Place Names Register Extract

Alan Ross Truck Parking Bay

Extract date: 22/06/2026

Name Alan Ross Truck Parking Bay
Type Designation Rest Area
Place Id 24495
Place Type Feature
Status Registered
Date Registered 10 October 2013
Location (Datum GDA94)  
Latitude: -14° 05' S (Decimal degrees -14.09355)
Longitude: 131° 59' E (Decimal degrees 131.98941)
Locality / Suburb  
  Nitmiluk
Local Government Area  
  Roper Gulf Shire Council
History/Origin Alan Joseph Ross (1927-2003) was a Northern Territory transport operator and truck driver who contributed to the development of road freight services in the Top End during the post-war period. Born in Bankstown, New South Wales, Ross travelled to Darwin in 1949 to visit his brother and seek employment. He became one of the early taxi drivers working in Darwin following the Second World War.

Ross later entered the road transport industry and worked for more than 15 years with the Darwin company Hannons before establishing his own freight business, Alan Ross & Co, in the late 1960s. Operating from Stuart Park in Darwin, the business transported fuel, building materials, food supplies and general freight throughout the Northern Territory, including to remote communities, road construction camps and major projects such as the Francis Creek iron ore mine and the Radio Australia transmitting station.

For more than 50 years Ross worked in the Northern Territory trucking industry, delivering fuel and freight across remote northern regions at a time when transport infrastructure was still developing. His work contributed to supply networks supporting remote settlements, mining operations and regional development across the Territory.

Several members of the Ross family later worked in the Territory road transport industry. In 2013 the Alan Ross Truck Parking Bay on the Stuart Highway between Katherine and Pine Creek was named in his honour. Ross was also inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs in 2014.

Register & Gazettal information

Date Gazettal Comment
10/10/2013 Date added to the Register
23/10/2013 NTG G43

The Northern Territory Gazetteer is maintained by the Place Names Section,
Department of Lands, Planning and Environment.
GPO Box 1680, Darwin NT 0801. Ph 08 8995 5333.
place.names@nt.gov.au

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