Jamie Cooper
Born on the 18th of August 1964, the second eldest to Jim and Jenny Cooper in New Zealand, Jamie Cooper was always destined to be in the transport industry in some way, shape or form. His father, Jim, had established a transport company, Cooper Transport, in Tapanui, which afforded Jamie the opportunity to ride along in the truck with him every chance he got.
In April 1972, Jamie, along with the family, followed Jim to Darwin as Jim had purchased Gulf Transport. School wasn’t as important as it should have been for Jamie. It only delayed him from getting to work in the afternoon! He would get to the tyre bay at the Gulf Transport yard by about 3.30pm and stay there until he went home with his dad about 6.30pm. All weekend was spent in the yard, unloading and reloading trailers and, of course, driving trucks around the yard.
In 1980, when Jamie finished school, he joined the Navy to do an aircraft engines and airframes apprenticeship. His dad always wanted him to do something else before he would ultimately return to the business in 1985.
The first trucks Jamie drove with his dad were a 1968 Autocar, now retired at the National Road Transport Museum, along with a White 4000 and a 1976 Autocar. His first new truck was in 1986 when they bought a Ford LTL, which started life carting buffalo around the Top End of the NT and, less than 12 months later, operated as a body and 3 from Woodcutters Mine back to the Port of Darwin.
Jamie’s first management role was in 1988 when he moved to Wyndham, operating between Cadjebut Mine back to the Port of Wyndham as well as ship loading through the port. He moved into head office in 1991 and learnt the process of tendering mining contracts. The first tender he won was Gulf’s contract with North Flinders at the Granites Gold Mine. This was to become the mainstay of the company until it was sold it in 2010.
The 1993 purchase of RTA from the Dick David Group led to a move to Katherine and marked one of Jamie’s career highlights. Under his leadership, the fleet grew from 20 to over 50 roadtrains with the purchase of Alford Cattle Transport in Mt Isa, McIvers in Katherine and Winton, Heytesbury Pastoral trucks at VRD Station, and Ian Petherick in Kununurra. Rural station people and the drivers that cart livestock are a unique breed and Jamie was privileged to work with some of the best.
Jamie was very privileged to spend nearly 40 years working with his dad. After selling RTA in 2005, they turned their attention to developing powertrailers out of need to do more with less, operating them in both Australia and the USA. When they couldn’t get the specialised equipment that they needed to satisfy their needs, they simply built their own. Through their sister company Powertrans, they built speciality equipment moving up to 105 tonnes underground and over 500 tonnes above ground.
Jamie purchased Nurioopta Traders in 2018 with business partner Michael Chard (Hollywood), who has been with Jamie since the mid-90s in Gulf. They operate a fleet from the picturesque Barossa Valley in South Australia, servicing the wine industry. Jamie now has his son, Jack, and Jack’s wife, Tamara, working within the business.
Despite the long hours and time away, Jamie, supported always by his wife Adrienne and family, wouldn’t hesitate to do it all again. The transport industry has been good to them.
