Gascoyne Trading Company (GTC) was a transport company in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It was established in 1924 by Keith Anderson and

Charles Kingsford-Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

in Carnarvon. One of its early contracts was the mail run through the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Ga ...

to Meekatharra. It expanded to serve industries between

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

. GTC was a significant banana deliverer to markets in Perth. In 1950 it was purchased by

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

growing to become the largest transport operator in Western Australia. Until 1971 it held the sole rights for direct road transport between Carnarvon and Perth. In 1973 a joint venture was formed with Downard to enter the interstate freight forwarding market between Western Australia and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. In 1985, GTC purchased a 50% shareholding in Total West from Mayne Nickless. In 1996, after taking full ownership of Total West, Wesfarmers merged it with GTC to form Wesfarmers Transport. In 2001 the business was sold to

Toll Holdings The Toll Group is an Australian-based subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings with operations in transportation, warehousing and logistics in road, rail, sea and air. It has two divisions; Global Forwarding, Global Logistics. History In 1888, A ...

.Sale of WA road freight transport business
Wesfarmers 2 November 2001

Notes

{{reflist Companies based in Western Australia Gascoyne Defunct transport companies of Australia Transport companies established in 1924 Transport companies disestablished in 1996 Trucking companies in Australia Wesfarmers Australian companies established in 1924 Australian companies disestablished in 1996