What is or was your job ?

If I had my time over again, I would do exactly the same things. It has been bloody marvellous so far and each day just gets better.

I got into trucks at a young age. My dear old Mum worked for a transport company in Adelaide..all the good stuff, Deutz, AEC, Leyland, B Model Macks, a Peterbilt (first COE in South Aust). a Flintstone or two. I spent as much time hanging around that place as I could. Got taught how to load, dog and chain, rope and tarp, service and repair, drive a twin stick properly....all the good stuff that todays cowboys know stuff all about.

I left school at 16. Got an apprenticeship with what was then The Department of Civil Aviation. Worked on all the wondeful stuff..Pommy Engines like Paxman, Dorman, English Electric. Thornycroft Nubian Crash Tenders, Atkinson Crash Tenders, Leyland Hippo and Super Hippo, Austins, Bedfords etc etc. Did a few years with them in the Territory doing maintenance on dozers, graders etc, that were building airstrips at all the mission stations.

Fell in love and moved to Melbourne in the early 70's. I worked for Kenworth Trucks Footscray when it still had the Swing Bridge Motors sign up. I was leading hand there and occasionally sat in as Service Manager. I was there for the big release of the first SAR. The couple of years spent working there still brings back good memories.

Travel from Dandenong to Footscray got too much so I pulled the pin with KW and worked for IH in Dandenong. There we would bring in a truck from the stock yard, tear it to pieces and rebuild it to customer specs. Interesting work but lousy pay.

Pulled the pin with IH and went to KW Bayswater. I did a couple of years there doing final inspections and test runs from the factory to Coldstream and back. 20 trucks a week in those days.....real busy.

Got an offer to get into power generation and spent the next 10 years or so touring around Australia, New Guinea, South Pacific islands etc rebuilding gen set engines up to 10,000 horsepower, Rustons, EMV. Sulzer. Wartsila etc. Good work and lots of travel involved, but there was always something better around the corner.

Then I got into the oilfield game in the late 80's. Started out as a rig mechanic in the Cooper Basin, then finally as a supervisor repairing, rebuilding and commissioning drill rigs all over the world. I have been to every country there is just about, (except Antarctic) at the drilling company's expense. And the Hollywood dollars just kept rolling in.


The bride passed away from the Big C in the mid 90's. I kept working the oilfield. A move to Queensland helped ease the pain. I settled there with the kids up on the Sunshine Coast until 2005. The tax man was crucifying me, the kids had left home and married so I closed up shop and moved to the Middle East....tax free.!!!!

I met the Chinese Princess in the Middle East, and now I live in China, a little city called Dandong, right on the North Korea border. I still work the oilfield. Right now I am contracted to Weatherford Drilling International in Saudi Arabia, looking after drilling rigs in the Middle East and North Africa. I love the roster...5 weeks at work, 5 weeks at home, business class travel, different pay rates for different countries (Iraq is a 100% increase, Libya is open to negotiation) OOOHHHH I just love those Hollywood dollars.

I plan to retire in the next few years and return to Australia. I want to get me an Old B Model Mack or 2 to tinker with to stop me going mad.

Ya just wouldn't be dead for quids would ya ??

Bloody good read Grumpy!
Good to hear from ya...
thanks bloke...you have some real depth there!

chocs

Jeez, you blokes are a hard act to follow, here's my bit...
Left school Benalla Tech and carted hay for a season 11c a bale, great money
Worked on mount Buller for 18months on lift gear-Skyline T bar had a 3 cyl GM powering it, the odd day on Dinney Williams D6C and an old Hymac Excavator, tractors, whatever as long as it had an engine (managed to tip an old 4x4 Bedford on its side)
Got My Artic ticket in a Diamond Reo (thanks Coombe's)
Moved to Melbourne on my 20th Birthday to drive trucks for BWD soil erosion crowd.
Did my license for speeding and moved back to Mansfield.
Got a job as a apprentice at the local Holden dealers, they got bought out and I upgraded to Diesel AG.
5 years there.
92' joined the police as a recruit, 17 weeks in failed a typing test but transferred to the PSU looking after Gov house , courts , Parliament did two years of that.
left to pay the bills operated a Directional Drilling rig for a number of crowds including a stint in Malaysia.
came home worked as a Civil laborer, bought a bobcat & tipper as a side line.
Left to be the Foreman at a Soil erosion company (great job) old gear-Acco 6/53 13 speed. G88 volvo etc
Took on a Garden Supplies as a Franchise, got ripped off-left
That was 7 years ago, now I work at the Newport Rail Workshop as a Maintenance Supervisor for the Siemens Fleet

And I still love my J3

my background,

Grew up in Mt Waverley, finished an IT degree and started working in 1985 for NAB as a programmer, left there in 1987 to work for a mob called GRE Insurance to select and set up PCs and look after their accounting system. Made redundant in December 1992 and started for Unisys in Aug 93 where i worked on systems as diverse as Australia Posts Counter System (the one that sell you stamps and pays your bills), frequent flyer systems and the one that interested me the most the load control and fuelling of aircraft (imagine finding you got that one wrong 1/2 wasy to NZ as the tansk ran dry!). Took a package from there in 2005 and started at Transurban 6 months later. After 3 years I dodged yet another package (of 3 weeks pay) by finally going contracting back to Australia Post which was cut short as a project was cancelled then ANZ where a 6 month contract turned into 3 years work!. Then as ANZ were negotiating a 2 month extension I was offered a job at NAB and although I dropped about 40% of my take home pay I took it as the job market was in my specialty is shrinking and often heading offshore. (some money coming in is better than none and they are training me in some new technology)

Hobby wise I was involved with Puffing Billy from the age of 11 until Mrs P got sick around 3 years ago. There I was involved in the restoration of machinery to working order in their Museum (including a stint as manager) In 1998 I got sick of restoring things for other people and bought my Ruston Hornsby BP Stationary Motor. In 1999 we needed a 2nd car and had the money for a 10 year old laser but wanted a ute rather than another 4 cylinder car and purchased the XP to carry camping gear and engines to displays., In 2003 we went looking for a tandem trailer and bought my AR162 International.

My collection is a bit eclectic and as well as the Ruston Hornsby and Inter includes a 1948 McDonald SE Diesel, Southern Cross ET-B Diesel, Fuller & Johnson Farm Pumper, 1949 Lister AutoTruck, Howard 2000 Tractor, Cooper PT-powered 'Small Flock' shearing plant, a cooper RV-powered bag lifter, 2 Chapman Pup 2 Cylinder Inboard Boat Motors (not going),Victa and Austral Villiers lawn Mowers along with railway memorabilia, signs and petrol memorabilia if the price is right. (particularly BP for some reason)

I guess you could say I have a toy for every occasion

Lol ive got a victa 17 too!!

in the S2?

chocs

Yep and a jimmy in the mower

My Go !

Left school at 14, started with JVR tpt melb 1979 as loader / office gofer,
Turned 18 earned truck and car license on same day, moved to Moe, drove for IPEC Morwell then back to JVR Melb doing local & Changeovers, bought first truck at 19, wrote 2nd truck off 4 yrs later , drove intra & interstate as driver & owner driver for next 15 yrs inc ( western tpt Orange, Layton Express Melb, snowy river tpt, Brunt's & lovells orbost, Atkins bros Pakenham, Malleys Tully,Gilbertsons Darnum, Ref Roadways Bne, Linfox bne, Qrx Bne ) sold last of 9 trucks in 2001 and have ended up at the dizzy heights of middle management for Toll / NQX and as of late QR National Bne

Still enjoy the industry after 32 yrs tho !

Well I might as well take the plunge. Not a truck driver (unless anyone here considers things like the Leyland T44s and VW-MANs I drove part-time when at uni as trucks)

car mechanic by trade then got my truck license, started out doing local deliveries outa scotts, then started as a subbie driving for a civil construction mob we used to build the telstra phone towers all up the east coast that was my fav job by far driving big old trucks couple old kw an old air start mack and some western stars but then they went belly up (was about 2months before my 1st daughter was born and a year after id bought a house) i then started doing local tilt tray work for a generator company lasted about 12 months and left did some agency work also some heavy salvage work, then landed a job as an incident response officer on citilink which i loved until got a call from previous boss from generator company saying they were desperate for a driver they had moved closer to where i live offered me more money and a company car so who was i to say no so iv been there now about 2 years and yeh its a bit boring at times but the blokes are good guys and the pay is brilliant so ill stick it out but id realy like to try my hand at log trucks...