Starting his driving career in New Zealand and continuing in Australia after his move to Brisbane eight years ago, 59-year-old Tommy Kenny has spent a lifetime on the road.
As he told Big Rigs, “When I left school I decided to get into trucking and I got my truck licence at about 18 or 19. So I started out in the trucks as a young fella in New Zealand.
“My dad had his own trucks and my first job was driving with him, in an old International T-Line tipper. The trucks have certainly come a long way, with a lot of changes in technology compared to back then.”
Starting out in the rigids, Tommy soon progressed to truck and dogs, and then worked his way up to driving B-doubles. Though he added, “There weren’t anywhere near as many B-doubles on the roads back then.”
It wasn’t long before Tommy began working for Fonterra in Hamilton, New Zealand, where he drove milk tankers for over 15 years.
Tommy and his wife decided to make the permanent move to Brisbane about eight years ago, “We came there because we’ve got family living around Queensland and in Sydney,” he said.
“When I moved here I got into tipper work and then into refrigerated work, hauling up and down throughout Queensland. Then a few months ago I started my current job with JBS Foods Australia.”
Based at the JBS Dinmore facility in Brisbane, Tommy does mainly B-double tanker work, on the same regular route.
He makes the approximately 670-kilometre trip from Dinmore to Rockhampton twice a week – behind the wheel of a Volvo Globetrotter FH16, which he says is super comfortable to drive.
“I travel up empty and pick up cooking oil – which is the fat from the beef – from JBS’s abattoir at Rockhampton. I then bring the load to the Rockhampton port at Port Alma, which gets exported to Singapore,” explained Tommy.
Though only in the role for a few months, Tommy says JBS is a great company to work for and that his run has been a really great fit for his lifestyle. “It’s pretty well balanced, I’m only away for two nights each week,” he said.
“Another good thing about this job is I can go to my Goodlife gym up in Rockhampton too with my gym membership. I leave the trailers at the JBS depot there, then drive to the gym bobtail – I can have a work-out and then use the showers, so I can keep fit.”
Asked what he likes most about being on the road, Tommy replied, “I enjoy seeing all the rural areas and getting to meet lots of different people along the way.”
Being a keen sportsman, Tommy was happy to note that the Brisbane Broncos and Brisbane Lions finished their seasons on top in the NRL and AFL.
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