Independent and locally owned, Cochrane's Transport is SA's leading express transport service provider. We have more than 50 years' experience delivering across South Australia and to Broken Hill and Mildura every night.
Our mission is to be the express transport company of choice for South Australia, through great service and engagement with competitive pricing, underpinned by continuous improvement and technology.
We are proud of who we are today, employing more than 300 South Australians, a fleet of more than 400 vehicles, a network of 8 company operated depots and 14 agent depots, track and trace capability and strong customer relationships, some that reach back 40 years. The journey has been long, taken more than 50 years and has many kilometres travelled. Our beginnings were small but we have grown steadily over the years into who we are today.
See the key timeline of our growth journey below.
Peter Cochrane and his wife Christine purchased two trucks and the contract to deliver the Australian Women's Weekly and The Bulletin. Based in their garage in suburban Adelaide, the couple slowly built the business by adding other magazines titles and newspapers to their delivery runs.
The need for greater warehousing capacity saw the business move in 1979 to rented warehouse at 346 South Road, Richmond. Staff were gradually brought on board to help with the packing of magazines, unloading inbound trucks and loading outbound drivers.
Continued growth and the addition of more warehousing customers including those in the whitegoods, hardware and food and beverage industries saw the business move to larger premises twice more before purchasing the 1-Hectare site it would call home for the next 34 years at 98 Jervois Street, Torrensville.
When Peter Cochrane was 9 years old, he got his first job helping local newsagent Clive Hunt roll newspapers for home deliveries before school. In his neighbourhood of Unley, almost every house would get the paper over the fence each morning. Soon, Peter was selling papers at the football at Unley Oval. In those days, football crowds could reach 20,000 people. Eventually, Peter got his own paper stand on Unley Road, working after school Monday to Friday. He would race home and change, and head off to sell papers.
Clive dropped off the papers to his street vendors and they would spread them out on the pavement for people passing to buy. Apart from Peter, Clive had five or six kids regularly selling papers along Unley Road. Peter’s spot was outside the Cremorne Hotel. When Peter was 12 years old, Clive bought the contract to deliver magazines around Adelaide. He bought two trucks and a Ute to deliver to the city and suburbs. Before and after school and in the holidays, Peter would ride with Clive in his truck, running, helping, carrying. People just assumed Clive was Peter’s father.
At school, things were not going so well. The Headmaster had pulled Peter aside and told him he would “never amount to anything”. At the end of his first year of high school, his father and Clive agreed that Peter could leave school and join Clive in his business. So, he left school and started full-time work before his 14th birthday. Peter recalls this as one of the best days of his life. Clive Hunt was a great mentor: he had a wonderful work ethic and strong principles and set Peter on the path to his long career in transport. As Peter says: “Clive instilled so much in me that has helped me my whole life – not just my working life, but how I live my life generally”.
Image to left shows Peter, aged 12 with father Richard (L) and grandfather Bert (R)
Depots covering SA
staff in regional SA
servicing South Australia in 2025
Cochranes actively engages in community involvement and corporate social responsibility initiatives, supporting local charities, promoting employee volunteerism, and cares about the people who work them.
Since 2022, Cochrane’s & Good360 have delivered over $2M of new goods to people in need across regional SA.
In 2024 we are proud to make a positive difference to the lives of children and families across SA.
Sean retires after 34 years of service.