From Numurkah in Victoria, young driver Jason Kane had carted septic tanks from Shepparton to North Queensland in a Kenworth K200 when Big Rigs saw him recently.
Jason, 28, works for Numurkah Bulk Haulage and said he would be picking up a backload the next day.
“I will be stopping at Gladstone to take on aluminium tubes for Melbourne,” he said.
Jason added that he likes stopping at the Ampol Wyong in NSW for various reasons. “The food is good and so are the showers, and the parking is okay. My favourite food is a chicken burger,” he said.
Jason also likes BP Roadhouses in his extensive travels.
He rates the worst road as the Gregory Development Highway between Clermont and Charters Towers, also known as the Belyando.
“I came along it on the way up and it is as rough as guts. Something needs to be done about it,” he said.
Jason’s hometown of Numurkah is located on the Goulburn Valley Highway, 37 kilometres north of Shepparton, with a population of 5000. “I like living there,” he said.
Jason added that he had been driving for five years and started out hauling grain.
“I worked my way up to running A-double road trains into the ports at Geelong, Melbourne and Port Kembla,” he said.
“I’ve been with the current company Numurkah Bulk Haulage for the last six months where I have managed to get stuck with the nickname Jimi (Jimi Hendrix) because I always travel with my guitar which helps to keep me sane on the road.
“What I enjoy most about driving is being able to see the country and get paid for it. I have had the opportunity to see a fair bit of it as I did a run across the Nullarbor from Victoria to Perth just before Easter.
“This was actually my first time visiting Townsville and being this far north.”
Jason grew up in Sydney before moving to Berrigan, which is a small town in southern NSW.
“The primary industries in Berrigan are farming and transport so that’s how I ended up in the industry,” he said.
I was snapping pics of Jason and his truck when a small red sedan drove nearby through the roadhouse parking area. “That is my Uber vehicle, and I am going into town here,” he said.
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