Bryan Maxwell

Born on the 9thMay 1935, Bryan Maxwell took on a mechanical apprenticeship right after leaving school. In 1959 he made the change from cars to trucks with Bruce Transport, remaining there until Tom sold the business in 1963. Bryan along with other workmates then went to work with Laurie O'Neill at Peterbilt Australia where his work saw him travel the country delivering and servicing trucks.

After delivering some trucks to Rom Thompson Transport, Ron asked Bryan to look after his fleet of Peterbilts. Bryan was keen to take the job, however his childhood sweetheart, Dorothy, took some convincing to leave Sydney with their young son, Craig. So in 1966 they made the move. Bryan continued to work with Ron Thompson servicing his fleet at all hours until December 1970.

Bryan moved to Waugh & Josephson's, then to Timberjack at Grafton before he took a job with a Sydney based firm, HW Crouch, selling and servicing trucks. He worked from home as a mobile mechanic out of a panel van, on call 24 hours.

By 1979 Bryan's client base had grown and Graham Crouch decided to open premises in Grafton. Bryan didn't really want to leave the hands on stuff, but took on the job of manager with Dorothy in the office, son Craig as an apprentice and daughter Sharon still at school.

The business sponsored many local events, including a show and shine at Karsales Korner. This event grew and became the truck drivers weekend in June. Within four years the business grew significantly. Bryan worked closely with the local TAFE hosting many lessons in the workshop. Craig passed away in an accident in 1982. It was hard continuing to work in the workshop they shared. Bryan moved around different workshops before ending up back at the workshop he started in 1979, now owned by Diesel Repairs.

Retiring over a decade ago, Bryan now lends advice to a select few who let him hang around their workshop and helps old friends restoring classic machinery. Dorothy passed away in September 2012 and his trucking mates keep him enjoying life.