Milton Liddle

Milton Brian Liddle, known as Tom,  was born in 1952 at Port Augusta, South Australia. He spent his childhood in Kingoonya, South Australia and got his licence, at the age of 16, in Andamooka, South Australia. In the sixties his father,  Brian Liddle,  taught him to drive trucks in the bush in outback South Australia. 

Milton’s first truck driving job at 16 years, was with Johnny Lyon’s Far North Supplies, doing three return trips a week from Andamooka to Adelaide.  In 1971, when his father passed away, Milton moved to Adelaide and started doing interstate driving for Sheppards Wine Tankers. He did the run to Sydney and the Hunter Valley, New South Wales in a Kenworth S2 that went like the “clappers”.

Milton went on to drive for Rick Cobby Haulage and Colin Bennet at Eagle Haulage, subcontracted to Northern Territory Freight Services. He drove for ten years with Eagle Haulage working locally, plus express runs from Adelaide to Melbourne, Perth and Alice Springs in a Kenworth T600. Milton has also driven for Gilberts Transport, carting between Adelaide, Darwin and Kununurra.

Over the years Milton has hauled transportable houses, wool, livestock,  general freight and also fuel which he carted from Adelaide to Pimba, South Australia, to supply outback sheep and cattle stations. 

The worst trips, Milton recalls, involved travelling on dirt roads after  winter rains and getting bogged for up to a week at a time. Some of Milton’s best memories were working alongside his father while he regards Colin Bennett as having been one of his best employers. For the last ten years Milton has worked for Edgars Transport in South Australia, driving road trains and tippers.

At the age of 67 Milton is driving for Steve White’s Tipper Hire in Adelaide and he plans to stay in this job until retirement -  whenever that may be!                                                                     Inducted in 2021.