Norman Sweeney

At the age of 18 Norman Sweeney obtained his truck driving licence and commenced his life long career in the road transport industry based in his home town of Jerilderie. He drove stock trucks for McGillivray's Jerilderie, before buying his first truck, a Leyland Comet in 1955. Norm continued livestock carrying throughout eastern Australia (ably assisted by his wife Betty managing the home office), upgrading to two trucks in the early 1960s which were mainly English trucks, Leyland and Atkinson. In the mid-1960s he was the first in the district to have a 2¾ deck sheep crate built by Loadmaster Woodend. This crate was then converted to a triple decker a couple of years later. The next major upgrade of trucks was in 1969 when he purchased an Atkinson with a 180 Gardiner motor which towed a double-deck cattle crate. Then in 1971 he added a 1923 Mercedes Benz to his fleet.

In 1974 he sold the trucks and had a short stint as a stock and station agent but the urge to drive got the better of him and he bought a 1418 Mercedes rigid tipper, sub-contracting to the RTA of New South Wales doing road construction though-out the southern Riverina. His love of everything Mercedes continued until his early retirement due to ill health in 1999.