As a father of six, this owner operator juggles a busy family life with his busy life on the road.
Stephen Hickey’s business name Hamond Haulage is an ode to his children, with the word ‘Hamond’ derived from the first letter of each of their names.
Although he loves the job, he admits that he would like to get home more often.
Newcastle-based Hickey has been an owner operator for the past 17 years. He drives a 2007 Kenworth and gets to travel around Australia. The first truck he drove was a W Model Kenworth.
His flashy yellow Kenworth is powered by a 550hp Cat engine and has an 18 speed gearbox.
“It is a bit dirty even though I cleaned it recently,” he said.
When Big Rigs met up with the 45-year-old, he had carted mining equipment from NSW to north Queensland.
“I have a backload of tyres, motors and transmissions for the Hunter Valley region,” he said.
Hickey rates the worst roads “as many in Queensland” and said there was a need for more rest areas.
“There are less now than when I started out especially ones with facilities for truck drivers. Lots of vans park at many,” he said.
With that in mind, Hickey tries to pull up at rest areas where his is the only vehicle.
He added that he gets annoyed at car drivers who dangerously overtake trucks.