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Fishing and trucking the perfect mix for Craig Fox

Craig Fox splits his time between running a successful trucking operation and abalone diving.

 

Mixing trucking with fishing is nothing unusual for small fleet owner Craig Fox.

With his wife and mother at home looking after the office, and his trucks in the hands of reliable and competent drivers, the owner of bulk freight carrier Fox’s Transport can often be found out on his boat.

As well as operating five Volvos out of the Victorian coastal town of Port Fairy, Craig is a professional abalone diver.

“My wife, Michele, and Kaye, my mum, look after the office, do the invoicing, liaise with myself and our clients and ensure our employees are looked after well,” Craig says.

“They do the general running of things.”

Craig had been involved in the fishing industry since leaving school at age 16. It was his profession of choice until the industry suffered a downturn.

Craig gained his truck licence and eventually bought Fox’s Transport from his father, Keith, when he decided to retire.

Craig’s parents originally started the business in Port Fairy specialising in carting fish from the local wharf, including abalone, crayfish and shark.

Later they moved to Cranbourne where Keith carted sand, working for well-known Victorian industry identity Frank Vella, and later for SBI Quarries in Cranbourne.

The opportunity came to return to their hometown doing local quarry work.

When the opportunity came to take over the business, Craig decided to have a go.

“I have been in the trucks now for the past 12 years and we’ve been able to get back into abalone diving last year,” he says.

“I’ve got very good employees, good operators that keep and look after the trucks well.”

Craig has struck up good relationships with customers in the local area, who have proved to be loyal to his business.

He does harvest work that can run for three to four months and then delivers commodities into the western district and Gippsland areas.

For Craig, it is essential to have the right gear with the right drivers, and to have the best equipment available.

“If I am confident in my gear and my employees, and with wife Michele and mother Kaye in the office, it makes it possible to get back in the water and go fishing,” he says.

You can read Craig Fox’s full story in the February edition of Owner//Driver.

Photography: Peter Schlenk

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