Malcolm Johnson

When the trucking industry was feeling down and out in the 1970s Malcolm decided to give it a voice. From humble beginnings under his Grandmothers house in Brisbane, in 1976 he started publishing Truckin' Life magazine

Malcolm invested Truckin' Life with his personal energy to ensure it was fighting alongside truck operators for better rates and conditions against those trying to take truckies down, and for proper public recognition of the hard work, investment risk and personal sacrifice by those who turned the wheels that carried Australia

He commissioned several submissions to the Queensland and Federal Governments for the abolition of road tax. He was there in Darwin for the blockades in 77 and again in 79 on Razorback when truck drivers stopped the nation and Road Tax was finally abolished. His sense of humor and flash of wit took the edge of anxious moments. And there was plenty of those as he went right to the edge (much further than the lawyers wanted) to publish some of the bad business ethics practiced by those preying on truckies.

Malcolm recognized that behind every trucking man was a woman with Her Side of The Load a popular column, and , he was conscious of that special trucking culture the mate ship ( as expressed in the columns of the Ferret) and lonely life on the road. With special attention to detail, Malcolm bought to life the real men and women and their rigs in trucking across Australia.

That empathy with truck operators plus the magazines crusading style of journalism saw an unequaled ABC audited monthly circulation of 38,000 copies before Malcolm Johnson retired through ill health in 1984.

Some of the benefits and recognition enjoyed by truck operators today can be attributed in some small way to his drive and willingness to publish and be dammed.