I
vanhoe in the west of NSW was
once a bustling centre of activity.
It boasted four car dealerships,
one bank branch, stock and station
agents and two pubs.
Like many outback towns, Ivanhoe
slowly saw everything shut up, close
down and leave town. The population
today is in the low 300s and has
a solitary service station and one
remaining pub.
Some of the biggest employers in the
town are transport companies, one of
which is this month’s Rig of the Month,
Carmichael’s Livestock Transport.Truckin’ Life travelled to Ivanhoe
to photograph this month’s Rig of the
Month and to speak with John and Keren
Carmichael together with their son Mark.
The Carmichael’s are Mack men and
have a fleet of five bulldogs in their
kennel with their newest being a pair of
identical 2019 Titans.
John and his wife Keren own the
operation with one of their sons Mark,
now heavily involved.
As with many transport operations, it
grew out of a necessity to carry their own
stock with John buying his first truck a
Leyland in 1972 after coming home fromboarding school.
“Pop, Jim Carmichael, was a teamster
originally. He would cart the grog for
Carlton and United Brewery on his
wagon out of Swan Hill headed for
Balranald. Pa bought a farm, Rose Hill
out here and had his own trucks to cart
his stock” recalled John.
Back then, there were a lot of Pommie
trucks around and Jim had a Dennis
pulling a two deck sheep trailer and
a deck of cattle. That was sold and
replaced with a Fargo that later made
way for a Ford F600 that John learnt to
drive in.< 012 > Truckin’LifeRIG OF THE MONTH