It was a hot day when I stopped off at the Townsville Port Access Road and saw enthusiastic truckie Alana Chambers checking out her trailers.
She was driving a Kenworth T409 for Townsville based company WWATS.
“I have been with the company for some months and really love the job and thank them for giving me a chance,” she said.
Some women are coy about advising their age but not Chambers who answered as quick as a flash. “I am aged 42 and used to be an audio technician before this,” she said.
Chambers said she gets to travel as far away as Cloncurry, Mount Isa and Boulia and hopes to be driving for a long time.
She was receiving some extra training from another worker that day.
Female drivers make up less than 1 per cent of truckies I am told so I asked Chambers if the men in the industry treat her well.
“They do – just like I am one of the boys,” she said.
A sports lover, Chambers said she wasn’t really into football however. “I like kick boxing,” she said.
Then Chambers got into the driver’s seat and drove off, happy to get back into the air-conditioned cabin.