A Point Cook resident has been named as the country’s top truckie.
Steven Broadbent was named the National Professional Driver of the Year at the Australian Trucking Association’s gala awards dinner on Friday, March 31.
Mr Broadbent works for Freestone’s Transport and has been driving trucks for over 40 years.
“It was a complete surprise to find out I’d been nominated, and very humbling to be named a finalist,” he said.
“To be named as the winner was just amazing, it blew my mind!”
During his time as a professional driver, Mr Broadbent has covered more than six million kilometres.
Travelling mainly along the east coast of Australia, delivering freight from Melbourne to Sydney and Brisbane, he has also carted some interesting loads.
“I was responsible for taking an MRI machine from Sydney to Perth Hospital, that was a very special trip. These machines are full of radiation, so it was classified as a dangerous load,” Mr Broadbent said.
Another stand-out was after last year’s Australian Grand Prix, where Mr Broadbent was in charge of carrying the precious Ferrari fleet to Avalon Airport.
“I had to drive around the track in the truck to get to where they load the freight onto the trailer, and you don’t realise how narrow and slippery the road is until you drive it with the barriers and chicanes all in place,” he said.
