Ed Cameron - Truck and trucking legend in Doncaster

Truck and trucking legend Ed Cameron passes on

The man who imported the first fully assembled S-model Kenworths to Australia back in October 1962 has passed away.   Industry icon Ed Cameron passed away on July 16. Australia is mourning one of its most respected trucking pioneers, Ed Cameron, 93, of Doncaster, Victoria.  Cameron passed away at Broadbeach, Queensland, on July 16. Paccar and Kenworth Australia released a statement, saying they were saddened by the death of Cameron, extending their condolences to his family.

While his greatest legacy is undoubtedly bringing the Kenworth brand to Australia, Cameron is also remembered for operating interstate transport company, D&E Cameron Transport, from 1946 to 1970.  His contribution to the industry continued after retirement. Cameron was a generous supporter of the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.  He was inducted to the Wall of Fame in 2002 and became an Icon of the Industry recipient in 2015.   Hall of Fame CEO Liz Martin describes Cameron as ‘one of the nicest, most humble men’ she ever met.   "He really was just a genuine down-to-earth, salt-of-the-earth type bloke. I was really lucky to have him as a friend.  "One of the things that he did was highlight to us that we didn’t necessarily have to have what we were given from Britain – trucks that overheated in the heat and weren’t quite able to handle the heavy loads we needed to cope with our rough roads.  "Ed worked with Kenworth to make sure the specifications were what he thought would suit Australia."



After WWII Cameron and his brother Don bought their father’s 1935 Dodge to cart produce from Doncaster orchards to the Melbourne market. (Their brother Les later joined them at D&E Cameron.)  By the end of 1946 they were regularly carting produce up the Hume Highway to Sydney.  The fleet grew in response to demand, but throughout the 1950s Cameron considered British and European trucks unsuitable for the Hume Highway’s steep climbs and deteriorating road surfaces.  After lengthy negotiations he imported several S Model Kenworths from the USA for the D&E Cameron fleet.

In 1962 long-term employee Peter Cerveri drove one of the company’s first Kenworths.   "Ed Cameron was a lovely man to work for and he listened to you," Cerveri says.  "You could talk to him anytime you wanted if you had a bit of a problem.  "He had a lot of faith in people. That’s why everybody stayed there for so long. We respected him but he respected us as well."  Cameron Kenworth Importers brought more than 100 Kenworths into Australia during the 1960s.  Cameron also operated Australian Kenworth Truck Sales which handled sales and parts.

He sold both businesses to Kenworth’s American parent company in the late 1960s.  D&E Cameron was sold to Mitchell Cotts in 1970.  Since then Cameron’s son Glen has established his own transport company, Glen Cameron Group.

A service to celebrate the life of Ed Cameron will be held at Doncaster Church of Christ, Doncaster, Victoria on Friday, July 22 at 1.30pm. A private cremation will be held earlier.

D&E Cameron Transport operated from 1946 to 1970 at 650 Doncaster Road Doncaster.

Cameron Transport DE Depot Esso service station - 650 DoncasterRd c1964 (From Glen Cameron via Facebook)

650 Doncaster Rd.  Site of Clays House  and later Cameron's Garage. GoogleStreetView 2016

Edwin (Ed) Cameron - National Road transport Hall of Fame

Edwin (Ed) Cameron is one of the true pioneers of the modern generation of road transport. After army service during WW11 he joined the family transport business in Doncaster Vic., which principally transported fruit from growers to the Melbourne markets.

Under the name of D. & E. Cameron involving his brothers Les and Don, they began a regular service to the Sydney wholesale markets initially moving brussel sprouts and then other fresh fruit products and perishables back loading with general freight to Melbourne.

Ed Cameron was always frustrated by the primitive road conditions and the unsuitability of the trucks, principally the British or European brands, which were then on offer. In the late 1950s Ed visited the USA searching for more suitable long distance highway trucks. Finally in 1961 he was appointed the first Australian importer of Kenworth trucks and quickly had them adopted by his own business and major freight operators including Ansett and Kwikasair as well as many logging, heavy haulage and general freight business. Ed imported and sold more than 100 prime-movers before the USA parent company acquired his business in the late 1960s and established their Australian manufacturing and assembly base at Bayswater Vic.

Ed Cameron was also actively involved in transport politics being a founder of the Victorian Road Transport Development Association and served as its president. The Association played a lead role in what led to the Privy Council victory in London upsetting the state road tax charges and severe restrictions on transport operators. Ed has recently published his life's journey and Kenworth experience in a book "First Custom Built Trucks for Australia" - subtitled The Kenworth and Ed Cameron Story. It documents a formative period of road and highway transport as it is known today.

Ed's son Glen, also a Wall of Famer, maintains the family traditions with a substantial presence in transport through the very successful Melbourne based Glen Cameron Transport Group.
http://www.roadtransporthall.com/c/1088-02-cameron-ed

On the Road 1: Road scenes and trucks of the 50’s and 60’s

Prince’s Pier, Melbourne sometime in the 1960’s with an R model International behind a line of earlier model Internationals. All of these trucks are loaded with apples or pears from various cool stores in the Goulburn Valley area. The loads are all double tarped and as neat as a pin (an art fast disappearing). I had just started work for D. & E. Cameron from Doncaster around this time and we carried fruit from Petty’s or Tully’s cool stores in Doncaster to this same wharf amongst others.

Peter Morrow. Images from the Peter Morrow Collection

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)