Meet Athol and Robbo – Mactrans Heavy Haulage’s men in the west. These old-school truckies are veterans of the game, which means this 200-tonne mining machine lift to Perth is mince meat
I’d once seen a driver grill a fatty pork chop on the sandwich press in the lunch room, so it shouldn’t surprise me that recent introductions with some wily trucking veterans were made over a dozen oysters.
But it did. Have you ever seen a truckie slurp back a dozen oysters at a country pub? Those grime-stained hands you shook earlier around the trailer now clasping at seafood?
I’m not an oyster man myself, but I sure do love the “who gives a rat’s” approach. Hardened by the independence that life on the road gives you, blokes like Athol are hard to come by.
What I mean is, Athol’s vintage of truckie is an endangered species. The kind that started driving trucks around 13 years of age, born and bred on the land, and like Athol and many others from similar backgrounds, just “come to know them (trucks).”
Athol’s boss – the owner of the iconic Mactrans Heavy Haulage, Mussy Deen – describes it as having “diesel in the blood”… however you label it, it’s a quality that has found Athol as the company’s longest-serving employee.
“When I started with Mactrans, Mussy had two trucks and two floats,” Athol recalls. “I started with him just running up and down, back and forth, and as of January 2024, it’ll be 19 years I’ve been with him.
“There’s been rough times and hard times amongst it, but he’s still all right.”
Based on the two days I spent with Athol, I interprete those words as a compliment.
Then there’s Robbo. He’d have a differing opinion, but Athol says he’s his sidekick (we’ll leave it at that for now).
Now in his 70s, Robbo self admits he’s probably closer to retirement – an old injury to his back has transitioned him out of the prime mover and into the driver’s seat of his Hilux. He’s Athol’s pilot vehicle driver.
In his youth, Robbo used to wag school to drive trucks. “Every time I clipped a gear I got a clip around the year,” he says. He started driving professionally around 1971.
The two met decades ago, as two truck drivers crossing paths on their way to or from another job. Now they’ve been working together for the past 10 years with Mactrans, and we’re following them on their latest journey.
Athol and Robbo are Mactrans’ men in the west. Both have been on this latest WA-stint nearing six months – moving, loading and delivering all of the big Western Australian jobs that come their way.
They planned to be back home on the east coast by Christmas if they were not too busy, but first, they’ve got a big move. A 200-tonne mining excavator from an embattled coal mine near Collie back to Perth.
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