Michael ‘Springy Spring – a great man remembered

Ayear ago, the WA Transport industry lost one of its finest. Michael Spring passed after an 18 month battle with cancer on the 16th May 2020. He was only 57 years old.

Springy, as he was known was the sort of bloke who would always stop for those broken down or in need of help. He mentored many new young truck drivers who were grateful that he shared his experience.

He is remembered as a great man, a bit of a larrikin and a legend in the transport industry to his family and friends.

He didn’t own a multi truck transport company, or design fancy transport equipment gadgets, or sit on the board of any transport forums - but he gave a gazillion hours to the job and life style that he loved. He was a go to person for many on how to best to secure a load, where to find ramps and weigh bridges or how best to get to some remote mine sites.

During 1983 and 1984, he first met Peter and Laurie Allbeury, Allan Halse and his truckie dad and mentor Trevor Kempton and his brother Ron. They taught him the things that shaped his future such as mounting tyres on split rims, rebuilding motors and fitting a 6/10 overdrive Road Ranger to a Leyland Comet. He absorbed all the teachings of the Kempton brothers who made him earn his keep by starting off small in an old single drive cab over Leyland, affectionately nicknamed “Maggie Thatcher”.

He then got a job at Conclad, moving up in the world, to driving the “Dung Barge” an 8Tonner and dog. In those days, most trips were on the dirt, in stinking heat and there were no creature comforts like icepacks. Window down was the extent of air conditioning.

Mick saw out the late 80’s and early 90’s working at Conclad, Brambles and Centurion Transport.

He then had a go as a Perth based Owner Driver but the lifestyle did not agree with him so he sold up and moved onto driving for Robbie Brown (RJ & SW Brown) pulling a B-double and two dogs with half heights loaded with Mill Balls for Telfer. His truck at the time was a Tri-drive Kenworth 904 called “Lotsa Ballz”.

Happy to be back on the open road, he enjoyed driving the Perth-Darwin stretch when the opportunity arose and moved over to Jolly and Sons and Ontraq Haulage mainly doing this route.

A few years was then spent with Triton Heavy Haulage, doing larger oversize loads and float work which was new to him as well as east west work, something he vowed never to do (too many rules and regulation changes from state to state, he’d say), but as with everything, he embraced the challenge and ended up enjoying it. Triton sold out to Centurion Transport and this saw him move over to do short stints at MTA and RGR before he was diagnosed with Terminal Bowl

Cancer, totally out of the blue.

What made Mick’s passing even sadder was his last days took place when the national restrictions came into place for COVID-19. This meant his eleven year old son was not allowed into the hospital to see his dad. Mick spent his last few days at home so he could see a few family and friends for one last time but a proper farewell and funeral procession were not possible.

His friends did the best they could and at the end of March, just within a whisker of COVID-19 gathering restrictions coming into force. Robbie Brown of RJ and SW Brown, Danelle Kempton of Dananni Haulage and Blair McHaffie of McHaffie Transport Australia (MTA) came together to organize the best “Live Wake” that Mick could have ever imagined.

Long distance trucking was his ‘everything’. He loved his mates from on the road and from learning his sudden diagnosis, they constantly kept him involved via Facebook and phone calls right to the imminent point of no return.

His own farewell from his self written eulogy... “To my Transport family, Black on Black, safe travels and I’ll catch you in the big window.

“He left this life on earth forever a truckie and I am so proud of him,” says his partner Britta Littlemore.