Noel Taylor tried his hand at a desk job, but is most happy to be back behind the wheel of a well-maintained 2007 Kenworth K108.
Owner//Driver originally caught up with Noel Taylor at the 2016 Alexandra Truck Show. Back then he was driving a Kenworth T609, but nowadays he’s behind the wheel of a Dean Jones Transport K108.
The K108 was formerly owned by Holbrook-based Churchill Transport, and it’s one of eight ex-Churchill trucks that Dean Jones has owned at various stages.
“Now he is buying new ones,” Noel says. “We got three new T409s 18 months ago and a K200 joined the fleet last June. I believe he has ordered me a new one but I don’t know what it will be.”
Noel says Dean is a great bloke to work for and he gets looked after well. “The trailers and truck – they live with me. They come back home with me to Seymour and don’t remain in the yard.”
Churchill Transport has a reputation of looking after their gear and even though the K108 is 10 years old, it is still very tight in Noel’s opinion.
“I’m generally away for two weeks at a time, depending on what is happening so the big bunk will be great,” he continues.
“We carry whatever we can put in the back – meat, vegetables, furniture – and I run wherever the freight goes.”
Noel and his wife Michelle have two kids, Joshua and Katie. He gets home to Seymour as often as the job permits.
“I just had two-and-a half days at home and she was telling me to get going,” Noel smiles. “Both the kids have grown up in the passenger seat and they’ve been all over Australia.”
Katie was 14 on her previous trip with Noel, which was meant to be a run from Melbourne to Emerald return trip. But it ended up being a full loop around Australia. Noel received a call to load in Brisbane for Perth. In Perth he loaded oversized gear segments for Townsville and then onto Melbourne. Both Noel and Kelly had a ball, and it an experience she will never forget.
“It was a full loop in a road train,” Noel says. “I was a bit nervous at first taking her for that long as a14 year old girl around roadhouses, but she can handle herself well.
“Most truck drivers are family men and we didn’t have an issue. We got stuck up in Townsville for a couple of days and we ended up sitting around having a party under the trees,” he recalls.
Industry image
Noel still has a smile on his face after 30 years on the road but doesn’t like the adverse publicity that the industry gets.
“Not too many people outside the industry understand our industry. We are all human, the trucks are mechanical and there are plenty of combinations that can go wrong at any given time.
“You throw in other motorists, wildlife and the roads and it can be a very toxic combination.”
“You only have to look at the roads coming in from the border to Brisbane. You have road trains running out there and those roads have not been touched in years.”
Noel can’t remember the last time that major road works were done on the road between Goondiwindi and Warwick.
“There haven’t been any major upgrades to it, the drains or anything! You can’t keep punching the weight across it and not have some consequences,” he says.
He cites a truck rollover over the top of the Toowoomba Range with reports that the driver missed a gear as an example of negative publicity.
“The more accidents we have in the industry, the worst the public perception is going to get.”
Sleep demands
In another gripe, Noel firmly believes that being told when to sleep is about the craziest thing that has been introduced yet.
“I went to a company briefly that was using the 14 hour books to the maximum. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough,” he recalls.
“They were using the books to its limit that means at the end of the day the driver wasn’t getting a good sleep.”
With Dean, Noel knows he can sleep when he needs to.
“It is as simple as that. If the freight is late, it is only a phone call but it’s better to be late than not be there are all.”
Noel believes there needs to be more consultation across the industry with the people who are on the coal face and not in a tall office block in the city.
“Everyone seems very happy with the WA regulations. It’s a wonder they don’t look at that and improve it.”
Noel knows that what he does every day affects the next couple of days. He believes a lot of drivers don’t plan ahead, and that’s where they can come unstuck. Hence, if something goes wrong; they do a tyre or get caught in peak traffic, they get to the point where they are a bit drowsy but can’t stop.
“Unfortunately, the calibre of driver that we are getting replaced with isn’t that good,” he adds. “It’s not just in Australia; the US is no different. They are having the same drama with imported drivers and it crucifies everyone,” he says.
“Look I love the industry. It’s all I’ve done since I was 14 and it’s terrible to see what is happening.”
Noel says his first experience driving was in an Isuzu. He also recalls steering a 1418 Benz, while his first heavy rigid was an International S-Line. He later went on to a Kenworth SAR semi.
In temporary departure driving, Noel was an operations manager for a larger company in Melbourne for 18 months.
“Give me driving any day. You get paid more and you don’t have to worry about the political rubbish,” he remarks.
“I can keep my ducks in order but keeping everyone else’s ducks in order is a real pain.
“I believe I am a professional operator and pride myself in the equipment and service I provide,” he adds.
“I wouldn’t do anything else but I am happy to only have to be worried about myself.”
Photography: Peter Schlenk