Working in rural communities present unique challenges compared to urban or suburban settings where most of our other BDS workshops reside and we often take for granted the resources and easiness we have living and working in cities. BDS Mechanical has operations up in Doomadgee, a town and a locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee, Queensland, Australia. Here is what some of our staff have to say about the benefits and challenges of living and working remotely:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?
Seeing the different country in the north. There are some beautiful places and if you get to know the locals they will take you to some pretty special spots. Meeting some of the locals and hearing their stories about the past. Working with a close knit team and no traffic to contend with.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀? Working remotely has lots of benefits including being able to go fishing and hunting on the occasional weekend and attending some of the local events like the Gregory Races.Working rostered shifts whilst there, getting to see how the aboriginal community lives and being in a remote area working gives me the appreciation of what we get to come home to after my roster.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆? Our biggest challenge is wet season each year and not being able to get parts for this period. This year Doomadgee was cut off for 4months. Helping the locals fix their vehicles always come with some challenges as sometimes the repairs cost more than the vehicle is worth but we do our best to keep them happy.The biggest challenge I face is leaving my partner at home alone for long periods while I am away working.
Thank you Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council for letting BDS Mechanical Repairs be apart of your community 
Another great turn out at our Maryborough Workshop for their fifth Dyno Night. Loads of people rocked up with their rides, took turns on the dyno and enjoyed an evening of mingling and admiring people’s pride and joys!
July 5th | Aug 2nd | Sep 6th | Oct 4th | Nov 1st
Our Maryborough Workshop once again has had another amazing turnout to their fourth Dyno Night. Although the dyno wasn’t running that evening, many people from the Fraser Coast’s car community and their sweet rides still showed up to mingle with other car enthusiasts!
June 7th | July 5th | Aug 2nd | Sep 6th | Oct 4th | Nov 1st
Our Maryborough Workshop has successfully pulled off another dyno night. The car park was full again with a number of cars on the dyno, mostly the Nissan Patrol guys competing against themselves. A local car club – Maryborough Street Machines – handle the catering and we supported their club with a little fundraiser.
May 10th | June 7th | July 5th | Aug 2nd | Sep 6th | Oct 4th | Nov 1st
Our Maryborough Workshop has successfully pulled off another dyno night. Around 80 cars showed up to the lot to mingle. Although there was only a handful that got on the dyno, it was still a great turn out. Check out some of the sweet rides that pulled up below!
April 12th | May 10th | June 7th | July 5th | Aug 2nd | Sep 6th | Oct 4th | Nov 1st
GREAT turnout for this year’s first Dyno Night at our Maryborough Workshop. Despite the weather, we still had lots of vehicles turn up to get on the dyno or just mingle amongst others. Shoutout to Granville Butchery for supplying a stack of snags. Stay up to date on our social platforms for more Dyno Nights ahead!
March 15th | April 12th | May 10th | June 7th | July 5th | Aug 2nd | Sep 6th | Oct 4th | Nov 1st
Big and exciting news for our BDS Mechanical Maryborough Workshop! Engaged in an Australian company, the workshop will work alongside doing Vehicle ECU Remapping around Qld at many locations. BDS Maryborough will also be looking at your Petrol Performance needs and will have you covered, teaming up with VCM Performance covering all your GM LS requirements!
We have officially opened up our newest workshop in Cloncurry. Cloncurry will act as our supporting hub to our Doomadgee, Normanton and Kowanyama sites. Shoutout to Sam (BDS Doomadgee Manager) for creating good customer relations so fast, Clarry (BDS Business Development) who took a trip up there at the beginning stages, our diesel mechanics Daniel, Nathaniel and Corey for keeping on top of the work that comes in and all of the other branches and individuals who have helped support the Cloncurry team in these early days!
Last month our BDS Moura workshop attended a breakdown at the Moura Fire Station. They had lost power and required the auxiliary generator to power the shed and open the roller doors. They could not get the generator started and rang for help – fortunately there was no emergency but they were being prepared just in case. Vinnie, a diesel mechanic at our Moura Workshop, went down and got it sorted for the station.
Every year the Middlemount Fire & Rescue Station conducts an annual Santa Lolly Drop and gives out gift bags to children. This year BDS Mechanical helped sponsor this wonderful cause and give back to the Middlemount community. Cheers!
One of our Bundaberg team members and a valued team member of Backyard Speedway Ventures was having issues loading his speedway cars on to his flatbed tray. So what did our Bundaberg Workshop do? Converted it from a flatbed to a beaver tail – all fabrication was done in house at our Bundaberg Workshop!
BDS Mechanical sponsored the @AG Middlemount Charity Golf Day 2023, donating vouchers for Services and Wheel Alignments to go in the multi-draw raffles and auction to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation and Royal Flying Doctors. This was a dress up event and BDS put together a team to play for the day. Wayne, Alistair, Wade and Mitch all put on their brightly coloured team shirts and hit the course for the day, they played 9 holes and came back with a score of 39 and sitting in 3rd place off the stick before handy caps were placed.
The handicap was randomly set by rolling a pair of dice, lucky for the boys when they sent the team leader Wayne in, he came through with a good toss rolling an 11 for the handy cap, this had the guys sitting on 28 tied with another team for 1st place. Would you believe Wayne came through again for the guys on the second toss with a 9 bring us to 19 and putting the BDS team in 1st place taking out the win for the day? On the Drinks buggy (Keeping everybody hydrated) we had Angela and Cassandra as the Scrubs Nurses, the outfits they wore were hand made as they had a sewing bee one afternoon just to get ready for the day. They hooned around the course keeping everyone’s tummies full with the sausage sizzle lunch and drinks.
Wayne thanked the team for the efforts they all put in on the day and how well we all represented ourselves and BDS.
BDS successfully won the maintenance tender at Kowanyama (community) which will start on the 1st of October. This tender will be looking after all the council and contractors equipment with the shire including LVs and heavy machinery.
BDS was one of the sponsors for the 2023 Doomadgee rodeo again this year after sponsoring the event last year. The Annual Doomadgee Rodeo is one of the premier sporting events in the Gulf region, bringing competitors and spectators from Borroloora, Brisbane, Normanton, Mount Isa and Cloncurry.
On 28th December 2022 the town of Doomadgee went into isolation due to wet season. Doomadgee continued to be isolated and face major flooding issues with another 2-3 weeks of isolation from the end of March 2023. Which made it the biggest wet season since 2006.
Doomadgee quickly ran out of unleaded and as food supply became low essentials had to be flown in weekly.
The BDS team had a short space of time at the end of January where the river dropped enough to be able to take a truck through to Townsville and bring back all of their parts. They had also been flying in some parts, but flight restrictions due to the lack of avgas in the region meant this had to stop.
BDS Mechanical Repairs acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this great land on which we live.
We recognise the respect that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the first peoples and Traditional owners of this country. BDS Mechanical Repairs recognises their ongoing Connection to Culture and Country, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. We also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
At BDS Mechanical Repairs, we are committed to supporting Indigenous employment opportunities and fostering strong relationships with Indigenous communities. We proudly engage in initiatives that promote sustainable career pathways for Indigenous individuals and actively participate in community sponsorship programs to help empower and uplift Indigenous communities.
