Peter Bartlett

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2013.

Peter Bartlett was born in Melbourne in March 1946.  Not long after his birth the family moved to Drouin, a small country town in South East Victoria where his father was employed hauling logs for Ledermans in a White Super Power log truck.  It was during this time that young Peter became interested in the trucking industry and all things mechanical. As a young boy he would often accompany his father on long trips into the mountains and the forests to retrieve logs. It was hard going for the truck and back breaking work for Peter and his father but Peter loved the idea of becoming a truck driver.

The first 'real' job Peter had was driving an International tray body for Lieshouts Longwarry, picking up milk in cans from dairy farms around the Narragul South, Gainsborough area. Peter spent six months with Lieshouts before taking a job with Fallons Iona Farm & Equipment Services, driving a range of trucks including a J6 Bedford carting fertiliser from Yarraville to farms around Kooweerup Swamp and Labertouche and a TK Bedford and semi. He later drove an 1840 International and 3070 International both of which were used for carting hay out of Serpentine and Boort, and fence posts out of Heathcote. Peter also hauled potatoes around the Iona district. Peter enjoyed his time with Fallons and remained with them for 15 years.

Peters next job was with Towns Haulage at Bunyip where he drove an ACCO tray body, a SAR Kenworth and later a 3070 International delivering groceries to Safeway Stores all around the Gippsland area. He also hauled beer from the Abbotsford Brewery in Melbourne and tuna out of Eden with 'changeovers' at Tarcutta. Peter stayed with Towns Haulage for seven and a half years.

When Peter Bartlett moved to Warragul he took a job with the Gippsland Petroleum Group (GPG) at their Mobil Depot in Warragul. From there he transferred to Traralgon and carted fuel and gas to farms and service stations  all around the Warragul, Drouin and Morwell areas in an ACCO Rigid. During this time Peter earned himself a reputation as a professional and reliable operator and he was well liked on the road. When Gippsland Petroleum upgraded to a new Freightliner truck and dog Peter was the obvious choice to drive it carting fuel from the Melbourne depot to local Gippsland service stations. When the Gippsland Petroleum was sold to United Petroleum, Peter went with the sale. With United he drove a Mack, carting fuel out of Hastings terminal, as well as delivering to local farms and service stations around Gippsland. Peter has retired from driving trucks but enjoys reminiscing.