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When only the best will do JIM HURLEY, OR JJ AS HE’S AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN, IS WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF OUR TRUCKING INDUSTRY’S FINEST GENTLEMEN. HUMBLE AND GENEROUS WITH HIS TIME AND RESOURCES, JIM HAS SPENT HIS ENTIRE WORKING CAREER TO DATE IN VARIOUS ROLES WITHIN HIS FAMILY BUSINESS, KENWORTH AND DAF DEALER BROWN AND HURLEY. Effectively this could be considered a forerunner to Performance-Based Standards (PBS), decades before the system was formalised. He recalls a modification he made to 32’ stock crates to incorporate a rounded nose so they had capacity for several more beasts without needing to increase the swing clearance. “Even back in those days operators were chasing increased trailer lengths,” Jim says. “During my lifetime so far I’ve seen trailer lengths increase from 32-to-34 feet, then 36, 40, 45 and 48 feet. “Then in the late ‘80s the first 23-metre B-doubles arrived, which were subsequently increased to 25- and later 26-metre, and so the length creep continues.” In 1963, after completing his Born at The Risk near Kyogle in 1942, Jim
with the corners not smoothly rounded off,
apprenticeship, Jim moved to the Brisbane
Hurley commenced his working life in 1958
I smile and think to myself, ‘the person who
branch to appraise vehicles and arrange
as an apprentice motor mechanic under the
worked on this didn’t do his apprenticeship
repairs on used trucks. He moved back to
watchful eye of Alan Brown, who along
under Alan Brown’.”
Kyogle in 1965 and took up a position in
with Jim’s father Jack, founded Brown and
Jim worked diligently during his
sales.
Hurley in 1946.
apprenticeship and not only learned well
From 1986 Jim assumed the role of Dealer
“Alan taught me great work ethics and that
the skills of a motor mechanic, but also
Principal and Group Manager of Sales at
only perfect was good enough,” Jim says.
turned his hand to improving the design
Kyogle, a position he held for the following
“To this day, if I see a bolt in a chassis with
and function of semi-trailers, which in those
three decades.
the thread facing outwards, or a bracket
days were just 32’ (9.75m) long.
In addition, he was Managing Director of the company from 1990 to 2012. Today Jim’s official title is Roving Ambassador, which after all those years of hard work is a fitting way for him to continue working for his family company within the industry he loves.
Industry Icon Made possible by Smedley’s Engineers. Industry Icon is a series dedicated to honouring the unsung heroes of the commercial road transport industry.
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Trailer Magazine MARCH 22
