Double Coin Imaging Awards

The Diamantina Drover was written by an Australian folk and political music group called Redgum. It tells the story of a drover, somebody who herds and drives cattle over long distances, and explores the themes of longing, globetrotting, and drifting endlessly.

Certain parts of this could quite easily be compared to the life of a stock truck driver where every day is different, some starting before the sun has risen to get early loads to the works, some are late starts to keep the nightshift works going.

Owner driver, Matthew Thomas, now 31 years of age, was born and bred into a dairy farming family in Levin. He got his first job in the trucking industry with Philip Wareing Ltd after he realised dairy farming wasn’t for him.

Starting at Philip Wareing as a yard boy/ apprentice, Matthew went about his first-year driving loaders, stacking bales and loading trucks while during the winter he moved into the workshop doing maintenance.

“So I did 12 months getting my licences sorted, getting through to my Class 5 while doing flat deck and bulk work, that sort of thing,” Matthew says.

“Stock was always the logical way for me to go since I have a farming background. Eventually a 460 Isuzu stock unit became available and after a while I moved onto a 510 DAF.

“As a 18-19-20-year-old it was great! I travelled all over the South Island and it was physical, which I loved. I made a few mistakes along the way but that’s all part and parcel of the job.”

After moving back to the North Island, Matthew tried his hand at driving dump trucks on the Transmission Gully project and then linehaul work for Booth’s Transport.

But in 2019-20 Matthew made a move and started with Martinborough Transport, driving a 620 Scania which lasted about four months, until he persuaded Jared Hawkins to let him take over his K200 Kenworth.

“At Philip Wareing we’d worked in with Martinborough Transport at one stage, so I’d gotten to know a couple of the guys,” Matthew says.

“It was about then that Mid Canterbury Transport in Ashburton started up in conjunction with Martinborough. So, the guys that own Mid Canterbury Transport were my workmates at Philip Wareing so that’s how it all ties together.”

Martinborough Transport Ltd was started back in 1981 by Trevor and Carol Hawkins with their son’s Daniel, Josh and Jared taking over the reins in 2009. 

“They’re awesome! They’re your typical small family-based company. It’s an awesome place for the younger guys to learn just because the work and the gear is so varied,” says Matthew.

The opportunity arose to become an owner driver at Martinborough Transport so Matthew and his partner purchased a 2009 Freightliner Argosy from C.R.Grace. After being painted and sign written, the truck, which already had 1.27 million kms on the clock hit the road. The first year of being an owner driver was rough, but after three and a half years and 400,000kms the truck had done its part and was due to be replaced.

A cancelled order for a 2024 K200 Kenworth became available and the deal was done.

Powered by a 615hp Cummins X-15 615 with an 18-speed manual Roadranger transmission, this stunning K200 Kenworth runs 305 offset steerers on the front and 275’s on the drives and 19.5’s on the trailer.

Extras on the outside include Dura-bright rims, four toolboxes for extra storage, dovetail roof kit, twin air intakes, painted front bumper, blacked out grille with ten grille bars along with painted fuel and AdBlue tanks.

The cab has all the comforts needed while you’re away from home with a TV, microwave, Xbox, twin fridges, 2000-watt inverter, CB and UHF radios, a Celfi unit for extended cell phone range, and Macquarrie Road Sight Display (which is the replacement for the road relay units and installed by the Cummins team in Palmerston North).

The truck is currently running an old 2002 Delta 24ft four deck ripple sided truck crate with long J hooks on a 25ft Jackson built deck with twin effluent tanks. The rope rail is all load certified so the truck can be used as a flat deck if needed. The trailer is a 2023 Jackson build running 19.5 durabrites on SAF axles, twin effluent tanks and rear ride height adjustment valves. The 36ft Total stock crate has four decks with ripple sides and long J hooks to give it that old school look to match the truck.

Last but not least we get to the name of the truck - The Diamantina Drover.

You see, Matthew’s mother is Australian and this side of his family often joke with him about being the modern-day Drover, forever moving stock around.

“Redgum [the band] would absolutely crank in the car,” Matthew says.

“We had two tapes that my brother and I would listen to in the back of mum’s Surf when we were knee high to a grasshopper. Those two tapes stayed on rotation from the time I was 2-3 years old until we were 13-14 years old!”

The Kenworth was sign written by Jason Ngatuere who had travelled and taken photos near the Diamantina River, so he tapped into his skillset and airbrushed the photos onto each side of the cab.

As the final verse of the Redgum song goes

The faces in the photograph are faded

And I can’t believe he looks so much like me

For it’s been ten long years today,

Since I left for Old Cork Station

Saying “I won’t be back ‘til the droving’s done”

Just like the life of a stock truck driver.