Joseph Antonovich

Joseph Milton Antonovich, known as ‘Joe’, was born in May, 1936 in Bunbury, Western Australia. Joe left school at the age of 12 in 1948 when he was given an ultimatum – either attend Sunday mass or compete in his regular Sunday bike race and go down a grade at school. Joe chose the bike race and never went back to school!

The family then moved to Perth and Joe worked at a timber yard until he was 16 and attended City Commercial College to complete a Business Course. “A waste of time!” were Joe’s words!  He then went to work in the timber industry, delivering timber and building supplies.

At the age of 24, Joe bought a Foden truck and his passion for truck driving began. For a short time, the old Foden was used to cart rock from Roelands to where the Bunbury Breakwater was being built.  From there, Joe and the truck went to Carnarvon to cart road base and sand for the building of a new road from Minilya to Exmouth.

In 1962, at 26 years of age, he married Joy Henson and started working in the Willunga National Park, building the new railway line for the eastern states. In January 1964 Joe and his young family moved to Esperance for nine months, where he hauled rocks for the new breakwater. The family then moved to Bunbury where Joe worked for his father on the BHP Railway Sleeper contract for Hamersley Iron Ore.

In 1967, Joe began working for Gascoyne Trading, driving trucks with no air conditioning, travelling 35 miles an hour on unsealed roads and armed with a puncture kit! Although he did travel as far north as Kununurra, Joe mainly did the run from Perth to Broome or Derby carting either general freight, freezer vans or refrigerated vans. Joe continued in this job for 33 years.

He moved to Vaughan Transport in 2000 where he worked as a driver for another 15 years before retiring in October 2015 at the age of 79.

Over a 50 year career in the trucking industry, Joe had a perfect driving record. He was a true gentleman, always stopping on the road to lend a fellow driver a hand. Joe forged strong friendships with drivers, roadhouse workers and depot staff. Joe has many unforgettable memories of his time on the road and is proud of his contribution to the transport industry.                                              

                                                                                                            Inducted in 2021