Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson’s passion for transport began as he sat beside his dad, learning the ropes, the dog chains, the livestock, taking in everything he could, as often as he could. When Scott was 16 years of age, he joined the army to drive trucks, as he could not get a licence that early as a civilian.
After finishing his basic training at Kapooka, Scott went straight to the Royal Australia Corp of Transport where he excelled. He was 1 of 3 soldiers who got posted to the 26 Transport Squadron which was a Mack squadron. This normally took about 4 years to achieve but not for Scott. Here he drove army Mack truck n dog combinations. After a year he applied for a 274-op spec course (operator specialist) (semis and road trains) which he was granted. Once again, achieving in a short amount of time something that would normally take 7 years to achieve. On completion of this course Scott was and still is the youngest ever 274 op spec operator in the Australian Army at 18 years of age.
In 1987, after leaving the army, Scott got the licences required for him to go trucking. He drove for Refrigerated Roadways (fridges) and John L Pierce(general) both on the East coast, then Hilliers Transport (general, fridges) Armidale Syd -Bris before carting for Stock Trans (cattle), again on the east coast.
Scott then moved to Brisbane where he worked for MacDonalds Bulk Freight (general tautliner b doubles) running Bris – Syd, Cairns - Melbourne and Harker’s (fridges) Bris-Syd - Cairns - Melb - Adel. Scott also spent some time at Stephenson Transport (LPG Gas tankers) running Bris – Adel - Syd, by then he had a real feel for the game.
In 1999 Scott started a job with Boylan’s (Moama) doing shuttle changeovers for the Nestles contract, and he bought his first truck off Boylan’s, a 1995 FX Western Star, He continued as a sub-contractor running Brisbane, Smithtown and Sydney carting Milo… 3 runs a week and he loved it. Scott enjoyed clowning around on the radio, he liked keeping everyone motivated and hoped he kept others entertained.
Scott expanded his fleet with trucks carting for Linfox and Bagtrans, NQX and Tolls. Scott moved into a managerial role when he went to manage Bagtrans Brisbane depot. He was running their trucks and his own fleet for a few years while still driving himself every day. Scott would never say no, his answer was always, ‘We will work a way, we will get it done’.
After a change Scott downsized back to three trucks and became involved with construction transport including road barriers for roadworks, oversize, and unusual loads, mobile crane rigging and tower crane rigging for LCR Cranes. He also became involved with Latimer’s transport. Due to shutdowns a lot of the construction work dried up, so Scott found himself carting all the Chep and Loscam pallets for Hilton foods, a meat division of Woolworths for 3 years.
In 2024, Scott semi-retired, running loads of tyres from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour a few times a week for his son, Jake. Not only does this keep him behind the steering wheel it also allows catch up time with the family.
Amongst the many highlights in his career, one for Scott came in 2010 when he finally got do up a truck for him the way he wanted. He chose a 2005 International Eagle 9900, and he turned it into a bit of a showstopper, winning rig of the month in Truckin’ Life, June 2010. Scott still takes it to truck shows and uses it for fund raising for dementia Australia and at truckie funerals etc.
