Charlie Muscat
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2010.
Charlie Muscat first became involved in the transport industry in the 1960s when he started driving for J. Wilson Furniture Removals from Canberra; his brother Michael had his own truck subbing to J. Wilson at the time.
Charlie drove for Wilson covering the eastern seaboard from Melbourne to Cairns; he then bought a TK Bedford with a 466 petrol motor off his brother Michael he wanted a larger van to take on bigger jobs.
Charliethen subcontracted to J. Wilson as well. Being based in Canberra most of the moves were public servant relocations. Charlie worked for J. Wilson for a number of years. When Charlie's brother Michael left J. Wilsonand established his own company, Charlie sold the Bedford and bought a brand new International ACCO with a furniture van fitted and joined Michael at Muscat's Furniture Express. They carried new furniture from Melbourne to Canberra and Sydney. The trucks they operated were TK Bedfords with 453 GM motors and Roadranger gearboxes.
The flagship of the fleet was a slim-line Kenworth single drive with a 871GM (318 hp) 10 speed overdrive gearbox a very quick machine. It was a bit of a legend on the Hume Highway in its day. Many an hour was spent waiting out the scalies at Yea, Yark and Molesworth (Vic). Being single drive and having such a large cubic van on this vehicle it was always over on the back end. Eventually Charlie went out on his own and bought a brand new UD CK30 single drive prime-mover and a second hand 36ft bogie McGrath trailer and started carrying produce from the Murrumbidgee.
In the years that followed Charlie established CV & HE Muscat Transport of Binalong (NSW) and owned and operated a number of trucks and trailers. Both Charlies' sons, Charlie (jnr) and Richard, drove for him. Charlie Muscat was instrumental in helping the younger generation into the transport industry as he would always give young people with a genuine interest in learning to become a professional truck driver a go.
Charlie deserves this recognition for his hard work and contribution to the Australian transport community.
