The alarm went off – it was 4 am on April the 11^th, 2026. It was time to get going so I could watch the beginning of ‘Crawlin’ the Hume’ – a rolling truck show that follows the old Hume Highway from Wallan in Victoria to Albury, just across the New South Wales border.

I’ve given a lot of thought as to why this had become a bucket list item for me. I didn’t even know about it eleven years ago, but I’ve made a few unexpected choices since then. I’ve quit a stable job, sold a ‘forever home’, and written a book – all things I would never have predicted. Now that I think about it, going to a truck show seems the most predictable choice I’ve made in a while; given I’ve volunteered at a truck museum 7 times, begun writing for Truckin' Life magazine and I live with a bloke who loves old trucks.

Since my dad’s passing, I have really come to appreciate the stories of his generation, and I believe we need to listen to those stories while we can; we need to learn from those lived experiences. The trucks in the parade on Saturday are a reminder that trucks and drivers have ran along the Hume since 1924 – even before my dad's time – when the road was still a dirt track.

Every truck that rolled through a town on Saturday is part of history – no matter what year it was from. Whether it was a little truck with wooden spokes, a truck with a tarped load or a ‘smoke blowing’ big rig, each has a story to tell, a story that fills in the picture of our shared history. When we see them, we are reminded, or have the opportunity to learn, about how things have changed, and not just the machines – no windows, no heating, no communication, no roadside assist. These were men and women, out working on their own, relying on camaraderie, good will, friendship and making do, often by the seat of their pants. Of course, they have great stories to share.

I appreciate that these events give people an opportunity to share those stories; stories that might otherwise be forgotten. There is such a buzz when the older truckies get together – they can talk for hours – reliving glory days, sharing stories of bad luck, hard work, ingenuity, larrikinism, camaraderie and mateship. I believe it is through the sharing of stories that we learn from other’s struggles and their achievements and while many of the stories are shared to give a laugh, or get a laugh, many tell of a bygone era.

So please, if you were in the parade and you see your truck in a photo below, take it, use it and share it with family and friends, but make sure you share a story, a story that fills in a piece of our history. (If you’d like to use the photo for commercial purposes drop me a message.) You might share your story with me, or with family and friends, all I ask in return, is that you have a look at my new book, Empty Roads, Empty Promises: The Forgotten Blockade of Razorback Mountain – a book that details a very important story in Australia’s history – a rebellion of hard-working truck drivers.

I’m very fortunate to have heard the story firsthand from Spencer Watling, Jack Hibburt, Carle Goodfellow, and the late Barry ‘Sleepy’ Grimson, as well as many others. Their ten-day fight for fair working conditions, and improvements to the industry they loved, started with the blocking of the Hume Highway at Razorback Mountain. Blockades would later appear all along the route of Crawlin' the Hume – Kalkallo, Wodonga and Albury.  The blockade ended on April the 11^th 1979, exactly 47 years before this Crawlin’ the Hume run.