Donald Guy
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2013.
Donald (Don) Guy was born in East Malvern in January, 1941. His two uncles, Mr Ray Guy and Mr Bob Hall had both been in the transport industry since the mid 1930s and young Don was keen to also make a career out of truck driving. With encouragement from his uncles and his father Don indeed entered the industry when, in 1956 his father, Mr Bill Guy, presented him with his first truck - a D35 International.
Don was barely 16 years old at the time and got straight to work. Initially he cut and carted firewood and fence posts from the Cobden area in Victoria. Cobden was well known as a timber area and the Heytesbury Forest had attracted many pioneering logging companies in its early days. Today the timber is protected and area is better known for its dairy industry.
Don later went into tipper haulage for six years before changing direction and hauling interstate. Don has many fond memories of those days, of the long hours, the hard physical work, the rough roads and above all, the mateship of the blokes on the road.
One of Don's most memorable trips was in 1968 when he took his father on a run across the Nullarbor to Perth in an AB 182 International with a single axle trailer. The load consisted of sound proofing equipment for the engine test bay at the Perth Airport. The trucking fraternity refer to the Nullarbor simply as 'the paddock'. To go across the paddock meant travelling on a corrugated, dusty and isolated dirt road from Ceduna to the Western Australian border. The fine, powder-like bulldust penetrated everything. Don's two main businesses during this time were G.F.I. Transport and Keystone Contracting. He owned and operated many trucks during his 54 years of being involved in the road transport industry. These include International, Commer, Dodge, 1418 Benz, White Road Commander, Kenworth and Louisville's.
In the late 1980's Don carted roofing tiles for Transbrik from Melbourne to Adelaide. He also carted wool from Perth and Adelaide for wool carriers John Irvine Transport. While on interstate Don has carted sub-contract for many companys over the years including some of the iconics such as Alltrans, Ringwood Transport, Irvine Transport, Fast Freight, Perth Freight Lines, Seaton's, K & S Transport, Linfox, Sneath's and Stock Transport. In more recent years he has been employed in the road construction industry.
Don Guy is a well respected pioneer of the road transport industry and has enjoyed many years on the highways. He has a son, who he is proud of, who is continuing on the family tradition of road transport.
