Truck legend Neil not slowing
EVEN after nearly 60 years in the trucking business, Neil Mansell has no plans to take a back seat in the business he and his wife Fay built.
The Toowoomba business owner and long-time driver was surprised by friends, family and employees on Saturday with a celebration of the company buying its 600th truck.
Mr Mansell, who has hundreds of staff based across Australia, said his enthusiasm for the industry was the same as when he founded the business in the early 1970s.
“(Retirement) is not on the agenda – I love work as much now and getting out of bed now as I did 40 years ago,” he said.
The latest Kenworth truck sporting Mr Mansell’s emblems was on display, right next to the first vehicle he bought for the company in 1974.
“They called it the Desert Queen when I got it in 1974 and I drove that myself for years,” he said.
In that time, the trucking industry has continued to evolve, with Neil Mansell Transport making sure it was ahead of the curve.
“There have been rapid changes, just on the road conditions themselves, the style of trucks compared to what we had back then,” Mr Mansell said.
“One of the big changes have been the safety around drivers – we have done a lot in safety and I pride myself and our team with safety.
Foundation employee Darrell Brown, who joined Mr Mansell to celebrate the achievement, described his mate and former boss as a “fair man who looks after his employees”.