Norman Stow

Norm Stowy Stow was born in Melbourne on March 27 1944 and commenced driving trucks in 1962 at the age of 18. Norm comes from a family of truck drivers and is the brother of Ray (Hall of Fame Inductee) and Lyle. The Stow dynasty in trucking continues today through his nephew Kevin, who now runs Stow Transport Pty Ltd.

In the early days, Norm commenced his working life initially through a short stint with Beckley's Transport and then with his brother Ray at Stows Transport. In this time Norm drove a number of early model trucks which included a Ford Thames tray truck, an International V8 petrol semi and an International Cummins diesel.

Norm's work with his brother Ray spanned two decades. From the early 1960s, Norm initially worked on local routes between Geelong and Melbourne and from the late 1960s to the 1970s was a sub-contractor travelling between Geelong and Melbourne to Adelaide and Brisbane.

Norm is among the earliest truckers in Australia and worked in an era where outback roads such as the 400km long Newell Highway between Brisbane and Adelaide was unsealed, corrugated and occasionally flooded. These conditions would often lead to breakdowns in remote parts of the country where torrential weather caused havoc and support was not always near-by.

From 1979 to the 1980s, Norm continued on the trucking legacy of his late brother Ray, carrying on the company name of Stow Transport Pty Ltd by hauling spare parts for the Ford Motor Company. This was his break-through as a company owner. With his fleet of semi-trailers and a few sub-contractors, Norm's company travelled from Geelong and Broadmeadows to Brisbane until the end of his contract in 1984.

Norm's last truck was a Mercedes Benz semi-trailer that he operated in the 1990s as a contractor carting crushed rock for Readymix in Geelong.

Due to poor health and having travelled over a million miles across the country, Norm now pursues a number of small ventures across the Geelong community in a Ford Trader.

Norm is a life member of the Geelong Transport Drivers Social Club, an accolade that he has earned through his tireless involvement with the club, having served as a committee member and through his continued promotion of club events.