Malcolm (Mal) Wyton

Malcolm Wyton (better known as Mal) was born in Toowoomba, Queensland,  in March 1957.  He was the youngest of four brothers who all followed in the footsteps of their father, Doug Wyton, and ended up working in the trucking industry. In 1968, the Wyton family moved to Muttaburra, Queensland, where Mal’s parents had purchased the business,  Somerset Transport. 

Mal started his working life young, learning to drive various trucks at an early age.  Leaving school in his senior year, Mal worked in the family business doing mail runs  and carting stock and wool. In his late teens he moved on from Muttaburra and tried his hand at hauling bitumen, general freight and bulk cement and pipes. Mal actually carted the first load of pipes for the Jackson to Moonie pipeline. In 1977 Mal became an owner-driver when he acquired his first truck, a White 4000.

In 1984 Mal had the opportunity to move his family back to Muttaburra to provide a livestock cartage service for the district. Here he found his niche in the trucking industry, greatly enjoying the job and the people with whom he worked. Mal has, like many others, experienced the highs and lows of the road transport industry.  He has coped with droughts, floods, financial strain, hard work, long hours of  driving and the loss of many good friends to the adversities of the industry.

Mal’s father, Doug,  purchased the first W series Kenworth sold by Brown & Hurley in 1965 which has now been fully restored and takes pride of place at Brown & Hurley in Kyogle, New South Wales. His brother, Gordon, owner/director of G. & D. Partners in Brisbane, purchased a limited edition 50th anniversary Kenworth T909 - a truck which marks 50 years of business between the Hurley & Wyton families. Mal purchased his own Kenworth T904 in 2014 which he still drives today.

Mal still lives in Muttaburra and maintains a strong interest in the livestock industry and its development.                             Inducted in 2021