Aidin May, 31, drives a Kenworth T659 for Oakdare Holdings and was heading from Townsville to Rubyvale near Emerald when I saw him recently.
He lives at Ingham, which is 130km north of Townsville along the Bruce Highway, and works from the company’s Townsville base.
“I mainly carry mine and quarry material,” he said.
A full-time truckie for the past six years, May added that the western backroads were often challenging to travel on. “The Townsville to Mt Isa road is not the best,” he said.
May enjoys football codes and played rugby union at Toolooa High School near Gladstone as a youth. He follows the NRL rival rugby league comp.
“I barrack for any team that beats Manly,” he said.
He likes stopping at the Road Runner Roadhouse in Cloncurry.
The Greenvale Roadhouse, run by long time operator Judy, is another he prefers when along Lynd Road.
“I used to also like the Carpentaria Fuel one at Richmond but it has closed,” he said.
Like many other truckies who live in the tropics, May enjoys fishing when he
gets time off. His favourite spots are the pristine creeks and rivers in the Hinchinbrook Channel.
“I also go pig hunting around Ingham,” he said.
As for rest areas, May said there were generally not enough with facilities for drivers. “But one I do like is at Cape River along the Belyando Highway between Charters Towers and Clermont.”