At Tailem Bend we were fortunate to catch up with Ryan Little from Freeling, SA, when he stopped over for a welcome hot cuppa at the Ampol roadhouse there.
He was on his way from Davistown to Coomandook, though the run was often to Victoria, then back doing chicken feed, and driving a Lauke’s 2017 T610 with a Cummins up front and towing a tri-tipper over axle trailer.
“I came here to fill in about seven months ago for a driver who was away with health issues, and I’ve been here ever since,” Ryan said.
“It has been a great number, not too stressful, and they really look after all their drivers as well as the gear.”
Just after this chat, the bloke he was relieving returned, fortunately well again, but Ryan happily found a job straight away driving for TML doing general freight hauling B-doubles between Adelaide and Melbourne, and he tells us he is equally happy there, and enjoys the regular work.
“I’ve been driving professionally now for 13 years and am still happy with getting out on the road, it’s what I always wanted to do and it still suits me.”