Allan Weeks
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2014.
Allan Raymond Weeks, born 1941, left school at 15 to work on the family farm for a while before working on other farms at Oaklands, Gowanford and Colbinabbin Victoria until 1975. Allan married Jean in 1965 and they went on to have two daughters. By 1975 Allan was operating government school buses and had obtained a mechanic s certificate by correspondence from Sydney Technical School. Allan won a bus contract from Kyabram to Echuca Higher Education and in 1982 purchased his first new bus to replace the original bus. He then started the first hire drive bus service in Kyabram with a petrol, 18 seat Toyota Coaster. This service still operates today only with a late model Toyota Coaster and a 12 seater Ford Transit bus.
In 1986 Allan replaced the second bus with a new Perkins powered bus which in 1988 was rerouted to Shepparton instead of Echuca. Three years later this contract was terminated under the last on first off policy. This nearly bankrupted the firm as the bus was not paid for. They were offered much less than the true value, but managed to meet payments. A contract was won to operate between Romsey and Gisborne but was also lost twelve years later under the same policy. The Kyabram contract was maintained with a Hino seating 53 passengers. Both Hino buses did service at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. This contract of 37 years was terminated in 2012. Allan was left with two hire drive buses that still operate. Allan passes his time driving part time for other bus companies.
Allan Weeks says his claim to fame is when, in 1982, he bought a Bedford van bus and set it up with four pens to cart deer, emus and ostriches. It could carry 80 fallow deer or 40 rusa or red deer. The vehicle forced air through it and had water in each pen. Deliveries were made five times across the Nullarbor taking rusa or red deer to West Australia and carting back fallow deer. Travelling non-stop from Kyabram to Margaret River WA, a distance of 3800km, took 44 hours with two drivers. A living compartment was placed over the first pen. Emus and ostriches were carted around Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. This venture proved to be very successful as the welfare of the deer and birds was a priority because of stress. The vehicle and Allan went on to cover 180,000 kilometres before being sold. The running gear was then placed into a motor home.