Funds raised during Haulin’ the Hume 2017 will be used to purchase iPads for special needs children.
Haulin’ the Hume founder, Bruce Gunter, believes the Sydney-Yass event is Australia’s biggest historic commercial vehicle run.
On April 8, 308 officially-registered vehicles took part in the biennial event. All were at least 30 years old. Some dated back to the 1920s.
Gunter is thrilled with the run’s success: “The smile on everyone’s faces this weekend has just made my weekend because it means that all that hard work has paid off.”
Haulin’ the Hume raised $40,000 for children’s charities this year. Organisers have donated $30,000 to Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). Gunter says Aspect will use the donation to buy iPads for special needs students to use in class.
The committee has also donated $5000 to help build a disabled playground at Yass; and $5000 to Goulburn’s Challenge Foundation.
Haulin’ the Hume began at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds, Clarendon. Trucks drove along bypassed sections of the old Hume Highway – over Razorback Mountain and through Picton, Mittagong and Berrima on their way to a lunch break and static display at the Goulburn Recreation Area. After lunch the trucks continued over the Cullerin Ranges through Gunning to Yass.
There were large numbers of Kenworths, Internationals, Macks and Dodges.
Whites, Fords, Chevrolets, OshKoshes, Mercedes, Atkinsons, Diamond Ts, Peterbilts, Austins, Commers, Toyotas, Bedfords, Autocars and Volvos were among the other brands represented. Several vintage buses also took part.
About 300 people attended the Haulin’ the Hume dinner at Yass on Saturday night. On Sunday morning the haulers gathered for breakfast and a presentation at Gasoline Alley, Yass.
Rob French is planning a similar event, Crawlin’ the Hume, along the old Hume Highway from Melbourne to Albury in 2018.
See the full pictorial report of Haulin’ the Hume in the May 2017 issue of Owner//Driver.
Photography: Tamara Whitsed