The Nullarbor Kid

by Ray Gilleland

Meet Ray Gilleland, pioneer trucker in postwar Australia. In those days, trucking was viewed as an 'upstart industry' that threatened existing railway systems, and Ray was part of the new breed, determined not to be chained to the old ways.
The Nullarbor Kid tells of the adventures Ray and his mates had when the trucking industry was born, at a time when outback roads were little more than corrugated dirt tracks.
There are stories of regulations set to strangle the new industry and drivers who fought back with every trick in the book, trucks not suited for blistering Australian heat and long mountain climbs in low gear – and through it all, the smell and noise, mateship and romance of long-haul driving.

265 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Alyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

My father was a long haul trucker when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s. He retired in the late 80s with a million mile belt buckle but he drove in America. This book is about another world. Almost mythical in scope and scale. It's a montage of truckers tales but you don't have to be a trucker or a trucker's daughter to enjoy the sheer courage and pluck of these hero's of the highways. Fun reading.