Honouring a gentleman of the highway

A convoy of trucks travelled through Drouin on Wednesday in honour of the late Robert "Bob" Phair, a Drouin local and a well known trucking identity.
Bob died on May 24, one day shy of his 83rd birthday. After 60 years of driving trucks across Australia, it was fitting he would travel by truck one last time.
In a tribute described by his daughters Judy and Lynne as "the ultimate send off" for their dad, Bob's coffin was transported from David W. Bull Funerals to the Drouin Cemetery, on the back of his friend's truck. The main vehicle was followed to the cemetery by a convoy of trucks, driven by friends Bob made during his many years behind the wheel.
The idea for the convoy came about after one of Bob's friends contacted Lynne.
"It started with one of his friends, Gary, offering his truck that had a special plate made for the back of the turntable, that we could put the coffin on," Lynne explained. "He asked if we would like the coffin to go on the back of the truck to honour dad. We thought that was a great idea, and then it kind of just snowballed."
While they were originally expecting between four and six trucks to make up the convoy, 11 trucks turned up on the day.
Some of the drivers travelled from interstate to be part of the convoy, getting up in the middle of the night to clean their trucks one more time, so they'd be spotless. Many of them had known Bob since they were in their 20s.
Judy and Lynne said the turnout was a testament to the strength of the friendships Bob had developed throughout his life on the road.
"I think that he would have been pretty chuffed about it," Judy said. "It made us feel very proud."
Trucking wasn't just a job for Bob, it was in his blood. His grandfather Herbert started the tradition, delivering fruit and vegetables door to door with a horse and cart.
When Bob's father eventually took over running the Drouin Fruit and Vegetable Market, the business grew into a fleet of trucks carrying fresh produce to the Melbourne Markets and back to retail outlets and shops between Melbourne and Sale.
Bob's first job was as an apprentice mechanic with Reg Butterworth Motors in Drouin, but started driving for Neal's Transport in Moama after completing his apprenticeship. He drove a Leyland Comet between Newcastle and Sydney, then a Dodge hauling briquettes from Canberra to Melbourne. After that he drove an 8V71 GM for Manson, carting potatoes out of Thorpdale and pineboard out of Rosedale.
Bob bought his first truck in 1970, a green 760 Dodge powered by a V8 318 petrol motor. Almost two decades later, he purchased his first cab-over Kenworth and spent the next 10 years hauling palletised milk powder from the Drouin Butter Factory to the Melbourne Wharf, backloading with steel pipes from Tubemakers.
In 1989 he purchased a Kenworth Cabover K100E fitted with a 350B Caterpillar engine and carted paper with FCN Transport. When FCN was later downsized, Bob started hauling for his friend John Heggart while contracting with APM.
In 2006, Bob's contribution to the road transport industry was formally recognised when he was inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame. His mates on the road remembered him as a true "gentleman of the highway" always offering assistance and camaraderie to his fellow truck drivers.
Judy and Lynne said their dad told them years ago that he never wanted a funeral, "he just wanted a party".
"We feel like we achieved that. We were so proud, and we were so humbled by the mateship, they all just turned up without being asked by us to do it," Judy and Lynne said.