Garry Kennedy
He is the third of four children in his family and has always
lived in Bairnsdale. Garry was brought up around the transport
industry. His father John “Jack” Kennedy was a forest operator
and taught Garry and his siblings how to do the same.
From a young age Garry developed the skills to understand
how things worked and ultimately make them work better. His
mum always complained that he would wreck all of the toy
trucks trying to make them into folding log trucks and trailers.
Garry took on an apprenticeship as boilermaker which he
completed in 1979. The company he worked for later closed
down so Garry went on to drive trucks for John Jarvis carting
produce to the markets in Melbourne.
With some help from his parents, Garry eventually got
himself setup with an old Falcon Ute (chook tin) and a mobile
welding unit. He travelled to the bush to do mostly repair work
on bulldozers and other timber working machinery. Garry’s
mum and dad’s garage was the home base for other repair
work, but it soon became apparent that it was not practical to
have trucks and trailers in his parents’ driveway so Garry went
on to buy his first factory in 1980.
Kennedy Trailers made news in 1986 when Garry built his
first folding skel which revolutionized the haulage game.
Since then Garry has custom built over 1500 trailers. He
has designed and built over 10 different logging combinations
one of which was folding a complete B-double onto the back
of a prime mover. Garry’s folding logging trailers have been
exported into Africa, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Garry also participated in the world’s longest roadtrain pull
with his business partner, Doug Gould. Over the years he has
won several business awards both locally and nationally. Garry
has been inducted into the Manufacturers Hall of Fame.
Kennedy Trailers is now managed by Cory and Lyndon who,
at a young age, stepped into leadership roles when Garry
suffered a heart attack and needed recovery time. They have
ensured that Garry’s business continues to thrive..
