Australia's Road Transport Heritage

Author: Liz Martin

A review: This is a large format, paper-back book of 172 pages, covering not only big rigs but also transport in the early days of white settlement:
1 Transport around the world p9,
2 The story of Australia p23,
3 The Teamsters: Bullocks, horses, camels and donkeys p33,
4 Great Australian transport innovators p45,
5 The trucks they drove p55,
6 Unique Australian trucks p69,
7 The little blokes p81,
8 Some of the others p97,
9 And the women p111,
10 Taxis, trams and buses p121,
11 Australia at War p133,
12 Rules, railways and the rebels p141,
13 An overview of today's industry p149,
14 The Road Transport Hall of Fame p159.

The author knows what she is writing about because she is a truckie It may even be genetic - her great great grandfather worked as a bullocky, her grandfather worked with bullocks and also for Cobb and Co. coaches, and her grandfather was a drover. She operated transport businesses with her (now ex-) husband and later became vice president of the Northern Territory Road Transport Association, and chairman sic in the book --> of the Road Transport Historical Society which is responsible for the Road Transport Hall of Fame (museum) near Alice Springs.

Chapter 1 is a general review of truck manufacturers from AEC to Saurer with dates and records of the many mergers and alliances in this business. Chapters 2 and 3 cover the settlement of Australia, the first tracks and roads, and cartage by horse, donkey and camel (and one elephant).

Chapters 4 to 6 are concerned with trucks - imported, modified and also built locally - including the AEC road train, Big Lizzie, and Caldwell Vale,

Chapters 7 to 9 discuss personalities - the people on the road, mostly men, but also many notable women (ch9) such as adventurer Catherine Gregson who drove from Sydney to Adelaide to Darwin in 1937, and truckie Thora (Toots) Holtzhiemer.

The book concludes with the Road Transport Hall of Fame, in association with which the book was written; the hall of Fame is situated on the main road a few km south of Alice Springs. If there is one thing missing from the book, it is an index, because there is a wealth of information and an index would help in refering back to specific matters after reading.

You might get lucky and find a copy in a motoring book-shop or other good shop, but failing that contact:
The Road Transport Historical Society, PO Box 8099, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 0871.

- © L. A11ison [11/'00]

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