Shaun Williams

WILLIAMS Shaun

Shaun Williams has been involved in the Tasmanian timber industry all his life. He was born in Launceston, Tasmania, on Christmas Eve 1979 and from a very early age his love of log trucks was undeniable.

Shaun's long journey started at the age of nine when he travelled with his father Kevin (2010 Inductee) to Interlaken in Tasmania's Great Western Tiers. It was here that Shaun first got behind the wheel of his father's 1979 Scania 141 configuration and within a short period Shaun was navigating the entire 15 kilometres of bush road fully laden from the landing to the highway as the sole operator.

Shaun continued this from his early childhood until the age of 15 when he left school and started working for the family business (K.J & S.M Williams Pty Ltd) as an excavator operator.

At the age of 18 Shaun's childhood dream was realised. He was granted a special heavy vehicle licence to operate one of the family business trucks by the Tasmanian Transport Department.

It was this day in 1997 that Shaun's dedicated driving career started in his father's beloved 1990 Mack Superliner. Shaun has since travelled in excess of 5 million kilometres from every pocket of the island state to a variety of mill destinations.

Shaun's choice of truck has been the Mack product with his first new truck being a 1999 Mack Titan. This was the first of three new Titans Shaun has worn out working in Tasmania's forests. He says that none of the Titans were a match for the Superliner in which he started his career. This truck is now retired and in Shaun's backyard.

Shaun admits the greatest change he has experienced from his childhood days in the mid 80s to current times is the continued restructure of the Tasmanian timber industry. Shaun says that the increasing reserves imposed on the industry the loss of the old school operators, who are no longer travelling Tasmania's roads, are the most noticeable. This is disappointing as these were the guys that he listened to and learned from as he grew up, gentlemen that he was looking forward to working with who are no longer there.

Shaun is a highly skilled, beloved member of the Tasmanian timber community respected by all and although relatively young his dedication to the family business and industry as a whole makes him deserving of a place in the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.