Livestock truckie Stanley Remfrey had stopped at a rest area beside the Flinders Highway at Mingela and was checking on his load when he stopped for a brief chat with Big Rigs.
“I have 54 cattle and picked them up at Mena Creek near Innisfail and they are going to a feedlot at Clermont,” he said.
Owner operator Stanley, who runs Remfrey Livestock Transport, was driving a Kenworth C509.
He’s been a truckie for the past 25 years.
I asked him about his favourite roadhouse, as he travels long distances.
“It would have to be the one at Chillagoe in the far north,” he said.
Chillagoe is located 205km west of Cairns and 140km from Mareeba.
When asked about the worst roads he gets to travel on, Stanley soon answered. “It would have to be the roads up on Cape York.”
Stanley was on a very busy schedule when I saw him on January 17 and he had to continue driving on.
But he did find the Mingela rest area which is 47km from Charters Towers as a good place to stop.
It has plenty of parking for trucks, two toilets and several shaded areas with concrete seats. Lots of caravans and other motorists use it which can restrict truck parking at times.