Peter Baldwin

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2015.

Peter Baldwin started in the trucking industry as a young child. His grandfather owned a saw mill in East Gippsland and his father drove a log truck. Peter’s love of trucks and heavy transport began when he travelled with his father. His first driving job when he grew up was with Wilson’s delivering newspapers. He later moved on to become the first driver for John Collins Transport in South Australia. This was followed by a stint working for Lemersurier where he drove one of the first F88 Volvos imported into Australia. From there he went to work for East Coast Transport (ECT).

Peter took a break from trucks and worked in the hospitality industry in Benallla and Wangaratta. However the call of the road was too strong and Peter returned to driving; taking a job with Intermodel Transport in Morwell Victoria hauling rolls of toilet paper. After a few months Peter’s potential was realised and he moved into a managerial role.

1981 saw a move to Alice Springs where Peter became the Manager of Co-Ord Transport and Rednorth Transport. In 1987, Peter was offered a position with Roadtrains of Australia in the Perth Depot. Following that, he moved to Queensland with Barkly Transport working for the well known Robert Holmes-a-Court until the business was wound up.

Peter then decided to move back to Melbourne to spend time with his aging family. He started with Cootes as a load scheduler and moved up to become manager of their Spotswood depot in Melbourne. However the call of the north was strong and Peter moved back at the very first opportunity he got. This was firstly to Townsville in Queensland and then later back to the Territory with a stint in Darwin, where he worked in managerial positions with Aus Fuel Direct Haul.

From 2010 until June 2013 Peter travelled northern Australia working for Aus Fuel Direct Haul operations in Broome, Darwin, Alice Springs, Townsville and Brisbane offering expertise where required. He headed home to Renmark each month for a well earned break.

Peter Baldwin’s dedication over the 50 years he has worked in road transport would have you believe he has diesel in his blood. He was a much a liked manager, who, remembering how difficult driving was, always dealt fairly with drivers; never pulling any punches but taking the time to deal with issues they encountered