‘It’s never too late to try something new’

After over 20 years operating heavy machinery at Queensland’s mines, Daniel Gray was looking for a career change. The freedom of the road is what lured him towards trucking.

Daniel, 42, joined Qube in June and spent just over two months in the company’s trainee program before his first trip alone in the quad last week.

He says his previous experience helped to put him in good stead as he learned to navigate the Road Ranger.

“I had been mostly involved in mining work and big civil jobs, operating all sorts of stuff – diggers, dozers, scrapers, back hoes, skid steers, rear dump trucks…

“Some of the dumpies I’ve driven were 550 tonne gross; and I’ve driven the big Hitachi 5500 and Caterpillar D11 Dozers. I definitely think that’s helped.”

In switching to trucks, Daniel explained, “I was a little bit daunted at the start, especially being quads. They’re quite long and quite heavy and there’s all the gears as well. I didn’t have the Road Ranger experience.

“Learning to drive the Road Ranger was the biggest challenge, but I was quietly confident in myself from the get-go, I just had to learn it. I’ve been in other machines my whole working life.”

Daniel got his HR licence a few years ago and upgraded to his MC in 2023 but had struggled to get a foot in the door due to his lack of experience in the longer combinations.

“I just wanted a change. I was sick of coal mining and sick of working with big crews. The idea of being able to get given your job at the start of the day and then be able to go off and do the work without being micro-managed was really appealing,” he said.

“At one point in my mining career, I was a trainer assessor, so I had to work with a lot of people and I just needed a break from it all. I wanted to do something where I could be left to my own devices. I wanted a bit more peace.”

Now that Daniel is steering a Kenworth C509 with four trailers behind him, he said, “It’s hard to imagine such a big bit of gear being peaceful but it really is.”

Daniel is based at Dysart, Queensland, about 3.5 hours from the depot in Moura he works from. His run is the 121-kilometre return trip from Moura to a nearby coal mine, where he’s loaded with up to 111 tonne of coal.

The roster is 10 days on and 10 days off, which has been a perfect fit, giving the father of two plenty of time to enjoy with his partner and two young kids – a seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.

He says he underwent intense training at Qube that involved a mixture of theory and practical training.

“I was so excited to give it a go and get in there. You start off riding as a passenger to learn the circuit, then they’ll put you in the auto truck first, with an experienced driver. As you get going, you’ll start off driving up empty at first and the trainer will drive back loaded,” Daniel explained.

“When I first jumped in the truck to learn the Road Ranger, there was no way I could bluff my way through it, but I had excellent trainers and picked it up really quickly. I took to it like a duck to water. I had wanted to do this for a while so I had something to prove for myself too.”

Daniel says it’s been an easy transition because of his machinery background. “I love it, it’s been great – you have all that power and all those gears to play with. I’m a bit of a rev-head so I really enjoy it.”

His machinery experience will also prove an asset in his new role too. “Because we have other machines here, like the big loaders, the supervisor has asked if I’d be interested in doing some of that too.”

Now that Daniel has achieved his goal of getting into quads, his ultimate dream is to one day be able to work in other locations around the country.

“I already had all those machinery tickets and experience, so gaining road train experience will help to open up work opportunities around the country,” he said.

“I have a bucket list of locations where I’d love to work. I’ve already done Weipa and Groote Island. I’d also love to work in Gove in the Northern Territory, the Tanami, Pilbara, all the major mining regions.

“My dream is to one day sell my house and set off in the caravan, going wherever the work takes me. That’s the ultimate goal.”

His advice to those considering giving trucking a go: “It’s never too late to try something new if you want to do it. I think I’ll keep driving trucks and machinery until my body can’t do it anymore.”

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