54-year-old Roberto Lopez works for TCB Transport, which has depots in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Based in Brisbane, he was parked at Townsville in his Kenworth K-104 when we met him and had just transported platforms for the Jeff Horn versus Tim Tszyu fight night held in Townsville on August 26.
Lopez possesses a great sense of humour as the first words he spoke when Big Rigs yarned to him indicated. “I am not related to famous actress Jennifer Lopez and I wouldn’t be driving trucks if I was,” he says.
“I have been a truckie for about 10 years and with this company for seven and have brought my wife Leigh and pet dog Jack with me,” he says.
The first truck Lopez drove was an Isuzu Wincher.
Lopez rates the Newell between Gilgandra and Toowoomba and the Gore Highways as the worst he gets along.
He likes stopping at the Shell Gilgandra Roadhouse when away. “They make the best rice pudding I have ever tasted there,” he says, but adds there are not enough rest areas with facilities for heavy vehicle drivers.
The Kenworth had a large eagle painted on both sides which attracted a lot of interest. “My boss is a big Elvis Presley fan and so am I. My favourite song is Blue Suede Shoes,” he says.
Outside work much-travelled Lopez enjoys fishing for snapper in Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay and catching mud crabs in north Queensland creeks.