Brendan Myers
Brendan Meyer was born in March 1948 and has lived the majority of his life in Lancefield, Victoria. He married Florence Hirst in 1967 and raised four children in the same town. The Meyer’s of Lancefield are well known in the trucking and wood cutting industry in the Macedon Ranges. Brendan’s first job, after leaving school at the age of 17, was for the PMG – Post Master General.
To supplement his income, Brendan joined his father and brother, Noel, cutting and selling firewood on the weekends. His first truck was an Austin Loadstar Flatbed with numerous other trucks to follow, including Fords and various Bedfords during his 20s and 30s.
He left the PMG around 1970 to join the army as a Vehicle Testing Engineer based in Monegeetta. This role saw him driving all types of trucks, 4x4 vehicles and even leopard tanks … to say he enjoyed playing with these vehicles is an understatement!
Brendan left the army in 1987 to run Meyer Brothers Transport, a general carrier, with his brother. The first prime mover he purchased was a second-hand Fuso which was replaced by an International ACCO 3070. An Atkinson 4870 followed which was purchased from Knights Transport in Kilmore, and it was joined by another shortly after. The last prime mover purchased in 2010 was a 1994 K100E Kenworth. The business was running three very busy trucks at one stage as Brendan’s son joined the business for a period.
Branching out to run his own business in the early 2000s, Lancefield Freighters, Brendan swore he would never cart livestock - this was not to be. He recalls trying to load wild cattle into the stock crate, only to have them all rush in at once, then trying to unload them and re-load them so they could be penned correctly. Apparently, it was not an easy, safe or quick job! He also had a contract collecting bore goats for export which was a much easier and pleasant job, taking him into NSW, South Australia and Queensland.
At one stage Brendan owned a tipper trailer, which was used to cart redgum wood from Barmah in northern Victoria to Monegeetta for his cousin, Nev Meyer who ran a local firewood company. Brendan would drive up in the afternoon, sleep in the cab and be loaded first thing in the morning and be back in Lancefield in time for lunch.
Brendan received a certificate for 40 years of service as a loyal member of the Transport Workers Union in 2011. Brendan is well known and respected throughout the district, particularly with farmers whose livestock he carted and fellow transport operators.
Brendan retired in 2017 and loves traveling all over Australia in his new Toyota Rogue and caravan. Brendan remains busy running his farm, volunteering on a regular basis with BlazeAid and being an active member and past President of Rotary. He is never shy to have a yarn about trucks either!
