An interstate driver has shared his appreciation for a fellow truckie who stopped to help him after two of his tyres exploded on the Sturt Highway.
Jake Sansovini, who delivers wine from Adelaide to Sydney twice a week for Nuriootpa Traders, was about half an hour east of Mildura when he got into a bit of trouble.
“I had two violent tyre failures which destroyed two guards and a bracket, damaged the third guard and split the middle air bag,” he said.
“I had literally checked the tyres 20 minutes before this, so the only thing I can think of is that they were starting to let go but still holding air.
“I was about to get stuck in to rip the guards off when a bloke pulled up behind me in a black Peterbilt, put his hazards on and said ‘How can I help?’”
Sansovini said the truckie, who he knows only as Shaun, jumped straight under the middle axles and got to work.
“He started jacking while I ripped the guards off and did some other jobs and we had a few laughs,” he said.
“Within 45 minutes we were done, and I was mobile again and able to get to Euston to get the bag changed out.”
Sansovini said Shaun was a “godsend” as it was starting to get late and he had no phone service where he was.
“It was getting dark and it was a pretty warm day, so getting it done before the bugs set it was great,” he said.
“Sometimes by the time you realise someone’s in distress you’ve already gone past at 100km/h or it’s not a safe place to pull over, so I was lucky.
“Shaun said he’d been called up on the UHF because there was a heap of debris on the road from my tyres exploding, and he came straight over to help.”
Sansovini never got Shaun’s surname or a phone number, but he wanted to say thank you and spread the word that there are still plenty of decent truckies out there.
“We literally just shook hands and I got his first name, I don’t know if he’s even on social media,” he said.
“But he is a good bloke and I just wanted to show my appreciation for what he did.
“There are good people out there who are still willing to lend a hand.”