David Keating

David Keating was born 28th May 1933 in Marong just out of Bendigo, Victoria. David's first sighting of a truck was when he was about three years old, a REO Furniture Van and then KB 6 semi when he was five. Trucks fascinated him from a young age. His main claim to fame was in 1962 when seven Kenworth trucks were imported into Sydney. Four owned by Ed Cameron and three by G. Blomfield. Six were made ready and registered ASAP, the seventh was parked in a shed in Sydney for a while then taken to Melbourne, painted red then put to show the trucking world what could be bought. David drove the truck from Sydney to Melbourne on 'Trade' plates. After sometime Ed's workload increased and he decided to register the truck and David was chosen to drive it which he did for the next five to six years. This same truck is in Alice Springs Hall of Fame we believe. It had zero miles on the clock when he started driving it. It is a V powered GM S Model 925 Bogie drive 12 speed Spicer. The rego was IS 0968.

The first drivers of the Kenworths were Jack Bateman, Peter Cerveri, Les Maggs, and David Keating for Cameron's, Jack Drew, G. Blomfield, Gordon May, Frank Selwood for G. Blomfield.

David drove for A.R. (Moe) Connelly and his son Ray out of Bendigo doing Bendigo, Sydney and Melbourne. Work was a lot of fun looking back on it. If you could put it on one truck, why use two was the way they thought. David also worked in the 1970s for CAT (Complete Auto Transit) out of Melbourne carting Ford cars and set up the Piggy back carting Ford trucks ex Melbourne to other states.

He drove for Ed Cameron for approximately ten years, Connelly approx. six years and CAT for four years then ill health caused him to stop driving. He also worked for Bendigo Transport (office) through the early to mid 1980s.

He now lives in outer east Melbourne close to his family enjoying retired life.