Pasquale “Peter” Amoroso
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2007.
Pasquale (Peter) Amoroso was born in Italy in 1937 leaving behind a Europe that had suffered war, famine, and a lack of opportunity. Australia was seen as a new frontier and Peter arrived with only a change of clothes in his bag, with no money and no understanding of English.
In 1956 after numerous labouring jobs Peter purchased a VW micro-bus from the Olympic Games Organisation and setup Peter's Taxi Trucks in Brunswick. His first contract was with His Masters Voice and the task was to transport HMV staff and to deliver product to their retail outlets.
He worked hard and within twelve months he purchased his first rigid truck, a Commer carrier performing local work. It wasn't long before he acquired a big Commer semi with a bogie trailer and 16 ton payload for interstate work to Sydney. The next new addition, in 1962, was a Foden prime-mover with a 96hp, 5 cylinder Gardener. It came with a hot water bottle, blankets and rubber seat cushion.
Peter operated his fleet Australia wide. Melbourne to Sydney was the bread and butter route, but he also serviced mines in the NT, QLD and WA. After Cyclone Tracy his fleet made many trips to deliver goods that helped rebuild Darwin. Peter's philosophy was that if you weren't loyal to, and didn't know your customers, you could not grow your company. In 1972 he met Jenny, they fell in love and married. They produced three sons, Frank, Peter and Damien. As the family grew so did the business ultimately operating over 50 trucks. Amotrans as a company commenced under this name in 1984 and is still operating from its Craigieburn depot.
Today, his youngest son manages the business under the supervision of Peter and Jenny who looks after the administration side of the business. Peter finally retired in 2006 but before that he ran the business, loaded and drove trucks when required and performed both minor and major mechanical repairs. Illness has reduced this input.
Today Peter and Jenny enjoy their retirement.