Jack Osborne

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunions 2010.

Jack Osborne (Jacko) was born and bred in the quiet township of Anakie (20 mins from Geelong, Vic) and started driving in 1950 at the age of 16. Along with his father William, and older brother Charles, they carted wood out of the bush in a 1942 Ford Blitz. Jack still owns his first truck, a 1948 Bedford affectionately known as Mighty Mouse, which he bought for £634 in 1952.  The Bedford has a 26 horse power engine and has an ad for W Osborne Phone 23 painted on the door.  Hibernating under a cover of dust and with a little TLC it would still start.
In 1952 a second Ford was purchased for carting general farm produce around the district. A  24ft single axle McGrath trailer was purchased in 1954 which the Bedford prime-mover towed. It was at this time Jack took over his brother's share of the business. In 1956 both Fords were sold and replaced with a near new F600 Ford hauling rope from Geelong to Adelaide and return with scooks of timber to Melbourne. He also delivered fencing to the Woomera rocket range in South Australia.  In those days there were no roads just dirt tracks. Jack married Joy in March, 1960 and together had two children, Trevor and Sue.
In 1960 bulk super was carted locally and he bought their first stock crate to haul livestock locally and interstate. Jack decided to build his own. It was during this decade that tippers were also introduced to the fleet and Jack in his wisdom decided he could build those too until 1984 when they changed to aluminum. From 1973 to 1988 he carted fodder and livestock for export in Victoria and Sth. Australia. Over the next 2 decades further purchases were made including Volvos, Mack, Louisville, Ford and a second business in Dapto, NSW. In 1998 Jack acquired another 7 trucks. At one stage he owned 19 trucks.
One of Jack's favourite tales of life on the road was when one of his drivers, Max Spiller, took a load of goats from Penola to Melbourne, Max stopped to get a drink at Colerain, when the front top deck of goats jumped up on the roof of the verandah of the shop and he had to hose the goats to get them back into the trailer.
Over the next few years he carted malt ex-Geelong to breweries in Melbourne and still continues to do so today.  Along the way he purchased a Sterling, a Freightliner and a Kenworth. Jack is a self-taught mechanic, welder, tyre fitter and bullshit artist. Along with the help of his best friend, Johnny Faull, they have achieved much for the maintenance and the building of trailers over many years. Jack was a hard but a fair man and always kept a tight ship when it came to finances.
Jack and Joy retired from the business in June 2008 and retired from driving in 2009. They still live in Anakie but have a much quieter life. His family are proud of Jack for what he has achieved over 60 years.