Diary of a Truck Driver

A good week last week. Did 3700km and managed to get some stuff done for home too.
Off to Casino tonight, Id rather just go to bed as Im exhausted after working on the new property. The good news is I only have 2 days to work this week then Im taking 7 days off so we can finish moving.
By the time its all done I may need a rest.
Cheers,
Mat

This week I have been doing the express runs. Monday night saw me skip down to Inverell from Brisbane which wasn’t too bad. I had a rest in Brisbane having driven up on Sunday night and Monday morning. The only stipulation was I needed to be in Inverell by 4am to unload. Did it easily and went for a sleep before heading back to Tamworth.

Last night I left Sydney late and got back to Tamworth by 4am with a drop on the way. I headed back round to the depot and exhausted, I climbed into the bunk for 2 hours sleep. The sun came up and the depot got noisy so I grabbed the car and headed into town to grab some breakfast and do some ‘Personal admin’ as we use to call it in the Army.

I left Tamworth around lunch time and headed for Moree to load up before turning the rig towards Sydney. It’s gone 9:30pm now and I’ve pulled over having used up my 14 hours driving time in the last 24 hours. Since midnight last night I’ve clocked up 903 kms in about 12 hours driving time so I’ve had enough.

Only 175km to go to unload and then I’ll grab a load out of Sydney and head home.

It was hot today (34 degrees celsius) and where I am in the back of the Blue Mountains, there is a nice cool breeze so it’s a good night for sleeping.

You could never accuse Australia of being efficient, we may as well be 7 different countries as 7 different states.
This morning I was pulled into a road side inspection, which is fairly normal, operated by Queensland Police. They always amuse as the struggle to understand how log books work. I might add that this affliction isn’t linked to any efficiency of the Queensland force, it gets them all.
The interesting bit was when they decided I had unpaid fines and I wasn’t allowed to drive in Queensland. But heres the best bit… It all happened 9 years ago. Needless to say it wasn’t pretty as I tried to get the relevant facts out of a very young and somewhat rude officer. When I asked for the number of the state debt recovery unit up here she told me it was in the phone book to which I asked if she had one handy as I wasn’t allowed to drive anywhere. She them realised that she should go and get me the number.
In the end I paid the fine and was able to continue on my way.
Pity that computers couldnt be linked together to talk to each other. If it where ever possible I suggest they call it ‘networking’ or ‘the internet’ but thats all pie in the sky for now.
Cheers,
Mat

This is my first attempt at emailing in a blog entry, so stick with me if it doesnt quite work.
Its just gone 7am (in NSW at least) and Ive crossed the border into Queensland.
Last week was a pretty good week, doing 3400km and finishing work for the week at 10am on Friday.
I saw a herd of deer by the road this morning, just north of Glen Innes, thats the 2nd time in as many weeks. The last herd was on the range near Murrurrundi.
Cheers,
Mat

Just got back from Brisbane and on the way to Sydney.

I helped a fellow truck driver with an electrical problem, it was pouring rain, he had lost all his trailer lights and didn’t even have a screwdriver (although I think he may have struggled to use it if he did have one). Couldn’t figure out the problem easily, once I put the trailer plug back together the right way (he had already played with it) I discovered that his clearance light pin was getting 24+ volts until a load was applied and then it would drop back to 3.5 volts. I did a bit of bush mechanics and hard wired the clearance light circuit straight to the battery to get him out of trouble and on his way.

Climbing on to my soap box… why are we building roundabouts to improve traffic flow and safety and then filling the centre with trees and bushes? Whilst it gives a sound aesthetic solution it creates a blind corner leaving no vision of traffic approaching from the other side of the roundabout. Two such roundabouts come to mind, the one in Maitland near the Hospital and the other is on the southern end of Gunnedah but there are others I have come across. Don’t get me started on cafe awnings near intersections either, they are a nightmare when you are sitting this high up and trying to find a hole in the traffic in which to pull out.

Gunnedah roundabout

Maitland roundabout

On a brighter note I purchased a Truckers Bed sheet set, from Brown and Hurley in Brisbane, for the bunk and can’t recommend it highly enough, I’ve never slept so comfortably in the truck. I couldn’t haggle for a better price but they threw in a Kenworth cap so I was happy.

It’s week two with the new company and it’s all going well.

Did Toowoomba, Brisbane, Sydney, Blayney and Oberon last week with 3400 km’s after a late start on the Monday but a big finish.

On my way back down from Brisbane now.

I’m interested in knowing what motivates a person to get a spare tire cover that reads “My other car is a boat”, it makes about as much sense as two things without any sense!

The Kenworth is noticeably bigger than my previous rides, the bonnet is huge to look over and tipping it to check the oil leaves me thinking that it would be beneficial to weigh 20kg more. She may be old but she’s solid, I’ve punched a couple of good sized ‘roos and it you weren’t watching you wouldn’t know it had happened, just a dull thud and it’s all over.

The other week I hit one in the Western Star and when I got to my destination I searched high and low under the truck thinking I had dragged it all through the night as there was a definite odour coming from the truck. Turned out to be some blood meal from a previous load that had gotten wet during the night. Had me searching for the source for a while though.