Les Pangquee, 2024 Shell Rimula Wall of Fame inductee, describes the transport industry in the Northern Territory as the last frontier. Because help is often, at best, hours away, operators need to be self-reliant and mechanically capable to navigate its isolated highways.
While the rest of Australia speeds ahead looking for the next advancement in tech or innovation, the Northern Territory instead seems to keep its own steady rhythm, grounded in old school values and a firm refusal to take shortcuts.
Les has built his career in transport on the very same values that define the Northern Territory itself: equal parts grit and humility.
His roots run deep with the Pangquee family being a stalwart of Northern Australia. His father spent his life working out bush, hunting buffalo and crocodile.
Later, his father worked with the CSIRO before becoming a ranger during the early studies of Kakadu, before it became a national park.
Growing up around this, Les had the unique opportunity to follow scientists and rangers as they worked, experiences that shaped his understanding of the land and the hard work it takes to thrive in the Territory.
His mother, now 90, made raising the children her top priority. Today, when he’s not on the road, Les spends his time at home supporting her.
Les got his start in transport in the late 1980s, riding along with his brother-in-law, Phil Hall, of Hall’s Transport.
The business held the Kwikasair contract between Alice Springs and Darwin and Les, eager to learn the trade, was often handed the wheel when other drivers became too tired.
“That was like seven years of nightshift,” Les remembers, “It was flat out.” During this time, Les got to know a strong network of drivers from both the Territory and Adelaide, like Andy McEwan and Simon Metcalfe, with whom he still drives today.
Les got his start riding along with his brother-in-law Phil Hall. Image: Les Pangquee
In 1995, Les would secure a role at Gulf Transport, a dream job for many Northern Territory drivers who valued Jim Cooper’s pioneering commitment to professionalism and reputation.
Getting a start with Gulf was tough as it was the kind of job people held onto. In fact, “you had to wait for someone to die to get a gig there,” says Les.
You were not able to just show up and jump in a truck with Gulf. Les recalls their standards for servicing were first-rate and you were expected to master that before you even thought about driving. He spent several weeks in the workshop, learning the ropes, before he was ever handed a pair of keys.
Les would first be stationed in Wyndham, running zinc concentrate from Cadjebut Mine to the port in Wyndham. Leaving Wyndham in the late afternoon, Les would load at Cadjebut before returning to Wyndham by mid-morning.
Then, after a quick rest, he’d be back at it the following afternoon. The 1200-kilometre round trip had to be taken slow on account of the unforgiving road that got you there: “narrow, guttered and pretty dangerous really.”
Gulf Transport was a dream job for Les. Image: Les Pangquee
This would kick off Les’s Australia-wide service with Gulf Transport. From the red dirt of the Granites Gold Mine to the remote corners of the West in Argyle, Derby and Woodie Woodie, Les got to know the Gulf way of trucking.
His experience and skill would eventually take him even further from his Darwin home, working as a driver-trainer for Gulf Power Trains in Nevada, US.
Helping with Rio Tinto’s new above-ground project in Nevada, the aim was to replace a proposed rail arrangement by replicating the Australian road train system in the snow-covered American desert.
The minus 25 degrees, frozen dirt roads and unfamiliar rules aside, Les considers having a go over in the US a career highlight. Las Vegas was only eight hours away by plane.
“They even had a big jet. Fifty dollars and it would take you to Vegas and brings you back in the afternoon with no money!”
Back in Australia, Les continued with Gulf before shifting into fuel haulage under Peter Mostran at Northern Territory Fuel Service. Les would go on to clock up over two decades in fuel haulage, driving for Bulk Haul Fuels, BP Fuel, then Direct Haul and, finally, Fueltrans, now Recharge Petroleum.
Fuel suited him. It was structured and regulated with the same focus on safety he had come to expect at Gulf Transport.
He enjoyed the pace: “You get there when you get there. You unload one…preferably! If you’re tired, pull up and go to sleep.”
Les considers himself fortunate to have joined at a time when many of the old Shell veterans were still on the ground, experienced operators who had seen it all and were generous with their knowledge.
He often finished a shift covered in oil and dust. While the old fellas would still be spotless, “I’d look like a mechanic by the end of the day!” Les says.
Gulf Transport was a dream job for Les. Image: Les Pangquee
However, they never hesitated to lend a hand. “Just take your time. We’ll show ya,” they’d say. Their patience and willingness to teach left a lasting impression on Les, who now passes his own knowledge to the current generation of operators, including his nephew.
“My main advice…is you just follow the procedure. Those procedures are there because someone before you and before me has mucked up.”
Over the decades on the road, Les has seen just about everything the Territory can throw at a driver, but some moments still stand out. Driving south from Darwin to Alice Springs following an Adelaide Qwikasair truck, Les was near Ti-Tree when he spotted an elephant. The elephant was standing calmy on a float, ready to be transported.
“I was like, ‘There’s a bloody elephant!’” he laughs. The driver ahead of him had gone quiet for a bit before finally jumping on the radio: “Copy, Les? Did you see an elephant back there?”. “I thought, ‘Thank god!’ I thought I was going crazy!”.
Although he is one of the steady and capable operators the transport industry quietly depends on, Les doesn’t seek recognition and remains focused on his ongoing work behind the wheel.
While his induction into the 2024 Shell Rimula Wall of Fame is a proud moment, true to form, Les shifts the spotlight. “There’s a lot of people out there that should be in there,” he says. “People need to take the time to get them in there.”
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