He worked at Ford for 28 years and still proudly wears a jacket with the big blue logo.
He is also one of 17 in his family who worked at Geelong's Ford factory across its 90-year history.
asserted
who → work → history
For him, the decade since it closed has been difficult.
asserted
it → close → him
"I still miss the factory.
asserted
I → miss → factory
If it was open, I'd still be there,"Mr Travers said.
asserted
Travers → say → ?
It's hard to sum up how important the factory was to Geelong.
asserted
factory → sum → Geelong
Mr Travers describes the suburb of Norlane as the town that Ford built because it was full of factory workers and their families.
asserted
it → describe → workers
During World War II, the plant manufactured long-range fuel tanks for aircraft.
asserted
plant → manufacture → aircraft
When the war ended, it moulded or stamped together large metal sheets into car panels and created the company's well-known straight-six engines.
asserted
it → end → engines
The plant became a microcosm of Australian multiculturalism, drawing postwar migrants to Geelong for the consistent work.
asserted
plant → become → work
Parts for cars including the Falcon, Fairlane and Territory were made in the sprawling Norlane complex and taken to Broadmeadows, where workers welded the panels together, painted the shells and inserted the Geelong-built engines.
asserted
workers → include → engines
Ford said in its heyday both factories employed about 5,000 people.
asserted
factories → say → people
But that all changed in 2013, when management announced it would close the plants.
asserted
it → change → plants
The American car maker initially announced about 1,200 manufacturing jobs would become redundant at both sites.
asserted
jobs → announce → sites
When the doors closed on October 7, 2016, many workers had already moved on or been redeployed.
The writing had been on the wall for years.
asserted
writing → close → years
In 2013, Ford president Bob Graziano said the company lost more than $600 million over five years on its Australian operations and its costs were "double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia".
asserted
costs → say → Asia
Mr Travers was selected to stay on at the factory, working on prototypes, until 2017.
asserted
Travers → select → 2017
When he finished, he found a variety of short-term work, building camper trailers, filling potholes and replacing traffic signs.
asserted
he → finish → signs
But he says none of it was as good as his time at Ford.
asserted
none → say → Ford
"You knew your job every day.
asserted
You → know → job
When I transitioned to these other places, they did things completely differently and it made it extremely difficult
asserted
it → transition → things
you had to get your mind out of the Ford way of doing things," he said.
asserted
he → have → things
Now retired, he remembers the satisfaction of creating such useful products.
asserted
he → retire → products
"You were sort of proud of what you produced, to see the finished product at the end.
asserted
you → produce → end
The closure was such a seismic shift for many of the 600 workers who finished 10 years ago, their bosses gave them a strategy to deal with the disruption to their routine after the closures.
asserted
bosses → finish → closures
"They said on Monday morning just drive into the work car park as per normal, park your car, sit there for a few minutes, and then drive home," Mr Travers said.
asserted
Travers → say → minutes
It touches on a wider feeling among former Ford workers, who talk about being part of a Ford family, in clearly defined jobs.
asserted
who → touch → jobs
"You're almost institutionalised," says Mr Travers's former colleague, Henry Fuller, who worked at Ford Geelong for 35 years.
asserted
who → institutionalise → years
Mr Fuller remembers the years between 2013 and 2016 as tough.
asserted
Fuller → remember → 2013
"It wasn't like the end of the world, but it was close to it,"he said.
asserted
it → say → world
In the final days of the Geelong factory, part of Anthony Anderson's job was to help his colleagues find other work.
asserted
colleagues → help → work
He found the mock interviews the hardest part.
asserted
interviews → find → ?
"People just hadn't done an interview for, say, 25 years.
asserted
People → do → years
To get them writing resumes and having the confidence to go and present themselves to a new employer wasn't easy," he said.
asserted
he → get → employer
Mr Anderson agrees many had worked with Ford for so long they felt institutionalised.
asserted
they → agree → Ford
"When you finish, you will not find the same wages and conditions or the attitude that's on the shop floor here.
asserted
that → finish → floor
"You won't necessarily find a comfortable job first off.
asserted
You → find → job
You may go through four or five jobs," he said.
uncertain
he → go → jobs
He told many to take time off after the closure, advice he took himself, before he became secretary and treasurer of the Geelong Trades Hall Council.
asserted
he → tell → Council
While Ford stopped making cars in Australia, it said it employed about 1,000 people at a research facility in Geelong, testing grounds in the You Yangs, and its Campbellfield site.
asserted
it → stop → Yangs
It has now improved to 4.5 per cent.
asserted
It → improve → cent
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia