A day in the life of a Northern Territory truck driver

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Road trains are a common sign in Northern Australia, connecting people and businesses in the outback. The big rigs are vital in hauling up four trailers of livestock or freight.

Transcript

00:00It's wheels up as the sun creeps through the vast paddocks of Wavehill Station in the Northern

00:14Territory.

00:15Over two days, 20 road trains will be loaded to head to Darwin ten hours away.

00:24Thousands of cattle, thousands of kilometres.

00:28Everything seems larger than life out here, including the trucks.

00:36The north's endless stretches of road don't always carry many cars, but road trains are

00:42common, even in the most remote of places.

00:49Australia has this love affair with road trains, it's like this big romantic monster that travels

00:54down the highway.

00:55I don't know how to explain it, but there's something about diesel fumes and people love

00:59it.

01:00It's amazing, and the dedication of those drivers to get stock safely everywhere they

01:08go.

01:09It's a livelihood that the cattle come first, completely different to general freight.

01:15These guys have got live cattle and they've got to look after them, and they do a fantastic

01:21job.

01:26Diana Webb's been on the road for 40 years.

01:29I wanted to be a farmer, but the farms got smaller and then they disappeared, and that

01:36ended up in trucks, so I ended up in trucks.

01:39I've seen most of the country through trucks, seen a lot of the United States through trucks.

01:47There's no such thing as a typical truckie, they're young, old, women, men, and there's

01:52even the occasional Irish ringin'.

01:56From an early age, Paul O'Callaghan was infatuated with road trains in the Australian outback.

02:02The journey to get behind the wheel of one has seen him cart pigs to Russia, bulls from

02:08Ireland to Africa, and then carry freight across Europe before ending up in Broome.

02:15The aim was always to go north, and I spent a few months down there and then ended up

02:19going up to Broome, up in the Kimberleys, and it was everything that I hoped it was

02:25going to be, and probably 12-odd years later I'm still attracted to it.

02:32There's no shortage of drivers who sign up for the long haul.

02:35I've been carting cattle for about 25 years.

02:38Oh, just a short stint then?

02:40No, I love it mate, otherwise I wouldn't do it.

02:41The amount of places you go to, people you meet, you all have a laugh, and the station

02:46people are pretty good, you know.

02:47These drivers work for Road Trains Australia.

02:50The bright blue and yellow colours are synonymous with one of the biggest livestock transport

02:55companies in northern Australia.

02:58It has nine depots and 23 trucks spread from the Queensland coast to Western Australia's

03:04Pilbara.

03:06You know, you're sitting at 95km an hour, 130 tonne, and you're loaded with someone

03:11else's animals, so it's a big responsibility on the driver.

03:15Satellite trackers on the trucks help with logistics and safety, especially in remote

03:20parts.

03:21You know, I can see what trucks are in Longreach today, and then over in the west as well.

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