Kimberley Milczarek never really knew what she wanted to do for a living.
At 16, she left school to train to become a chef, and eventually got a job working in a hospital kitchen.
But she wasn’t the biggest fan of that, so decided to pivot into nursing.
Sadly, a workplace injury in 2018 left her unable to continue with her healthcare career.
With six kids to look after, the Albury, NSW, woman wasn’t short of ways to spend her time – but she still wanted to get back into the workforce.
The perfect opportunity to do this turned out to be right under her nose.
“My husband Mirek is a truck driver for a small family company in Oaklands, and he could see I had an interest in the tippers and tankers,” she told Big Rigs.
“He said ‘Why don’t you try it and see how you go?’”
Kim admitted she was pretty intimidated by the idea of getting behind the wheel of a truck, but her husband was persistent.
“My husband kept pushing me, and one day he asked me if I wanted to try driving around the area where he loads,” she said.
“I said no – I was worried I would damage the gearbox, or the truck, or not be able to stop.
“But he promised me it would be fine.
“So I drove around for a few minutes and I was like ‘Okay, this is fun! I can see myself doing this!’”
The 33-year-old has turned out to be a natural truckie, and aced her heavy rigid driving test last year.
Now she’s champing at the bit to upgrade to HC and MC, and gets out in the truck with Mirek whenever she can.
“Given Mirek’s lack of patience with other things in life, he’s been a very solid and gentle teacher,” she laughed.
“We’re driving tippers and tankers – I’m getting single and double experience with the tankers and road train experience with the tippers.”
She said there has been a learning curve as she moves from driving heavy rigids to bigger rigs.
“Going from a heavy rigid to a single was pretty easy for me,” she said.
“Stepping up to a double was more difficult, because you need more room to turn and the back trailer sways a bit.
“Then you go to a road train set-up where you’ve got a dolly and the back trailer just decides to do what it likes!
“That’s definitely been an eye-opener.”
Kim said she would love to be working at the moment but has struggled to find a job as a HR driver.
“Because of where we are based, being female and my prior injury, I’ve been somewhat limited in the jobs I can do,” she said.
“I’ve had some interviews and nothing has come of them because what they were expecting of me just wasn’t going to be physically possible.”
However, all is not lost as she already has a job lined up at her husband’s company as soon as she upgrades her
licence.
“I can upgrade in September so I’m just biding my time until then,” she said. “I’ve tried to get an exemption to move up sooner but it’s not looking likely.”
As annoying as the wait is, Kim’s delighted to have finally found a career she’s truly passionate about.
“I’ve never looked forward to anything as much as I look forward to getting my HC and MC. I love the way that trucking is different nearly every day, from the places you go to the people you meet. I really enjoy being able to expand my horizons and get out there and see things I’d never see sitting at home.”
Kim encourages anyone in a similar situation to her to give trucking a go.
“It’s not a job for the faint-hearted, but you don’t know what you’re capable of until you try,” she said.
“Don’t think twice, just go for it.”