Kaye and Rick Whitbread
Rick Whitbread began his working life in 1959 as an apprentice motor mechanic at Boyded Holden in Sydney. He left after three years and started driving for Yellow Express doing local deliveries around Sydney and the suburbs for two years. Rick then joined the railways, starting at the bottom and working his way up to Senior Train Controller in Lithgow. He met Kaye in 1966 and they married in 1971. Rick stayed with the railway taking several promotions but left in 1987 when the positions of the train controllers were being consolidated and the Lithgow Branch closed.
Rick had driven casually for Mountain Bulk Haulage for several years and arranged an appointment with them at which he was given a position as a subbie. He and Kaye bought a new LTL with an old tipper. Kaye had not done much driving but that changed soon after they bought their own truck.
Rick and Kaye loved interstate work and driving two-up, long distance was no problem. Rick's early training as a mechanic was put to good use maintaining the truck and he taught Kaye to re-pack wheel bearings, check tyre pressures and check fluid levels while he did the heavy stuff.
Rick and Kaye joined the LDRTA very early on, later becoming aware of the Team 200 programme being run by the Road Transport Forum. They joined TruckSafe and were presented with accreditation at the 1998 ATA Convention. Rick and Kaye joined the ‘Greenhouse Programme’ and also had accreditation with NHVAS, Mass management and Maintenance. Over the years they had four new prime movers, one LTL, 3 Macks and three trailers.
Kaye was awarded Transport Woman of the Year at the ATA Convention in 2002. She was a NatRoad board member too which always kept them abreast of the news. Rick was awarded NatRoad Professional Driver of the Year in 2006. With NatRoad, Kaye assisted in running Fatigue Management Courses throughout the Central West and Rick helped when he was available. He (as a male) would get a better response from drivers than Kaye, even though she was doing the same work as them. Kaye was an early member of Transport Women Australia but due to work and family commitments, she was unable to devote much time to that organisation. Rick was captain of the local RFS Brigade and was a driving instructor in both heavy and light rigids.
Kaye and Rick primarily worked for Mountain Bulk Haulage (Mountain Industries) but in 2007, after both suffered major health setbacks they decided to retire. Rick died in 2018 after a long illness.
Kaye is now involved in a very minor capacity with the Australian Truck Driver's Memorial at Tarcutta. It's given her a focus and put her back in touch once again with the industry she loves.
