the legendary OD Transport. He carted milk to Geraldton in a cabover Mercedes. He initially liked the idea that it had an airconditioner on the roof but it never worked. Every now and then there would be an unscheduled overnighter trip to Dumbleyung that he'd do for $20 in the hand. Keith moved to Mandurah in 1973 and started up a general store. He sold the shop in 1978 and planned to have 'some time off' but after a catchup with the blokes in the OD's yard he was back on the road, carting meat from Albany. It was a busy time in Western Australia and there was lots of development going on with remote mine sites and big road construction jobs. With rumours of a new Eyre Highway construction starting up Keith purchased a cabover Kenworth and started taking mail and supplies out to Eucla and backloaded by bringing roos and rabbits back.
In 1980 after trading in the Kenny for a Mack, Keith started pulling chiller triples to the Kimberlies for Swanline and then Brambles. In 1985 Keith drove triples carting fuel to Telfer Gold Mine, with its time consuming 'jump ups'. Under pressure from his wife Lane, Keith made a change to the easy life and took a job driving double side tipper Volvos for Brambles at Muchea's mineral sands plant. No more tyre changes or maintenance and home every night. A Year of confined spaces was enough. Keith was back on the open road driving triples to the Pilbara and Goldfields.
The opportunity came along to drive 220t Powertrains at Granny Smith and the 310t Powertrains at Murrin, so he had a go. Keith officially retired in June 2013. He spends his time these days cruising with the grandkids in his 1955 Ford Customline.
