Brian Medley

Brian Medley was born in the small township of Buninyong, Victoria in 1956.  He was the second eldest of his two brothers and two sisters. When he was 22 years old, Brian started his first truck driving job working around the South Melbourne wharves and rail sheds. For four years he hauled general freight and made deliveries for W G Hicks Transport. 

Brian worked with various transport firms over the next eight years. His first interstate job was with Permanent Freight Express, working out of Brambles Freight. He enjoyed the long distance trips between Adelaide, South Australia,  Sydney in New South Wales and on into Queensland.

Brian took his wife and three of the children on one of the trips from Sydney to Melbourne, creating great family memories.  At that time, he was driving an ACCO Eagle truck towing a forty-foot flat top with gates and tarps.  He ran these trips for a few years.

Following 22 years of interstate driving for Glovers Transport, BNB Freighters, Brown and Mitchell, Don Watson, Kirkman Transport and Graham Spargo from Bacchus Marsh, Brian’s hard work finally enabled him to purchase his own truck and become an owner-driver.  

Brian was as ‘proud as punch’ with his 1968 Kenworth rigid.  One day Brian went to purchase some parts from a Kenworth dealer and upon entering the chassis number, the staff exclaimed, “Gee, do you know what you’ve got yourself there? It’s a legend!”  Brian’s truck was an old ‘Grey Ghost’ , one of the legendary trucks that ran the overnight freight express, in record times, between Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, in the seventies. It had an 871 GM Motor with a 9-speed gearbox; it was quick! 

After a while, Brian sold his Kenworth to purchase a Mack R600, an ex-show truck. Taking a short break from driving, Brian began transporting freight interstate for Graham Collins until he suffered a heart attack. He required a quadruple bypass which put him out of action for some time. However, as he loved nothing more than driving trucks, Brian eventually returned to work, this time for Dickson’s Transport, carting general freight from Ballarat to Melbourne. Brian has been doing a job he loves for over 40 years.                                                                                        Inducted in 2021