John Bilato

John Bilato’s father, Dino, came to the Territory as a young, ambitious Italian migrant in 1954 to work at the Rum Jungle Uranium mine. He bought his first truck, a Dodge, in 1956 and eventually built a fleet of four Macks. When John was born in 1965, Dino’s trucks were involved in major projects like the Tindal Airstrip, and in 1966, the family acquired their first new R-Model Mack. John’s life and career choices were inevitably shaped by his family’s trucking business.

After leaving Darwin High School in 1981, John completed an electrical apprenticeship with Nightcliff Electrical. However, the lure of the road transport industry proved too strong, and in 1985, John joined his brother Robert at Gulf Transport. Over the next 11 years, John worked across the Northern Territory and Western Australia either at Gulf Transport, Bulkhaul or RTA, carting gypsum from Alexandria and copper dust from Tennant Creek to Mt Isa.

In 1991, John bought his first truck, a 350 hp Mack Valueliner, from Bobby Dodd. With this Valueliner, he worked at the Argyle Diamond Mine. It was a proud step toward independence, made even more significant by the connection to Bob, who would later become John’s father-in-law. In 1992, John married Bob’s daughter, Joanne, in Katherine. They went on to raise two children, Megan born in 1996 and Nicholas born in 1999.

In 1995, John joined his brother, Robert, in G&S Transport. The company soon moved exclusively to the Kenworth brand, trialling models from the T650s and C501s to later editions like the C509s. John found these trucks far more reliable in remote areas where infrastructure was lacking. G&S and the Tanami Road became a testing ground for Kenworth trucks, learning what would survive under the harshest corrugations as G&S has done well over 38,000 return trips to the Granites gold mine and delivered to most of the remote communities in Central Australia.

John understood early on the importance of pride in equipment. Regardless of age, G&S’s trucks are well maintained. That same pride is what drives safety across the business.  Maintaining a large fleet allows vehicles to be rotated, avoiding overwork. In remote areas where recovery costs are exceptionally high, John has prioritised careful planning and vehicle allocation to make certain every truck made it back, no matter what.

At the heart of it all is family. John believes that everyone in the family has to succeed for any one of them to truly make it. The goal has always been to generate enough success to include everyone and ensure that each family member gets a small win from the company. That is why John still enjoys driving road trains, especially float work.

In 2023, John and his brothers were honoured to be named Kenworth Legends at the Australian Trucking Association Conference. This award was recognition of their significant contributions and commitment to the trucking industry since their childhood.