1951 -2017 RIP
Peter James Sands was born in Mt Hawthorn, Western Australia on 14th August 1951 and was the first child on Hector and Carmel Sands of Northam.
Peter’s father Hector owned and operated Sands Milk Transport in Northam. Peter spent all his time trailing after his father at their milk depot and from age 11, often went on the overnight truck runs in the Eastern Wheatbelt to show their drivers where to go. They used block ice and hessian bags to keep the milk cold.
At age 14, Peter left school to work with his father full-time, picking and loading trucks for the milk runs. At age 18, he was granted an
extraordinary truck licence so he could drive for his fathers
company. He would drive to Perth everyday but Saturday to collect milk, etc, which he then uploaded, picked and reloaded onto carious trucks for their overnight runs. Peter often had to then go out on one of those runs if they were a driver short. He drove D series Fords in those days.
The family business now had younger brothers Kevin and Anthony in the fold and they expanded into general refrigerated freight with their first trip being hanging meat carcasses to Kalgoorlie in May of 1980 in a Volvo G89 with one trailer. This was shortly before the passing of their father Hector.
At this time, Sands Fridge Lines was born and they opened a depot in Forrestfield and they expanded in all directions. To Albany, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Eucla and later into the North West of WA. Their fleet of tucks included Western Stars and Kenworths.
They carted many things over the years – rabbit and kangaroo carcasses from the Nullarbor, eggs from the Avon Valley, Proteas, grapes and wine from the South West, milk and newspaper into the Wheatbelt and hanging meat to Kalgoorlie.
In Peters later years, he oversaw Sands Milk Transport operations and was involved in warehousing, loading and scheduling at their
Forrestfield Depot, but loved nothing better than to get into the garden at their depot.
Peter was an unsophisticated typical Aussie truckie of the old school type who loved his workers and was always willing to pitch in and did his share where help was needed. He had a great rapport with staff and customers alike and would bend over backwards to accommodate them.
Peter passed away on 16th March 2017, aged 65 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer and is survived by his widow Lynne, sons Shane and Alexander and two grandchildren.
Inducted in 2024
