All heart at Geelong Convoy

Truckies and motorcyclists recently showed their generous spirit at the inaugural Geelong Camp Quality Convoy, which saw a cavalcade of trucks and bikes roll from Avalon Airport to the Victorian city of Geelong on Sunday, February 15.

A flood of late entries saw around 220 trucks and around 60 motorcycles take part in the convoy, raising much-need funds for Camp Quality – a national charity that provides a range of assistance and support services for kids living with cancer, and their families.

Camp Quality says it's on track to achieve a total of $100,000 raised from both the convoy and its associated charity auction, the latter held on the Friday night immediately before the run.

Convoy participants were initially greeted by overcast skies at the marshalling area at Avalon Airport, but the gloom soon made way for brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures, the perfect conditions persisting for the remainder of the day.

After the motorcycles departed for Geelong it was time for the trucks to form up, with a fleet of Riordan Grains Kenworths taking pride of place at the head of the pack. At the charity auction Riordan Transport Manager Joe Strawford (pictured) had placed the winning bid that saw his firm secure the honour of leading the convoy – a bid that contributed $10,100 towards a great cause.

The auction was hosted gratis by Ritchie Bros auctioneers and formally opened by Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons. Around 350 people were in attendance, including star Geelong Cats footballers Corey Enright and Steve Johnson. A wide range of donated goods and services were on offer, with everything from hotel accommodation packages and DECA defensive driving courses to a Port Douglas holiday and a Volkswagen Golf going under the hammer. With no reserve on any items some bargains went begging, with the night raising over $70,000 for Camp Quality.

Riordan Grains is based in Lara, near Geelong, and these days it runs 18 trucks plus contractors mainly through Victoria and southern NSW. Joe Strawford knows only too well of the value of Camp Quality's work – years ago his niece was supported by the charity through her own (ultimately successful) cancer treatment.

He said that once he'd heard of the impending convoy, the company got to work raising funds for the lead truck pledge.

"We had a lot of our own guys put their hand up and we did a bit of internal fundraising, although the swear jar in the office was probably one of the biggest contributing factors," he said, with a chuckle.

After a pre-run briefing driver Kane Whiting led a total of eight Riordan Grains trucks at the pointy end of the truck convoy, which was then followed by a number of pristine historic commercial vehicles led by Trevor Davis's immaculate 1927 International.

Restored by Trevor with the help of his son, Ross (both pictured), over 1500 painstaking hours, it's now one of just four examples believed to be in existence.

"The best thing about it is the smile it puts on people's faces," said Trevor.

Following that was a procession that stretched out of sight along the Geelong Freeway. Prime movers, flat-beds, tippers and crane trucks; stock-standard rigs and smoking-hot customs; showroom new and well used – it was all there and polished to perfection, a heavy-duty conga-line of glittering chrome and shimmering metalflake bound for Geelong Showgrounds.

The people of Geelong turned out to witness the spectacle, with people young and old lining the streets as the convoy made its way through the centre of town. The smiles and waves told the story, all to the backdrop of blasting air horns.

Once all the trucks were successfully ushered into the showgrounds, the serious business of admiring the hardware began. The rigs on show were served up by a broad cross-section of transport companies from Victoria and further afield. McColls, Sutton Transport, Neals, Wettenhalls, Booth, Noske Transport, Allied Transport, Plunkett Crane Trucks, K&S Freighters, O'Sullivan's and Ross Transport were all there along with a good many others, plus any number of subbies, contractors, and owner-drivers.

Representing driver training was DECA; trucksales.com.au rode shotgun in DECA's Freightliner Argosy in the convoy, with DECA Altona North Business Manager Marcus Kelly at the wheel.

Dealers Fuso Geelong and Winter & Taylor Isuzu were there too, while PACCAR was the only manufacturer to have a factory presence at Geelong Showgrounds, displaying a new model from its glittering Kenworth line-up. PACCAR also made a $10,000 contribution to Camp Quality and to the convoy's charity auction. Winter & Taylor, meanwhile, had provided Camp Quality with a branded truck from June last year to help the charity with its promotional activities.

Hopefully, once word of the event's success spreads, more manufacturers will be willing to get on board to assist this great cause.

There were too many standout trucks to detail here, but special mention must be made of the StanTrans & Son 'Knight Rider' truck. A sinister matt-black 1999 Freightliner FLB with LED lights and spiked wheel hubs, it was definitely among the toughest trucks on show.

Klos Custom Trucks was also there with several of its stunners, easily identifiable by their sky-high exhaust stacks.

The run culminated in a family fun day at Geelong Showgrounds, with live entertainment and a variety of activities on offer for family members of all ages.

The inaugural Geelong Camp Quality Convoy set out to emulate the success of similar established Camp Quality convoys in Townsville and the Illawarra, and for a first go that's exactly what was achieved.

Geelong Convoy President Graeme Reid led a tireless and enthusiastic band of volunteers to make the event happen, and thanks to their efforts – and those of the big-hearted truckies, transport companies and supporters who took part – Camp Quality, which receives no government funding, has had a vital injection of funds to allow it to continue its work.

Lee Emberton, Camp Quality State Manager Victoria/Tasmania, says the money raised by the event will make a huge difference for many families going through a very difficult time.

"The $100,000 we're on track to raise from the Geelong Camp Quality Convoy is enough money to support 25 families for a year," he said.

"From their immediate diagnosis when they're in their highest need we support these families in various ways. They'll get an opportunity to go away as a family on a family camp, the kids will get an opportunity to go to a kids' camp, and then various families will receive financial aid, whether it's just paying the general house bills or for the cleaning of the house while the child's sick – that sort of thing."

Lee said Camp Quality and the event's volunteers had been overwhelmed by the response to its latest convoy.

"We didn't really know what to expect but we were going to be pretty happy with 50 to 100 trucks, so to get the level of support that we did, at the auction as well as at the convoy itself, had our volunteers tearing up, just with seeing how generous the community had been," he said.

Rest assured the event will be even bigger and better next year. Victoria has been without a major charity truck convoy for several years but the Geelong Camp Quality Convoy has well and truly filled that void. Bring on 2016!

For more information on Camp Quality click here.