Edward Hall
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2007.
Eddie Hall started in the industry in 1958 driving a 1948 model AEC Matador prime-mover towing a closed bogie trailer running from Newcastle to Adelaide. He carted masonite, via the Hume and Stuart Highway which was bitumen albeit single lane, all the way to Narrandera.
If it was raining he went down the Hume to Albury - Wodonga and then along the Murray Valley Highway to Kerang and across country to Dimboola and the western highway to Adelaide. He then came back empty to Mildura and loaded bagged plaster back to Newcastle.
In the late 1950s work started on building up the Stuart Highway between Narrandera, Hay and Balranald to bring it above flood level for when the Murrumbidgee River overflowed. Flooding in that flat country in those days meant drivers could be stuck for weeks until the water went down. Eddie eventually had the opportunity to purchase his own truck and mainly ran from Sydney or Newcastle to Brisbane. In those days the Pacific Highway was a winding, narrow road and still had three or four ferries in use so the larger rivers could be crossed.
The New England Highway was also a winding narrow road with lots of steep grades. Eddie had two trucks. He drove one and a driver the other. One truck was a 7-series Dodge V8 (with a petrol motor) and the other was a AB180-series (6-354 Perkins powered) International, both with single-axle trailers. Eddie then sold one truck and traded the other on an R600 Mack with a tri-axle tipper carting coal in the Hunter Valley area. When things started to get a bit slow, he sold his truck and went working for Arthur Sticpewich doing country NSW, Newcastle and Sydney trips.
Eddie later purchased a hobby farm near Lochinvar in the Hunter Valley and he worked nightshift driving a Mack 8-wheeler rigid at a mine carrying coal to the coal dump near Branxton. Later, he started driving mini buses for a mate in Maitland. After that Eddie and his wife bought a hotel in Merriwa and ran that for a while but he had a heart attack and so they had to sell up and get out. That meant retirement for Eddie. He is still a truck driver at heart and says he will be until he dies.
