John Gover
John Gover was born in 1965 in Texas, Queensland, and grew up on Pikedale Station. His family later moved into town and his father began driving for Western’s Transport which marked the start of John’s lifelong involvement in the transport industry. From a young age, he was regularly in the truck with his dad, getting an early understanding of the work and lifestyle that came with road transport.
After relocating to Brisbane, John worked alongside his father at Twinro Freight during school holidays, on weekends and after school. When he left school, John joined Twinro full-time, starting in the wash bay before moving into the workshop. At 17, he was given the chance to get behind the wheel of a Mack F Model and commenced doing local work.
The following year, John was upgraded to a new cabover Kenworth fitted with an 8V92 Detroit diesel engine and 14-speed Spicer gearbox, driving for Tarantino Twinro. His first interstate trip was Brisbane to Newcastle and Geelong via the old Hume Highway. It was a steep learning curve and as John put it, “It was either learn fast or die!”
And learn fast he did. Over the next 20 years, John worked as a driver for several different transport companies, as was common at the time. Most of his work involved express or market freight, servicing major cities across Australia. John drove for well-known carriers such as IPEC. He ran both the Hume and New England Highways in Atkinsons for Kwikasair, Comet and McPhee Transport.
After racking up more speeding fines than pay slips and spending one too many stints on the loading dock thanks to licence suspensions, John decided it was time for a change of scenery. He headed north to Darwin and took on long-haul runs with AL Logistics, mostly between Darwin and Perth. During this period, he was based out of Pippingarra, where he met Robert Bilato from G&S Transport.
John transitioned to G&S Transport, where he rounded out the 12 years he spent in the Pilbara region. He has remained with the company but relocated to the Northern Territory and is currently carting quarry products for mining, civil and construction companies in side tippers.
John's career reflects a hands-on approach and unwavering commitment to transport across some of Australia’s toughest routes and regions. While John is not one to seek the spotlight, his quiet consistency over his three decades in the industry has earned him the respect of his fellow drivers.
