Les Saffy

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

Les Saffy was born on the side of the road near Deniliquin in NSW on 29th September 1948. He was named for the ambulance driver who attended his birth.

His parents worked as drovers and Les and his seven brothers and sisters never got to attend school due to his family's lifestyle. Les retired in 2007 following 35 years in the trucking industry. As a teenager he took work in Winton as a grader operator and soon after purchased his first truck. It was a 1965 C Line International with a 14 yard tipper which caught fire three times due to fuel and electrical problems. Les persisted with it.

Never-the-less, Les managed to make the truck pay for itself between burnings. He cleared the equivalent of $250 per week and well remembers that 200 litres of fuel used to cost him about 30 bucks! The ration is far different today. Les eventually upgraded to a Flintstone Mack , and then to his beloved 1979 Road Boss which remains to this day his pride and joy. The black, red and white truck is well known in the industry in the Brisbane area and is used today by Les's son Chris in his landscaping business in Laidley who is proud to carry on the family tradition. During his working years Les worked all over Queensland and New South Wales mainly carting water and gravel in the Winton district, cotton around Goondiwindi and Moree, wheat in Roma and Young and gravel around Proserpine, Cunnamulla, Charleville and Brisbane. Many a time he had to live in the truck on the job.

Les Saffy was known as a fair man and one who would always be available to help a fellow worker. Unfortunately Les retired due to ill health at the end of 2007. He purchased a home at Victoria Point in Queensland where he leads a less stressful life.

Les Saffy still spends a fair bit of time on the road but these days it's in his motor home travelling the country at a leisurely pace taking time to smell the roses with his partner.