Trucking Reunion returns to the Alice

Over the past couple of decades, for the nation's truck drivers, in August all roads lead to Alice Springs for the annual road transport reunion. However, this year’s reunion, now falling under the new banner of the Australian Festival of Transport, marks the first gathering of the event since its forced hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions, with 55 new inductees recognised.

Occasionally, the freight takes a back seat to the journey and the people along the route, and this story is about one of those rare occasions. For Highland Haulage owner Mick Linger and his son Marcus, the pilgrimage from their home in Deloraine, Tasmania, halfway across the continent to the Road Transport Hall of Fame's Reunion in Alice Springs was a few years in the making. But one they'd both been looking forward to for some time.

Even if you've never met Mick or Marcus, one look at their impressively restored trucks speaks volumes about the passion these men have for their machines. For this trip to 'the Alice', Marcus had chosen to take up the Ford Louisville LTL 9000 they'd restored a couple of years back. Mick, meantime, was eager to climb behind the wheel of the old ex-TNT '78 Kenworth SAR they had not long finished rebuilding.

Related reading:
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Australian Festival of Transport looming

But for Marcus, though, the first leg of the journey was no holiday. He loaded his tautliner in Deloraine with freight bound for the mainland then caught a ride on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry earlier in the week. Finally, he unloaded and reloaded his tautliner in Melbourne with freight bound for Adelaide.

"All our trucks are working trucks," Mick said as he tightened the ratchet strap. "But this old Mack I'm taking up to the Alice is the first new truck that Byron Bonney ordered. A keen team from Lloyds North found it still working up in the state's northeast. So, consequently, they negotiated its purchase and organised its restoration. But have a chat with Robbie Maher from Bonney Group. He'll fill you in on the details about the Mack.

"I'm on a bit of a mission at the moment as I have to catch the boat tonight," Mick added, hurrying off towards the office.

Later that night, Mick lent on the aft rail of the Spirit of Tasmania and sent a simple text as the side thrusters churned the waters of the Mersey River, spinning the ferry around to face north.

The phone on my desk pinged with the incoming message. It read, "We made the boat; talk to you tomorrow."

Mick and Marcus assembled at Highland Haulage's Melbourne depot for a final check-over of the trucks. Even though Mick and his crew are meticulous regarding their restoration work, the additional checks would ensure a trouble-free journey to the Red Centre.

Google estimated the journey would take 23 hours and 58 minutes of driving, while notifying that a severe weather warning for damaging winds was in place. Undeterred, the intrepid travellers set off.

They overnighted in Adelaide to unload the freight out of Marcus' tautliner before continuing northward.

And no trip to the Red Centre would be complete without a photo with the famous Coober Pedy opal truck sign, before parking up for the night and hitting the road early the next day.

When they arrived in Alice Springs, Mick was thrilled when the event organisers offered him the prime parking spot in front of the Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame shed.

"Several people thought the old Kenworth SAR was one of the new legend models," Mick smiled. "It's not till I pointed to the 8V92 Detroit Diesel under the hood that they realised it's an original SAR."

The R-model Mack on Mick's drop-deck is a significant piece of history in the Lloyds North organisation. The company, founded by Byron Bonney in 1977, commenced operation from a small tin shed at the Longreach woodchop mill, shuttling waste bark from the mill and employing nine people using second-hand trucks.

Byron Bonney was posthumously inducted into the National Road Transport Hall of Fame during the event's COVID hiatus. Still, family, friends and his original new Mack R-model officially made the journey to accept the plaque this year. It had long been a dream of Bryon to have one of his trucks displayed at the museum after a visit prior to his death.

The inscription on his induction plaque reads: ‘He was born into a transport family and left school at 15 to pursue a career in the family business. He worked in various roles and eventually managed Bonney Mix Concrete division. In 1977 Byron had the opportunity to purchase the family's tree bark division and establish Lloyds North.

‘Byron led by example and was extremely driven. He worked within all levels of the business and worked long hours to stay on top of operations. By 1978, when Byron took delivery of his first new Mack prime mover, Mack Trucks flew him to the Mack factory in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, where he was presented with a Mack key to the city.’

The Mack R-model has been painstakingly restored, and the company has kindly left it on display at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame for the next 12 months.

"A lot of people helped fulfil Byron's wish to have one of his trucks displayed up at Alice Springs," said Robbie Maher.

"Laurie Kelly in Launceston did a lot of the restoration, Scott Barker painted it, and the master signwriter Kevin Brown worked his magic on the mural and signwriting. Finally, Mick helped us by transporting the Mack to Alice Springs.

"Back in 1978, the old R-model was a reasonably heavy-spec’d truck," Robbie continued. "It's powered by a 285 Maxi-dyne engine, coupled to a twin-stick six-speed Mack transmission. It had the bigger 44,000-pound Mack carriers on a Camelback suspension. It had a top speed of around 90km/h."

While the attendance roll-up wasn't anywhere near the bustling crowds of pre-COVID events, the journey and experience didn't disappoint.

"We had a great time," Mick said. "It's great to get away for a few weeks with the boys. We all enjoy our trucks, and we caught up with many old friends we'd worked with over the years and hadn't seen for some time.

"Thankfully, our trucks ran up and back without so much as squeak or rattle out of place. But next year, you can tell your boss he'd better send you along with us so you can take your own photos!"

Click here to visit the Road Transport Hall of Fame inductee database.