Kempsey Truck Show brings industry together

Tiane Gavillucci6 days agoNovember 3, 2025

What a stunner. Images: Bernie Keast

Troy Donelly describes the Kempsey Truck Show as a “connection to an industry that’s not on many people’s mind”.

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If you’re not working in transport, he says you probably wouldn’t think twice about trucks, yet the whole country tends to rely on them.

This show dedicates a time to celebrate hardworking rigs, as well as the drivers behind the wheel that keep Australia moving.

Troy says kids love watching the shiny rigs roar down the street, but for the truck dads, this show wakes up that little kid inside of them.

“I think it’s a way to link the people that don’t have any industry tie to transport,” he says.

“But in the town that we live in – Kempsey, I mean, if you don’t have a truck driver in your family, then one of your friends do.”

This show connects the community to the world of transport

The North Coast Trucking Social Club organised this event, and Troy is the club president. So, for him, the day was overwhelming, and rightfully so. Some people thought he was crazy for running it, but he “enjoyed the hell out of it” anyway.

The club itself has been around for nearly half a century, starting out as a way for drivers to connect in the days before mobiles were as popular as they are today.

Over time the casual hangouts became something bigger – a truck show, and one that keeps charity at its core.

Once the bills are paid, every dollar made goes back into the community, whether its soccer clubs, maternity wards or the SES.

This year saw 142 rigs pull up, some rolling in from as far as Sydney and the Gold Coast.

“What did stand out to me was the fact that some people came from such a far distance which I think is pretty big for Kempsey,” Troy says.

“Since Covid, the show’s been held every two years, purely because it’s hard to get enough members in the club. It takes quite a bit to make this show happen.

“But there has been an overwhelming amount of support for it to come back yearly, that’s something the club is yet to decide on, however, if I had it my way, it would be held every year.”

The Kempsey Truck Show is about working rigs rather than shiny show trucks. The ones that can work every day of the week and can still show up on time ready to go for the show.

Besides the trucks however, it is a family day, where kids get to enjoy fun activities for free, like face painting, bouncing on the jumping castle and the bucking bull.

A truck parade got the people of Kempsey excited, with the number of people watching on from the street growing year by year, Troy says he saw kids running from one side of the park to the other to get a better view of the trucks cruising by.

“It was an overwhelming response we received from the crowd, including the sponsors and locals,” he says.

“I’m not the biggest fan of social media so my wife runs it all for the show, and we saw that a lady said this year was the best show Kempsey has had, ever.

“That put a bit of a spring in my step that’s for sure.”

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Traditionally held at the showground, this year’s wet weather threatened to de-rail things.

Then in true small-town spirit, a local company stepped in and offered up their massive yard in Kempsey. They told the club to use it however they needed, no questions asked, and for Troy, that kind of backing meant everything.

“I remember going to the Kempsey Truck Show as a kid with my family. Now my kids get to come with me,” he says.

“If I can do a small part to get this show close to what it used to be, I think I’ve done my job.”

Kempsey creates a bridge between its community and the world of transport. Trucks keep the country running, and yet sometimes it takes an event like this to remind people of their importance and for Troy, that couldn’t make him prouder.