Victorian truckie Adrian Nelson had delivered a jet engine he had picked up at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport to Cairns Airport in the far north when he stopped for a chat.
Adrian, 47, was driving a Western Star 4900 for Regent Logistics which is based at Altona.
“I have to pick up an engine lifter from Cairns to take south,” he said.
A truckie for 15 years, Adrian has been with this company for the past six months.
He said he likes stopping at BP roadhouses, with his favourites being at Brisbane and Cluden.
But Adrian does take a lot of meals with him, prepared by his wife, and was cooking one in a pie warmer when we spoke.
“It is a chicken kiev and veggie pie,” he said.
Adrian added that he rates the Hume Highway as the worst road he travels on, along with some others around Melbourne.
As for rest areas, he said many more were needed that have toilets and facilities for drivers.
“There are so many which are just pull off areas,” he said.
Adrian barracks for Collingwood in the AFL and loved their premiership win in 2023.
“They didn’t do too well this season,” he said.
His main hobby outside work is old cars – and he has lovingly restored a 1966 Falcon XP.