Truckies turned up in their hundreds on Saturday, March 27, to cruise along the Old Hume Highway, in a stunning display of trucks old and new.
The whole day event brings together truckies and truck enthusiasts, who travel along the 300 kilometre stretch from Campbellfield, Victoria, to Albury, NSW.
Held biennially, Crawlin the Hume was started by Robert French in 2011, taking place on alternate years to Haulin the Hume, which instead runs from north to south (Sydney to Yass).
“I’ve been a truck driver all my life. I knew the Victorian side of the Old Hume Highway like the back of my hand and I missed it. So after Haulin the Hume, I thought I’d do a convoy too, so we joined forces and continue to help each other out,” French said.
The convoy is a trip through the trucking ages – with the oldest to take part this year being a 1917 T model Ford. The fact that the truck is over 100 years old and still pushing on is a feat within itself. At 10 years its junior, a 1927 International also made the trip, along with a selection of trucks from the 1930s too. “They know they are slower so a lot of these trucks got a head start. It’s a whole day trip, with the trucks able to stop anywhere they want along the way. We try to contribute to the local businesses we pass along the way. The trucks leave Campbellfield between 6-8am, then stop at Winton between 12-2pm for lunch. They get into Albury Racing Club at 4pm and the bar opens at 5pm,” explained French, who himself owns an impressive vintage gem which also took part in the convoy – a 1964 Peterbilt he purchased around 25 years ago and lovingly restored.
French has been an owner operator for most of his working life and is now retired (well sort of anyway).
Around 250 trucks entered from the starting point at Campbellfield, with others joining it along the way. By the time the convoy reached its final stop in Albury, French said the number of trucks was approximately 500.
“Many of us were living in Melbourne when we were only allowed out of the house for an hour, we had to be home by 8pm and had to have a permit to go to work. But we didn’t panic, we kept on organising things behind the scenes in the hope this could go ahead and we were lucky we could. We forged on in anticipation it would happen, we stayed positive and we persevered,” French added.
The event closed off on the Sunday with a presentation featuring some tongue in cheek awards, coupled with some fun and banter and a barbeque breakfast, before the trucks headed back on their way.