Chris Walker
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2010.
Chris Walker was born on the 10th January 1949 into a trucking family from Aramac in central western Queensland. He was probably born with diesel in his veins and would skip school to go driving with his dad, Mervyn, in the truck.
By the time he was 14 he was driving his dad's trucks, illegally of course, and sometimes was escorted home by the local policeman with yet another warning not to get caught driving unlicensed again!
When Chris finally got his licence, the first truck he drove was a Deutz. In this vehicle he mainly carted wool to Brisbane, and livestock around the Aramac District. In 1970 he carted cattle from Humbert River in the Northern Territory to Blackwater. He carted frozen kangaroo carcasses from all areas of the central west, and horse carcasses from the Territory to St George. He progressed from the Deutz to a Mack single drive. At the age of 22 he decided to try his luck away from the west, so with a B-model Mack and a stock crate as his share of the business, he headed to Brisbane.
Chris traded the crate in on a tipper and carted gravel and coal around the Ipswich area. Some of the more famous landmarks to which he carted gravel, were the International Airport and approaches to the Gateway Bridge. Chris decided to change direction again and bought a new Mack and subcontracted for Pozzalanic carting flyash and cement around the Brisbane, Gold Coast areas for about five years. This followed with interstate runs Brisbane to Sydney, three trips per fortnight, carting general freight. Over the years he has hauled a lot of different products crude oil from Bedalla to Moonee, ammonium nitrate to mines in CQ, and livestock around Rockhampton. His trucks have included a Mack Superliner V8, W Model Kenworth, Kenworth T950, and T601. His favourite was a Kenworth T904 called Hollywood.
Chris featured on the front cover of Truckin' Life in April 1980 bemoaning the price of diesel. Nothing changes it seems. His brand new V8 Mack was on the cover as well, and was featured at the Qld Truck Show that same year. Chris has been renowned for his liking of good trucks with lots of adornments, hence his nickname of Hollywood. The more lights the better.