With many years of experience behind him as a fitter and maintenance supervisor, truckie Dennis Pedersen is an asset for north Queensland company Rojo Civil.
I saw the 63-year-old Pedersen on the job at the Christmas Creek rest area beside the Bruce Highway near Bluewater on March 30.
He was driving a Kenworth K104 and had hauled an excavator which was being used in the construction of a new toilet block.
“I have been a truckie for three years and was a maintenance supervisor for Thiess for many years and also had been a fitter,” he said.
Rojo Civil is based at Townsville and is owned by his son in law Jarred Roggero.
Friendly Pedersen rates the road between Charters Towers and Torrens Creek on the western Flinders Highway as amongst the worst to travel on.
“There are lots of narrow bridges,” he said.
Pedersen barracks for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and is delighted they are going well this season.
Outside work, Pedersen enjoys spending time with his two Grandsons and also using his trusty metal detector to search for gold.
I asked did he have any success and if so where he has found any of the precious commodity.
Although he was naturally coy about the exact location he did offer this.
“I go to North Queensland areas such as Charters Towers, Ravenswood, Pentland, Clermont, Forsyth and Georgetown,” he said.
Pedersen doesn’t stop at many roadhouses because much of his travels are between Townsville and Ingham which is a 110km stretch of the Bruce Highway.
Truck drivers will be delighted to be able to use the toilet at Christmas Creek rest area once it is completed in the next month.
The next rest area with toilets is at Frances Creek. about 10km south of Ingham.