After more than six decades carting grain and sheep across Western Australia, Terry Bairstow has just climbed out of the cab of his enormous truck for the last time.
“It was pretty emotional … It’s like losing a limb really, but never mind,” he said.
“I’ve still got my car licence and light rigid licence to pull a caravan.”
Terry Bairstow’s career in the trucking industry spans more than six decades. (Supplied)
The Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure requires heavy vehicle drivers to pass a medical assessment annually from the age of 80, as well as an annual road test from the age of 85.
At 83 years old, Mr Bairstow, who is from Wagin in WA’s Wheatbelt, has been told it is finally time to hang up the keys for good.
“I went down to Perth where I had [a road test] 12 months ago and got through that one, but they did warn me that it was going to be a bit harder this year,” Mr Bairstow said.
One of Terry Bairstow’s sons has taken the reins of the family business. (Supplied)
Despite the disappointment of giving up his truck licence, Mr Bairstow said the rules are fair.
“What do you do?” he said.
“You just can’t drive until you go to sleep on the road … it’s one of those things you’ve got to realise that it comes to the end.”
Terry credits his wife Maree, who managed the business as well as raising their three kids while he was driving. (Supplied)
A family affair
Reflecting on his career of more than 60 years as a truckie, Mr Bairstow said that apart from the purchase of a few dud trucks, there was not much he would change if he had his time over again.
Maree and Terry Bairstow, standing in front of his last truck. (Supplied)
He credits his contentment with the lifestyle to his wife Maree.
Married in 1970, they had three children: Todd, Darran and Jodie, all of whom went on to follow in Dad’s footsteps and drive trucks in their own businesses.
“I wouldn’t have got anywhere here without my wife, Maree,” he said.
“She was the backbone of everything here, doing the book work, bringing up the kids.”
Terry Bairstow spent more than half a century carting sheep and grain across Western Australia. (Supplied)
An industry for all ages
While Mr Bairstow bids goodbye to the industry that held him for well over half a century, Perth’s Marko Savic is at the other end of his trucking career.
Marko Savic works as a trainer-assessor with his family at their truck driver training business in Perth. (ABC Great Southern: Asha Couch)
At just 26 years old, Mr Savic is a director at Western Roadtrain Driver Training, as well as a truck driving trainer and assessor.
Growing up in the family business, Mr Savic said he was “born and bred to be come a trainer”.
“I was able to get [my training accreditation] basically as soon as I was 22 … making me, I think, one of the youngest ones in the last 40 years,” he said.
Mr Savic said his age often comes as a surprise to the people he teaches, but that is soon forgotten when they see “how much passion” he has for the job.
“I never had any time [to learn] bad habits … a lot of [the training] is just about unlearning bad habits that we do out on the roads,” he said.
Marko Savic spends most of his time training truckies on how to drive safely. (ABC Great Southern: Asha Couch)
What makes a good truckie?
At their driving school in Wangara, north of Perth, Mr Savic and the team run truck driving courses for heavy rigid, heavy combination and multi combination tickets.
Marko Savic was passionate about trucks from a young age. (ABC Great Southern: Asha Couch)
While there are plenty of technical skills to cover, Mr Savic said a large part of what makes a good truckie comes down to attitude, safety and the ability to keep your cool.
“You’ve got to be the bigger person … any time there’s a 50-50, if there’s a narrower street, you’ve got to be the bigger person in that situation,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s not rocket science, it’s not brain surgery, it’s driving — but it can feel like that if you’re under a lot of pressure.”
Truckie licence ‘as good as a trade’
For anyone looking for a new career who does not mind long hours, Mr Savic said being a truckie was “the dream job”.
Driver trainer Marko Savic says people perform better behind the wheel when they feel at ease. (ABC Great Southern: Asha Couch)
“We get a lot of people in their retirement age wanting to do it because it’s a job that pays well, that is not as labour-intensive depending on what you’re doing,” he said.
“It gives you potentially the opportunity to see the state, see the country, even.”
And while a future rich in electric vehicles may change how the trucking industry works, Mr Savic emphasised the current need for skilled truckies.
“We’re still a ways away from that,” he said.
“Without trucks, Australia stops — you’ve heard the slogan, it’s the most true thing in the world.”
A career in truck driving means a great deal of time traversing Australia’s vast outback. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)
