Truck driver Alicia Waddingham says trying to juggle work and motherhood can be tough, but her current job delivering fuel for Lowes Petroleum has been a perfect fit.
Waddingham, 33, has been driving trucks for 13 years and working at Lowes for over 12 months.
She currently works three days a week, delivering fuel to farms near Kerang in NSW.
Waddingham says being able to be home every night for her daughter is what makes the job workable for her.
“Clara is five years old, so it’s important I have a work life balance,” said Waddingham.
“The hardest thing for any single mum is having a job and a child and trying to juggle the two. My knock off time can be anywhere from 2pm or 5pm so it’s very manageable and that my schedule allows me to be home every night is amazing.”
Waddingham says she finds the job to be quite rewarding, noting a stark increase in the number of women she sees on the road compared to when she first started behind the wheel.
“I am seeing more women drivers on the road these days as well as driving headers on the farms, so the word is getting out that this is a good career for women.”
She added that she believes more women would be attracted to the industry if companies were as flexible as her employer Lowes Petroleum.
Waddingham also says that her favourite customers to visit are those with dogs who greet her as she drives in to do her deliveries.
“Getting out on the farms is my most favourite part of the job,” she said. “A typical day sees me starting at the yard, getting the truck ready, doing my paperwork, saying good morning to everyone in the yard.
“Once I have planned my day, I head out on the road and could go north, south, east or west depending on the delivery schedule. Generally, I go to the small towns, staying fairly local within the 100-kilometre radius of the depot.”
Waddingham also added that she loves the freedom of truck driving. “Being out on the road and very much in control of my own day, listening to my own music. It’s like my own personal little office but on wheels – a moving office,” she said.
“Driving trucks is really like nothing else. It’s such a great job, because you’re not going to work and sitting in an office that doesn’t change. Even if you are seeing the same landscape every day it’s still somewhat different.”
3 days a week. Maybe that would attract drivers to their forever advertised b-double job out of Melbourne.