Owner operator Steve Krahe was fuelling up his 2006 model Freightliner Argosy at the Gold City Roadhouse on the outskirts of Charters Towers when Big Rigs saw him.
It was just before lunchtime and Krahe had brought up portable huts and containers on the double road train from Brisbane to Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands.
He sub-contracts for ECS Project Logistics out of Brisbane.
“I came up via the Kennedy Highway and will be going back empty and then will be back up that way with wind turbines for Ravenshoe,” he said.
Aged 67, Krahe is of German descent and has been a truckie since he was 17 and won’t be changing any time soon.
He likes stopping at the Gold City Roadhouse where there is plenty of parking for heavy vehicles.
Many drivers stop there who have travelled from out west along the Flinders Highway.
“You get a good feed here. My favourite meal is pork chops,” he said.
Krahe rates the highway between Charters Towers and Clermont as one of the worst to get along.
In the NRL, he barracks for the Brisbane Broncos. “I also like watching motor sports and used to be into drag racing,” he said.