Paul Witte

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

Paul Witte began his driving career in1969 driving a Foden truck and float carting machinery for John White Constructions in Darwin.
When he moved to Alice Springs in 1971 Paul worked for Co Ord Transport carting freight from the Alice Springs rail head to Larrimah rail head 333 miles south of Darwin. This job lasted some months before Paul returned to Darwin to work with Gulf Transport driving a car carrier between Alice Springs and Darwin. On one trip he stopped at Elliot and was surprised to meet an old mate, Peter Bottams, whom he had not seen for years. Paul was persuaded by Peter to move to Melbourne and work for Coldstorage Transport. In 1973 Paul started running from Melbourne to Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and anywhere in between. The Nullarbor was dirt from Penong to the border. The coast road from Perth to Darwin was dirt and the South Road from Pimba to twelve miles south of Alice was still dirt. Driving was a long and arduous with roads subject to flooding in the wet and corrugations and bulldust in the dry.In early 1975 Paul left Melbourne and moved to Adelaide for a few months running 'two up' with Frank Lenzi to Darwin. It was then back to Darwin to work with John Doyle who sub-contracted for Coldstorage Transport. Later the same year he worked for Stevens Transport carting fuel for BP between Darwin, Alice Springs, across to Western Australia and to missions west and east of Darwin.In 1976 Paul joined Ascots Transport in Darwin and carted fuel to Alice Springs and Mt Isa for Shell, Mobil and BP. The year 1979 saw Paul move to Katherine to help his father in his quarry business. Paul operated triple configuration roadtrains carrying aggregates and sands from Katherine to Borroloola and Kununurra.Paul moved to Queensland in 1989 managing a quarry business in the Whitsundays for four years before starting work for Boral Ltd in Mackay and Cairns where he worked for the next 16 years.In 2012 Paul manages three separate quarries for an independent operator in Tully, Ingham and Innisfail