When Big Rigs saw Dineshreddy Chowlapally, just after 9am, he had just pulled up in an Isuzu 450 to set up his popular fruit stall.
It was at the Frank Partridge VC rest area on the Remembrance Highway between Sydney and Canberra.
Soon after Chowlapally opened a side at the back of the Isuzu, he was swamped by customers wanting to buy some healthy fruit.
These included some tourists and a few truckies who were having a break.
“I have been doing this for four years and the most popular fruits are mangoes, cherries, strawberries and lychees. But I have most fruits,” he said.
Originally from Hyderabad in India, Chowlapally said it was good to see so many people wanting to eat fruit.
A couple of truckies told me it was their 2023 resolution to eat more fruit and vegetables.
“Having a stall like this where many drivers stop for a rest, to use toilets and sit in the shade on chairs gives us an opportunity to get fruit,” he said.
The fruit is sourced from markets and as far away as Queensland.
That rest area is one of the busiest for truckies in NSW and has plenty of parking for them.
Chowlapally said he tried to be there seven days a week and enjoys meeting people from around Australia and overseas.
“The Isuzu is very good and suited to what I do,” he said.