Desmond White

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2012.

Desmond (Des) White, started driving at 17 without holding a truck or car licence. He obtained his licence from a policeman who was friends of the Doyle family and all he had to do was swap six longnecks of beer for a truck licence. At 21 Des began driving for Barlows and ran from Melbourne to Sydney and to Adelaide. Next he worked for Taylor Dalton on the Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide run. Eagle and Brahms was his next employer and while working there he enjoyed the camaraderie of John and Ron Doyle. Des was often ticked off for being late or for mucking around but he puts it all down to the antics of the young. Des did the Melbourne to Perth run for five years.

Des' most memorable trips were from Sydney to Perth when he travelled about 4300 kilometres to Bullfinch which was just short of Perth. Des would then wind his way up the west coast of Western Australia and follow the rabbit proof fence up through Marble Bar all the way to Tom Price. His freight was supplies to every mining camp and at each he would drop a couple of pallets. His last drop would be at Dampier and then he would head to Exmouth to load up with prawns for unloading back in Sydney.

Des spent six years driving for Mayne Haul Transport before it was bought out by Dairy Bell Icecream. He then moved into an administration position and began a business partnership with a friend, John Francis. The core business of this alliance is refrigerated trailers which are supplied to Ice Cream Distributors. (ICD) This partnership is still strong after 32 years of operation.

He has never purchased a prime mover but has a fleet of refrigerated trailers; although he did buy a wrecked Diamond Reo from Wettenhalls and restored it to its former glory before putting it to work at ICD doing local freight.