As featured in Big Rigs · September 2022
“Truck driving is the only career for me”, says Townsville truckie
Big Rigs, the national trucking paper, caught up with Scott “Chub” Hawker at the Townsville Port Access Road pad and asked him about the job. Scott drives for us out of Townsville, so we'll admit we enjoyed his answers. Here's our summary, with a link to the original story.
Scott “Chub” Hawker
Townsville-based, driving for Hills Tankers. 37 when the story ran, behind the wheel since he was 22.
This page is our summary. The quotes are Scott's own words as reported by Big Rigs.
Townsville and the north
Fuel down the Bruce Highway to Bowen, local work in between, and the western runs when they come up.
Fifteen years in, no plans to stop
A truckie since 22, and staying one
When Big Rigs found Scott he was tending to a trailer at the Townsville Port Access Road pad, between a fuel run and the local work that fills the rest of the week. He was 37 at the time, and by his own account the career question was settled a long way back.
“I have been a truck driver since I was 22 and can't see that changing as I love the job.”
The day Big Rigs saw him, he'd carted a load of fuel from Townsville down the Bruce Highway to Bowen, about 200 kilometres south, in a 600 horsepower Volvo with an automatic box.
Asked about the company whose name is on the barrel, he gave the sort of review a working driver actually gives: “I have been with this company for some time and they are good.” No superlatives, no fuss. We'll take it.
Scott with his Volvo, Townsville.
The north, rated by the bloke who drives it
Rough roads and good stops
Ask a fuel driver about north Queensland and you won't get scenery. You'll get road conditions and roadhouses, which is exactly what Big Rigs got.
The roughest stretches
- Flinders Highway, Hughenden to Cloncurry The western run Scott rates hardest on a truck.
- Gregory Developmental Road, Charters Towers to Clermont The inland route south, and the other one on his list.
His verdict on the pair: “They are both very rough in places.”
The stops that look after drivers
- Torrens Creek Hotel Out west on the Flinders Highway, with a truck room for drivers.
- Belyando Roadhouse On the Gregory Developmental Road run.
“They both look after us drivers and the Torren's Creek Hotel has a truck room as well,” Scott told Big Rigs. Locals reckon a yowie roams the Burra Range nearby. Scott, for the record, hasn't seen it.
The bloke behind the nickname
Why everyone calls him Chub
The nickname dates back to a day in Innisfail, when a fellow walked in carrying bananas and christened Scott “Chub” on account of him being a big bloke. It has, in his words, stuck like glue, to the point that a lot of people wouldn't know his full name.
Victorian originally, Scott had been in Queensland 15 years when the story ran, and drove for Direct Haulage for almost five years before joining us. Off the clock it's a quiet beer at the Watermark Hotel on Townsville's Strand, looking across the water to Magnetic Island, the odd run on his Harley, and a caravan trip he's promising himself for later on.
About this story
This is our own summary of a profile written and published by Big Rigs on 16 September 2022. The quotes are Scott's words as Big Rigs reported them; the rest is retold in ours, and the full story is theirs to tell.
Road train work is the north's bread and butter.
Established 2021 · Roseneath
The depot Scott drives from
Townsville is the newest of our Queensland depots and the one with the longest legs: road train fuel runs that reach the NT border and Gulf Country. The roads Scott rates roughest are the same country our Townsville combinations work every week.
Driving for Hills · Since 1960
Fancy the job Scott can't see himself leaving?
Driver roles go up depot by depot as seats open, with the rate printed in the ad and full training provided. If nothing's listed for your depot today, lodge an expression of interest and we'll have your details when one opens.