Ronald Campbell 2021

Ronald Bruce Campbell (known as “Doogle” or “Ronnie”) was born in March 1938 and grew up in Cobram, Victoria.

Ronnie’s father, Colin D. Campbell (2010 Inductee in the Wall of Fame), was the primary contractor for the Murray Valley Co-operative Dairy Company from 1950, carting cheese, butter, milk and salt. When Ronnie was 21 he started working in transport, following in his father’s footsteps.  His first truck, a 1958 Ford, was an ex-Shepparton Shire truck which Ronnie used to primarily cart cheese, butter and salt for the Murray Valley Co-operative Dairy (later to become Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd).

In 1962, Ronnie traded his 1958 Ford for a brand new F600, which had the first of the 292 motors and in 1966 traded the F600 for a F800. Driving this Ford, Ronnie carted fruit to and from Sydney and was paid on the number of cases carted. On one trip, Ronnie was booked by authorities for being 7 tonnes over the manufacturer’s capacity which earned him a $40 fine. Ronnie’s most unusual load was that of  6,000 cabbages which had to be counted as they were loaded. Ronnie’s worst trip was in 1966 when his Ford F800 blew the clutch outside of Gundagai. He was coming back from Sydney with a full load of grain and had to leave the truck on the roadside for two weeks until he could get back and fix it himself.

As well as driving, Ronnie did mechanical work on weekends for Macheda Transport of Cobram. Up until 2015, Ronnie carted fruit, driving either an S Line International or Mack V8.

Ronnie is currently retired and still living in Cobram. He has many memories of good times in the transport industry and keeps busy as the Vice President of the American Truck Historical Society- Australian Chapter.             Inducted in 2021