Tim Passmore

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunions 2012.
Tim Passmore was first introduced to trucks and trucking in 1973. He was working as a bricklayer in Wagga Wagga and after travelling to a big job in Hay found, on his arrival, that the bricks had not been delivered. Tim returned to Wagga, and asked his neighbour, a farmer, if he would pick up the bricks and deliver them to Hay. The neighbour threw him the keys to his old International and said, "Here, do it yourself."  Tim answered, "I've got no licence." "Nor do I," replied the neighbour and so the trucking disease started for Tim.
Later that year Tim purchased his own D1950 International. He also bought a caravan and the dealer asked Tim to collect it from Viscount's depot in Sydney himself. Viscount subsequently offered Tim full time work delivering caravans around the country. During these years Tim backloaded cars for Arnolds Transport in Melbourne.Several years later while Tim was carting drought relief hay from Echuca to the dairy farmers in Bega his accountant advised him to purchase a business or pay big tax. Tim purchased a forty year old business in Tumbarumba and was soon operating ten trucks transporting timber, apples and apple products from the Mountain Maid Cannery. In 1982 the cannery went into receivership. It was a huge shock to everybody and resulted in huge losses for Tim's company. He sold off the trucks, depot, house and other assets and moved to Queensland with barely $8000 in his pocket. He used it to buy a rusty old Nissan UD and started carrying cars from Brisbane to Adelaide, Adelaide to Alice and back, to Cairns and back to Brisbane. He says the UD was an old but very reliable truck.When he was back on his feet financially Tim sold the UD and purchased an International C1800. He contracted to Chep Pallets delivering all around Brisbane and the Gold Coast until 1993 when he turned his focus back to delivering building products, bricks and plastering accessories in the same area. In 2007 Tim's sons entered the business by purchasing a small fleet of International prime-movers and relocating the business to North Stradbroke Island to transport product from the mineral sand mines to the wharf where they still operate today. The business has also expanded into quarry work and bitumen cartage. Tim Passmore has personally experienced the tough times of the trucking industry over the years but still remains a keen advocate for it.