Industry mourns Vale Ed Cameron’s passing

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Big Rigs  /  July 18, 2016

The man who first brought Kenworth to Australia

Transport Pioneer Ed Cameron has sadly passed away.

Ed was one of the first men to import Kenworth trucks to Australia.

He ws also inducted into the Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2002 and was named one of the four Icons of the Industry at the 2015 Hall of Fame Reunion.

The Australian Road Transport Hall of Fame posted that Ed served in the Army during WWII then he joined the family business in Doncaster Vicotria which mainly transport fruit from growers to the Melbourne markets.

With brothers Les and Don under the name of D&E Cameron he began a regular service to the Sydney wholesale markets transport fruit and vegetables and backloading with general to Melbourne.

He was frustrated by the primitive road conditions and unsuitability of the trucks available in Australia mainly UK and European brands.

In the late 1950s Ed visited the USA looking for more suitable long distance highway trucks.

Then in 1961 he was appointed the first Australian importer of Kenworth trucks into Australia and he started using them in his own business.

Major operators like Ansett and Kwikasair and man logging, heavy haulage and general freight businesses also jumped on board.

He imported and sold more than 100 primemovers before Paccar acquired his business in the late 1960s and then estabilshed their Australian manufacturing and assembly base at Bayswater in Victoria.

Ed 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 (http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/first-custom-built-trucks-for-australia-edward-cameron/p/9780980362428).

It documents a formative period of road and highway transport as it is known today.

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Truck and trucking legend Ed Cameron passes on

Australasian Transport News (ATN)  /  July 18, 2016

The man who imported the first fully assembled S-model Kenworths to Australia back in October 1962 has passed away.

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.

Related reading:

http://www.kws900.com/

http://www.kenworth.com.au/our-history/

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