Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
The strata of life revealed in this book has not been recorded by academic historians, yet these are the people whose efforts established the foundation of what has become the largest industry in the nation.
The story of the pioneer road hauliers is told in a biography format from personal interviews, or told by family members who had worked closely with them.
Colourful and fascinating characters emerge.
An examination of the only public records remaining of the former Victorian Transport Regulation Board gives insights into the conduct of such organizations when public awareness and transparency of performance did not have a place in the management of a state's economy.
From as early as 1920, the state governments acted illegally in pursuit of the pioneer hauliers.
The contrived legality of the 1930s transport acts began to crush them. For the next 23 years the state transport authorities alternately used the hauliers or pushed them outside the law as the rail systems either failed to cope or were believed to be capable of improved services.
When the hauliers won their legal rights before the Privy Council, state governments wasted the next 25 years fighting a bitter rearguard action to regain some control over a rapidly growing industry
Code No. 009345, ISBN 0646398172