There’s just something iconically Australian about carting cattle. It’s a niche vocation amongst the transport industry, one that requires a particular demeanour and specific skills. We often get to see the top end of the stock carting world with the lifestyles of the outback road train transporters, however there are multiple layers when it comes to livestock transporting and recently, I got to catch up with a stock carter who is at the beginnings of what will be a lifelong career.
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The protagonist in this story is a young lady from deep in Victoria’s back blocks. A young lady that has grown up in the passenger seat of a truck and earned her pocket money in the back of a stock crate with a hose and the aromatic ambiance of overflowing ordure. I had the pleasure of spending a day with the lovely Rochelle Storr and got to appreciate her knowledge of the industry, her skills behind the wheel, her management of the doubts and worries of becoming a truck driver and her over all enthusiasm for the transport trade.
However, I have one big complaint. Yes, it’s a little selfish and more than a little self-centered but I’m the one writing this so I get to complain. On no less than four occasions throughout our interview Rochelle would use the phrase, ‘When I was younger’ or ‘when I first started out’. Sure, that sounds harmless, except Rochelle is only 24. I had to reprimand her and reiterate to her, only us oldies get to use the phrase ‘when I was younger’. If you weren’t around when your entire household only had one phone, and you could only walk as far as the cord would stretch, then you cannot use the ‘When I was younger’ term. All that aside, Rochelle may only be 24, but she has packed a lot into those 24 years. She is a young lady that loves to work hard, thrives on the challenges of building her own future and has the utmost appreciation and respect for those that have helped her to get where she currently sits in her journey. It’s inspirational for us actual oldies to see this kind of resolve in the next generation of truckie.
As we’ve already established, Rochelle has grown up in the transport game. Storr Transport was formed just over 25 years ago when Rochelle’s Nan and Pop bought a livestock carrying business. Carting cattle wasn’t an unfamiliar vocation for the Storr family as Rochelle’s Nan and Pop had spent years living and working on farms in the Toora area of Victoria.
With her granddad, dad and uncle driving, and her aunty and cousin working the books and managing the office, Rochelle literally grew up around livestock carting.
“I don’t remember back that far but apparently, from about two or three years old I was going all around Australia with Dad, that was how I spent my life, he taught me everything I know” says Rochelle, who cheekily laughs as she adds in her mother’s response to dad’s babysitting duties — “Mum wasn’t always that happy, she’d ring up and ask ‘when are you going to be home, what state are you in,’ stuff like that.”
It was a lifestyle that suited Rochelle and appealed to her hard work ethic.
“I remember when I was about 14 maybe, I had gone for a ride with Dad to Pakenham saleyards doing the market, Pop rung and said to Dad you need to start heading to Alice Springs. Dad always had a bag packed but I wasn’t the kind to pack a bag — I went the whole way up to Alice with no clothes, no nothing. It was an incredible trip and now I know not to go anywhere without a change of clothes and a lunch box.”
It was fairly evident from a young age that the blue-collar lifestyle held greater appeal than any form of extra schooling or study for Rochelle.
“All through school, until I left in Year 10, I would spend all my spare time either washing trucks or going with Dad or Pop,” recalls Rochelle.
“I was a bit of a brat at school to be honest, and I would spend my days watching the trucks go past our school and pointing out every time I saw one of ours.”
It’s almost the cliché meme, with the teacher admonishing Rochelle and exclaiming ‘you can’t spend your days staring out the window’ and now that’s exactly what she gets to do.
Her love of the farm life and her desire to get working saw Rochelle apply for a station hand job at the age of just 16.
“It was a lifechanging experience and one of the best things I ever did.
“I applied, they rung me up and said I was shortlisted but wanted to ensure I was serious as I was only 16. Mum supported my dreams and so next thing I know moved to Morstone Downs Station about 50km out of Camooweal in Queensland, it was awesome.
“I did a full season up in Camooweal and everything about it was more than I could have imagined. I couldn’t recommend it enough.
“In the end though I came home because I just missed my family, I’m such a family person and missed them a heap.”
Rochelle returned to home and was straight back into the crates with her hose and sponges.
“I was working at a couple of dairy farms and Pop would still ring me at night and ask me to wash out the trucks before they went out again in the morning.” Got to love family don’t you.
By the time Rochelle hit the age where she was able to go for her HR license, she was now spending her spare time in the passenger seat alongside her granddad, Stuart Storr.
“I was old enough to get my license but I was kind of sitting on the fence about it, I had this thing in my head that I wouldn’t be able to actually drive one of these big things all by myself,” Rochelle admits.
I must also admit I was a little taken aback by Rochelle’s self-doubts, her life had been spent working around these trucks and her ability to date had shown that she could master any task thrown at her so the idea this young lady had reservations did not fit with the competent driver that was escorting me around. Thankfully the support of her family, the encouragement of Storr transport team and most importantly some driving lessons from her Pop resulted in her attaining her HR license.
“I had learnt so much from my Dad and my Pop. After I came back from the station and between my other jobs I would always go and help Pop, he’d do the driving and I would do the loading and unloading,” Rochelle says.
Then Pop started throwing Rochelle into the driver’s seat to teach her the joys of an 18-speed gearbox and build her confidence.
“It was awful,” laughs Rochelle. “It was in one of our older DAFs and Pop would get me to leave the yard, through the S-bends and up to the highway. It’s quite steep and I remember we’d be in 5th or 6th, I’d be asking Pop how I get it back a gear and he’d just say no-one’s coming, just go for it. I used to just chug it, almost stalling it.”
The ’she’ll be right’ driving lessons were soon replaced with more in-depth training from the team at Yugo Driving School in Dandenong. Rochelle was more than competent — it really was just a case of getting her to realise that years of second-seat driving had already taught her more than enough. The two-day Yugo course resulted in Rochelle gaining her HR and before the ink could even dry on her license, Pop had Rochelle in the driver’s seat and earning her keep.
“The very next day after I got my license, it was a Tuesday, our busiest day and I was out at it all day.
“I knew how to drive and that, but that first day when you head out on your own it’s all very real. Within two hours though it was like I’d been doing it all my life.”
The great thing about starting in the smaller body trucks in the stock world is you are going to be the one that gets sent to all the farms and pens that others can’t get to. Sure, it can be intimidating and overwhelming, but it is also a great ‘in the deep end’ skill enhancer and Rochelle lapped up the challenge.
“The tray trucks are just as important as the B-doubles,” she says. “We’re often the ones having to do the pickups for the doubles, getting into the awkward spots, doing all the little tight jobs.”
After a year of adventuring into the far-flung stockyards of Victoria, Rochelle started to get the pressure to move up to her HC license.
“I did hold off getting my HC license for so friggin long, even though it was the best thing I have ever done,” admits Rochelle.
“Internally I was still thinking it’s too big, it’s too long, but one of our drivers Justin just said to me to get in and do it. Now it just makes my job so much easier.”
As far as the next stage, her MC license, Rochelle is back to her own self-doubts though I am sure it will come in time. For now, having the ability to tuck a trailer in behind her DAF is perfect for the work she is doing and has Rochelle mastering her current domain.
There is so much more that needs to be added to the biography of this accomplished young lady, like did I mention in the little spare time she does have she has also started her own country clothing line — ‘Muddy Creek Co’. My new wardrobe is on its way, and it looks good. That wasn’t my point though, I was saying there was a lot to learn during my day in the DAF’s passenger seat, but before I run out of space I shall cover our conversation around the subject of females in transport, transport in general and the allure of the industry.
“I don’t really think of myself as a female driving trucks, I don’t look at that label, I just see myself as a person doing a job they love, I’m just a truckie,” Rochelle says.
“There’s no aspect of the job where being a woman hinders me doing my job.”
Rochelle also points out that in the cattle industry in particular there are plenty of females throughout. From farmers and drovers to the truckies and agents.
“It’s not just the job I love though, I love the truck side of it as well. It is a lot harder to keep the truck shiny in our line of work. Plus, we live in Victoria where it rains 95 per cent of the time and we are off the tar seal as much as we are on it.”
“But we have a company policy that you don’t leave the yard with a dirty back door. Our name’s on the back and we like to keep the trucks looking as good as we can.”
As our day of moving deconstructed Big Macs around Victoria started to come to an end, I really appreciated the attitude and approach that Rochelle carries with her in her work. What started as the concept of a short drive, a decent photoshoot and a bit of chat, turned into a full day event and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Yes, Rochelle may be less than half my age, so we put paid to the ‘when I was younger’ comments, but this young truckie has a really good head on her shoulders. Her insistence on moving up the driving license ranks at a pace that ensures she’s comfortable and confident is certifying her safety and that of the valuable cargo she loves to cart. Her respect and admiration for the support and assistance of family, her partner Travis and her workmates is another trait that should be admired. I do believe she should listen to her workmates and get onto that MC license though; we could definitely do with a few young ones like Rochelle Storr.
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