Showing him the ropes

SHANNON McMillan was taking chook feed from Cardiff to Duri in NSW when Big Rigs yarned to him recently.

The 33-year-old was driving a 2016 Western Star for JS Transport which is based at Heatherbrae near Newcastle.

He had pulled up near the Murrurundi Roadhouse along the New England Highway.

With him was a trainee driver who was too shy to have his pic snapped.

“I have been a truckie for seven years and am enjoying the work,” he said.

ation for McMillan whose best spot is in the McIntyre River.

lead the way to a new frontier in national driver training.”

While South Australia is the only state or territory to approve such a scheme, Fennell believes other jurisdictions should adopt similar competency-based driver licensing programs to tackle industry-wide labour shortages.

“We need to be progressive with our licensing,” she said. “You know, multi-combination trucks are a big part of our industry and by removing the barriers to licensing and training we can access a better quality of driver.

“There is a lot of review going on (around the country) but people just don’t seem to be able to get their head around how it works. Perhaps it’s because a lot of people don’t have the patience or time to invest, and the process has been costly, but the alternative for us wasn’t an option.”