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Owner operator’s son hopes to drive heavy vehicles in the army

Sam Melrose, 43, has been an owner-operator for the past 10 years. He had brought refrigerated goods from his Brisbane base to Townsville when Big Rigs saw him recently.

He was driving a 2023 Kenworth SAR Legend with a 600hp Cummins motor and an 18-speed gearbox.

“This is the only truck I have and purchased it new. It has 167,000km on the clock. It is a good truck,” he said.

With Sam was his 19-year-old son Jack who is a solder at the giant Lavarack Barracks Army base in Townsville.

“This is the first time I have seen Jack for two months,” Sam said.

I asked Jack if he intended on following his proud dad to become a truckie.

“I want to drive heavy armoured military vehicles first,” he said.

Sam rates the Golden Nugget Roadhouse at Gympie at his favourite. “It is a good place to stop and the steaks are tops.”

He nominated the Burnett Highway between Rockhampton and Toowoomba as the one he finds most challenging.

Outside work Sam enjoys water sports, like water skiing.

“I love skiing at the Somerset Dam around Kilcoy,” he said.

Another passion is rugby league and Sam barracks for the Redcliffe Dolphins.

Whilst Sam strives to keep his flashy Kenworth clean, I noticed lots of dead insects on the front.

“I ran into the bugs between Rockhampton and Townsville,” he said.

After I yarned to the pair and snapped their pic together they drove off in Jack’s four-wheel-drive.

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