Cliff Hill

Inducted in 2007.

Clifford Hill was working in a bank in Melbourne though city life wasn't his scene. He decided to return to the country and bought a brand new 1964 TK Bedford tray-truck and commenced his transport career and a life-long interest in trucks.

He set about servicing small rural communities with hay, fertilizer, grain and supplying fuel via a BP fuel agency. Loading trucks in those early days was mostly by hand. Over his 43 years of being an owner-operator he employed over 12 people in order to meet the demands of the growing business.

As business grew so did the fleet of trucks and trailers. On buying his first single-drive Bedford tray-truck he went to work locally. This was a challenge but he also wanted to experience long distance interstate travel so with a bogie trailer he bought another Bedford, fitted it with a Detroit diesel, threw his sleeping bag in and away he went. Travelling to most capital cities and town in between, being away from home for weeks at a time, he soon started to enjoy the lifestyle on the road.

Carting everything from timber to bananas and general freight, overloads, dirt road, and floods were his companions for many years. Clifford successfully combined local and interstate depending of the season. The trucks had gotten bigger, more powerful and a lot more comfortable. Technology and computers have taken over the running of trucks. Gone are the days of the owner-driver tuning up the truck in the back shed or rebuilding motors or a gearbox. Most things nowadays can be fixed using a laptop computer. Clifford thoroughly enjoyed his many years truck driving, the great mates he made and the many characters he met along the way. Now he entertains people with his guitar singing songs about his truck driving days.