Trevor Smith

Trevor Smith was born in Cardiff, New South Wales in 1938. Both his grandfather and father were in sawmills, timber cutting and transport from the 1900's. His love for driving started from the age of 12 when he would drive his father's truck to the local service station and check the oil, water, tyres and fuel. He remembers diesel costing 9 pence a gallon.

Trevor left school at the age of 14 to begin working in the family sawmill business. By age 18 he began driving for Tolls Transport in Newcastle doing local deliveries. In 1959 Trevor bought his first truck, a Thames Trader Tipper and began coal cartage in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley areas of New South Wales. This was also the beginning of Trevor Smith's Transport. By 1962 Trevor was transporting general freight in and out of Northern New South Wales, Central Queensland, Sydney and Wollongong as well as local freight in Newcastle. The 70's saw Trevor winning a contract to transport wool bales from local brokers to wool dumping facilities in Newcastle. With this came a company name change and Ferlix Transport was born. Wool cartage has remained the main focus of work for the company and currently Ferlix carries out the transportation of wool to and from all capital cities on the east coast of Australia as well a New South Wales and Queensland country areas. Trevor believes that to succeed in this industry as a small operator you must work hard long hours, be honest with your clients, look after your staff and he also puts it down to a lot of luck. But for Trevor transport was always in his blood and he loved the lifestyle that came with it. He has been involved in many New South Wales RMS Government and Road Transport Association committees over the years sharing his knowledge and tireless hours with many. Trevor retired from the business in 2002 and it is now operated by his three daughters.

Trevor has driven many trucks over the years, his most memorable being his black Deutz 'Hitlers Revenge'. He speaks of his time on the road often and like so many others loved the mateship and freedom that came with it. Trevor will be 79 in 2017 and is enjoying retired life.