Truckin Around Oz - Dead or Alive Dilemna and Other Stories

Truckin Around Oz

10 July

DEAD OR ALIVE DILEMNA

What would you do if you were driving along a lonely highway and saw two human feet protruding from driver’s side window of a truck? Most would stop to check if the person in the cabin had suffered from a medical condition or worst still, even deceased.

The most likely scenario of course, would be that the driver was having a siesta during a fatigue break and it was too hot to use the sleeper box.

Just after 10.30am on October 20 back in 2005 - when I had just finished a long journey along the Hann Highway in outback Queensland - I came across such a case.

Turning onto the road to head towards Charters Towers at the Lynd Junction, I saw a green Mack truck parked up with two legs hanging outside the driver’s side window. My first thought was that the driver may have suffered a heart attack, or worse, was dead. I frantically knocked on the truck exterior and didn’t gain any response.

The thought crossed my mind - and the reason I didn’t yank on his feet - that if he was deceased, it didn’t really matter, but if he was alive – well, it’s not a good idea to disturb a sleeping truckie.

I was well and truly outside of phone range so mentioned the incident to the people at the next two roadhouses. They assured me the driver would have been enjoying a sleep.

Anyway my picture was published in Big Rigs paper and received a massive response. “I have never seen a truckie sleeping like that,” was a common remark from people who saw the pic. I received phone calls from truckies all over the country about the circumstances surrounding the photo, which seemed to amuse many and tantalise their curiosity buds.

This was long before Facebook was popular and a few days after the paper hit the roadhouses I received a call from the driver. Indeed he had been sleeping but he had also received a huge response, his feet and boots resulting in this bush truckie becoming a short-term celebrity in the road transport industry.

Terry Veivers was the then 56-year-old veteran truck driver who worked for Myers Transport based at Dimbulah in Far North Queensland.

During several phone calls, Terry told me that he had received more than 100 comments about the picture. He was delivering peanut shell, which is used for pigeon feed, to Townsville. The first he knew of the pic was when his 23-year-old son Michael, also a truck driver based at Mt Garnet on the Atherton Tablelands, phoned him.

“My son was in the middle of Whoop-Whoop and phoned to say he had seen the photo in Big Rigs and he had a laugh about it. I was in Cairns at a quarry and they even had the article pinned on the wall.”

Terry said that those asking him about the photo often wondered if he had been fixing something inside the cabin. “I did hear you outside the Mack that day, but often tourists stop to take pics so I didn’t worry and kept sleeping. The reason? Simple. The sleeper box was a furnace!”

When I found that photograph amongst my extensive archives last week I saw the phone number on the side of the Mack and phoned it, to discover that Myers Transport was taken over some years ago by husband and wife team William and Gail Lamont of Lamont Transport which runs two trucks from Dimbulah.

I am told that Terry is enjoying a happy retirement at Tinaroo, a beautiful place on the Atherton Tablelands.

HOBBY SURVEY

Over the years when interviewing drivers, I often ask about their hobbies outside work. The winner by a country mile is fishing.

Truckies from every State and Territory have told of their love of trying to land edible fish at creeks, rivers and oceans. Some from NSW and Victoria venture as far as Queensland’s Gulf of Carpentaria at certain times of the year. That’s keen!

Down in Tassie a lot have told of catching trout at many waterways and in Victoria a favourite is Murray Cod. Of course a lot of the lads won’t give away their favourite - and often – secret spots. Fair enough too.

There is a driver who hails from Boigu Island, which is Australian territory in the Torres Strait and in sight of the PNG coast, who is an expert at catching giant mud crabs. What a delicacy “muddies” are and so popular in southern States at markets.

Other hobbies high in the popularity stakes including camping, hunting, 4WD use, watching motor racing and football.

NO BOOZE

Like most of us, many truckies enjoy a cold amber fluid or 10 when they manage to get time off - a just reward for the hard work they do keeping Australia supplied.

That is even more the case during the Coronavirus Pandemic when a lot have faced anxiety and even depression. So a drink at home is an ideal way to chill out.

But even with that in mind, some of our champion lads have decided to participate in the Dry July campaign, refraining from drinking alcohol during their chosen period and asking family and friends to sponsor their efforts.

This raises money for people affected by cancer, and participants can choose to challenge themselves to ‘go dry’ for 14, 21 or 31 days. Good luck lads and good on you.

SOUR ENTERTAINMENT

A fruit tree in the yard of a well-known road transport identity has provided some unexpected entertainment and humour for her family.

In season, fruit from the tree hangs over their side fence where the footpath just happens to be part of a walking route used by scores every day. The only thing is, anybody wanting some of the fruit has to jump to grab it as it is about 3m above terra firma.

On weekend afternoons the lady and husband sit in their back yard listening to comments from walkers who manage to grab fruit…

“These are the SOUREST oranges I have ever tasted!” or something similar, is a common comment, which makes the owners laugh.

The tree has GRAPEFRUITS and not oranges,” she said.

HANN HIGHWAY UPGRADE

Once considered a dangerous road, the 265kms long Hann Highway which links Hughenden with the Lynd Junction in Queensland has been upgraded, much to the delight of truck drivers.

It is a vital link in supporting livestock, mining, tourism and freight industries. Work on the upgrade commenced in 2017.

Back in 2004 the Hann Highway Action Group was formed to lobby State and Federal Governments to provide funding for an upgrade. Back then I attended a meeting of road transport people, graziers and other interested parties at remote Clothes Peg Station.

To travel along the Hann you had to negotiate several elbow bends, a lot of red dirt and the resultant dust, and a narrow and unstable surface. Since the upgrade commenced most of the Hann has been sealed.

Truckies who travel from Melbourne to the Atherton Tablelands via the Hann estimate it cuts eight hours off the journey when compared to the coastal route via the Bruce Highway.

TASSIE: MURDUNNA COFFEE A HIT WITH TRUCKIES

Truckies have been singing the praises of the coffee served by the Murdunna Store and Roadhouse which is on the highway between Hobart and Port Arthur in Tasmania. I recall stopping there a few years ago when it was run by long time proprietors Brad and Janine Westcott.

Murdunna is 66km from Hobart and 29km from Port Arthur on the Forestier Peninsula and several truckies told me about the establishment.

The business has new owners and long-time Nubeena Owner-Operator, Robert Wade said he regularly stopped there. “The coffee is excellent and many other drivers enjoy it as well,” he said.

It’s great that the new proprietors have continued the tradition of great coffee and food.

The road is busy with trucks delivering goods and equipment to the many tourist attractions in the area.

In 2013 the area had severe bushfires which devastated many homes,
businesses and surroundings. At Murdunna 26 houses were burnt down and the fire came close to the roadhouse, but fortunately didn’t cause any damage. The name Murdunna is believed to come from a local indigenous word meaning
"place of the stars".

SNAKE MEMORIES

Having a gander the other day, of footage of a 4WD driver having a nasty incident with a deadly brown snake near Biloela brought back many memories.

The 27-year-old Gladstone man had the snake near him in his front seat as he was driving on the Dawson Highway on June 15, and feared he had been bitten. “I’m driving along at 100, and I just started to brake. And the more I moved my legs… it just started to wrap around me and it started striking at the driver’s seat between my legs,” he told police media.

As we know Jimmy survived the incident without…well…incident.

Some years ago I saw a snake slithering across the driveway near the bowsers at an outback roadhouse and a woman motorist was screaming out. A nearby truck driver killed the reptile with a tyre lever and feared he would be charged as it was a protected species.

At another roadhouse a woman emerged from the ladies toilet with her pants around her legs. She had been confronted by a Taipan which was also in the dunny, looking for water – not out of the bowl we hope.

Some rest areas around the country do have ‘Snake Warning’ signs. One is at the Tyagarah Rest Area in NSW. The Tyagarah Rest Area is right at the Pacific Highway, about a 15 minute drive from Byron Bay.

AND FINALLY….

NICKNAME QUERY

Many truckies I’ve come across in my travels have a nickname which has stuck to them like glue. Some have said that associates in the industry have only ever known them by their nickname.

One of the more intriguing nicknames I have come across - and I know of two truckies who bear the moniker - is ‘Ugly’.

One can only ponder how they managed to be dubbed Ugly, when in fact they claim to be handsome. But I guess that’s the Australian way.

Kermie tells me he’s had many – Harso, Tail-Gate, Big G and Smooch are a few before ‘Kermie’ came along.

If you have an unusual one let us know at kermie@truckinwithkermie.com