Truckin’ Around Oz - Meet Alf Wilson

Truckin Around Oz

8 July

G’day. I have been a journalist since 1985, having started out writing football reports.

It was around 1999 that I began writing for Big Rigs with my ‘Truckin’ in the Tropics’ column. A decade later I started ‘I Spy on the Road’, as well as contributing feature articles on a regular basis.

‘Tropics’ involved fronting up to a roadhouse or rest area to randomly interview four truckies per fortnight. The success rate was about 90% of truckies who agreed to have their pic taken, as well as providing their story – which made my job easy as well as enjoyable. Each truckie was handed a business card and years later I still get calls from many of them.

I had also written for Truckin’ Life Magazine as a freelancer for many years, presenting features as well as the ‘Ferret’ column from about 2009 - after the legendary Malcolm Johnson passed away - until 2013.

Malcolm, who founded Truckin’ Life in 1976 taught me much about the industry. We worked together at Blue’s Country Magazine which he had owned for many years.

Since 1996 I have travelled 16 times to Tasmania and during the past five years have been through NSW, Victoria and many parts of Queensland, where I live in the far north. My travels have taken me to various Torres Strait Islands and places like Palm Island as well as into the Northern Territory.

Over the years it has been my privilege to have interviewed hundreds of truckies around Oz. Over the past two decades I have taken tens of thousands of pics of road transport industry drivers, vehicles or associated subjects.

Since Big Rigs closed at the end of June it has been difficult to drive past the truckies I see on the highways and byways. Fact is, I can’t! So I am delighted to be able to assist Kermie with his new venture.

To all you blokes and gals that I’ve interviewed over the years for ‘Spy’, please get all your mates onto truckinwithkermie.com and we’ll have some fun together.

Cheers, Alf.

(And we’re bloody delighted to have you on-board, Alfie – Kermie)

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