Ian McGaw
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2013.
Ian Harvey McGaw was born 30th May, 1936, and raised in the Peak Hill area in central west New South Wales. His transport life started when his family purchased a 1942 three ton ex-army Ford. Like all farm kids he drove all manner of machinery on the farm during his childhood. Once he was licensed to drive on the road he delivered sheep and cattle and also grain around the district.
Ian married in 1962 and moved to Nevertire in the central west of New South Wales in 1963 to a large scale sheep and cattle property with cereal cropping where they carried their own grain to nearby silos. Driving a newly purchased Toyota DA95 and towing a 36 foot single axle trailer; he transported sheep and cattle throughout New South Wales and Central Queensland.
Ian is renown for telling stories of the tales told around the camp fires with other truckies in the days there were no sleeper bunks, just swags on the ground. When the McGaw family moved into cotton growing Ian towed up to five trailers of cotton with the farm tractor to the nearby cotton gin which was three kilometres away.
The Nevertire property was sold due to health reasons and the family moved to Grafton on the North Coast of N.S.W. Ian started driving for George Yager in 1972, delivering livestock throughout the north and north west New South Wales, driving R200 and DCO Internationals, as well as the J3 Bedford farm truck.
In 1978, Des Yager purchased a Diamond T to deliver concrete water tanks for Humes Concrete. Ian was a good mate of Des's and needed the work so went on to drive the Diamond T for two years before buying a new Mitsubishi FV358 which he operated trouble free for the next 12 years delivering 4000 tanks without incident. Due to failing eye-sight, Ian sold the contract locally and the truck was sold to Gulf Freight.
In his retired years Ian still buys Truckin' Life magazine and other trade journals just so he knows what's going on in the industry. One of Ian's sons has followed in his footsteps and works in the bulk waste industry.
