vfrpilot, summed it up quite neatrly, except for the tourist season hazard of grey nomads. ugh.
One mob of touros spoilt the day of a truckie, by driving right under the front of his fully loaded shell road train. that's about 120,000 litres, without his own fuel.
Usual truck size hereabouts is around the 120 to 150 tonne fully loaded, thier speed limit is 100 klicks, and they do it easy, with 800 ponies up front.
nowadays they (and fitters and welders) get paid better thanks to stiff competition from the rseources boom. One bloke i know drives twelve hour shifts, four weeks on two off, in some god forsaken mine in West Oz. He operates a double prime mover rig, with eight cargo trailers, three triple axles on each trailer, at neck break speed, 35 klicks fully loaded. He recently nearly got skittled when the computerised fuel flows on the second donk dropped below par and the lead prime mover tried to take the strain. it was on the way up wheel standing, he just stopped it.
one mate of mine reckons when you are too old and useless to be a head stockman, you either cook or drive trucks, an' if you're too dirty to cook----.
another mate reckoned to me very seriously one day that ,"to be a truck driver, you have to be marginally less intelligent than a very average indiginous."
Of course I just had to see just what he was talking about, no more.