Wolf Reimann

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2003.

Wolf Reiman was born in 1931 in the Pommern region of Prussia (now Poland) and grew up under Russian/Polish occupation.  When he came to Australia in 1953 he worked in Kwinana (WA) and Maralinga preparing the site for atomic testing by the British Army.  In 1956, with his wife Lea, he set off to South Australia to work for a Yorke Peninsula farmer.  They drove the header, bagged grain, sewed the bags, loaded and then trucked the bags to town.  This was Wolf Reimann's first experience driving heavy transports.
Wolf decided to have a go on his own.  He bought an ISD 182 and second-hand trailer in 1959 and carried GMH motor parts to Sydney.  One of Wolf's main contractors during this time was Les Lazarowicz, 'Uncle' of Friendly Transport, and it was through him that Wolf replaced the ISD with a Mack in 1964.  The Mack and Wolf became well-known on the dirt roads of Western Australia as he carried mining equipment and construction material to remote mining towns.  Wolf sold his Mack in 1967 and tried his hand at running a deli; but he couldn't stay out of trucks for long.Wolf's first trucking experiences in the Territory were after Cyclone Tracy devasted Darwin in 1974 when he transported cars stockpiled in Alice Springs to Darwin.  When he returned to Adelaide he was involved in taking temporary accommodation to Darwin.  At this time the road was unsealed between Port Augusta and Alice Springs so cars were trucked to Port Augusta, taken by rail to Alice Springs and then trucked to Darwin on the sealed section of the Stuart Highway.  In 1975 Wolf became the first truck driver to provide a regular roadtrain service carrying cars from Adelaide to Darwin.  This marked the beginning of Wolf's Car Carrying.