Bronte Lock

Bronte Lock was born in Port Lincoln on the 9th January 1952. He married Jasmine Buddle in February 1994 and had one son, Timothy.

In 1951 Bronte's father Alby arrived home from Adelaide with the families first truck to establish a general carrier and transport business at Coulta on the southern Eyre Peninsula.

Bronte grew up helping his parents in their family freight business. In 1964 he went to Adelaide to attend Adelaide Technical College, returning at the end of 1967 to work with his dad, having learnt to drive trucks long before he gained his truck licence in 1967.

AE Lock General Carriers serviced the Coulta, Mt Hope and Wangary farming districts and carted wool, fertiliser, livestock, hay, fuel, hardware, gas, household items and even vegetables in a weekly grocery run. This was in the days of dirt roads, flooded creeks and no district wide power supplies.

In 1968 Bronte purchased his first truck, a Bedford Tipper. Bronte experienced the old days with bagged grain and fertiliser and the transition to bulk cartage, moving farm produce to and from Port Lincoln and Adelaide and around the state.

In 1975 a F86 Volvo semi-trailer was purchased with bins for the harvest, and later in 1977 Bronte travelled to Horsham to purchase a tipper that he rebuilt with bulk sides.

In 1980 Bronte took over the family business, his dad Alby, still assisting until his death in 1983. Bronte was driving a G88 Volvo during this period.

During the next few years, Bronte expanded the business employing his nephew, Jeffery Lock, and Malcolm Mickan and by the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s, they were carting a large portion of the wool and grain from Lake Hamilton to Lake Wangary on Lower Eyre Peninsula. A 1418 Mercedes truck was purchased and used for carting spreading fertiliser over more than 30,000 acres each year.

An Atkinson truck was also added to the business in the early 1990s. In November 2002 Bronte bought a Ford LTL which he rebuilt and still drives today. This year 2016 will see Bronte complete his 48th harvest without a break. Great and dedicated service to his clients, his farming community and to the road transport industry of the Eyre Peninsula and South Australia.