Barry Walsh

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2011.

Barry Walsh left school at age l6 and went straight to work driving bulldozers for his father pulling logs.  (Later for Recent Inductee L.G. Holloway). At the age of 18 he got his truck licence and drove TK Bedfords for Brambles Transport, carting machinery into the rugged west coast of Tasmania for the Savage River mine construction.  After a couple of years he decided he needed a change and started carting logs in a B43 Mack and Tandem Jinker.

In 1968 he moved to South Australia to work on the Gidgealpa Gas pipeline for 2 years and then drove interstate for Kennelly Transport out of Adelaide to all parts of Australia but mostly mining sites in Queensland and Western Australia's northwestAfter 7 years with Kennelly he returned to Tasmania and purchased his first truck, a 1980 Ford Louiseville and went back to carting logs in the forests of North West Tasmania. He slowly built his log truck fleet to four, all different makes, as he acquired other contracts.  Later he decided to switch to Mack and bought a couple of secondhand ones. In 1982 he purchased his very first new truck; an R600 with Maxydine 300 engine.

In 1983 he went to Mount Gambier to cart logs after the Black Friday fires. On his return he purchased a R700 Superliner 500hp which he used for carting logs and some interstate. It was aptly known as the "MackAttack."  When a downturn in the timber industry started he decided to do more interstate work from Tasmania to mainland Australia.In the early days when he drove across the Nullarbor it was dirt from Ceduna to Norseman. If a puncture or a mechanical problem occurred other truckies would stop and offer help. But not now. Barry thinks this is sad but everyone is in such a hurry and freight seems to be wanted tomorrow. Barry owned several Macks from 1982 until 2008 when he sold his beloved Mack Attack which he owned for 22 years.  This is when his interstate business increased and he purchased Western Stars with CAT engines, as he knew they would be a good engine after operating CAT dozers. He has transported Australia-wide loads of general freight, timber, wide and extendable loads of machinery. 

He sold his business in 2010 but remained as manager for twelve months before he retired.  He says the best parts of his life on the road and managing a successful business is the many friends he has made.