After spending more than 50 years chasing horizons and clocking up between 10 to 15 million kilometres over his trucking career, 7mate Outback Truckers star, Paul ‘Sludge’ Andrews, never thought he may never be able to drive again.
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news and classifieds from Australia’s transport industry.
- Don’t miss a second and subscribe to our monthly Deals on Wheels magazine.
- Sell your truck with Australia’s #1 truck classifieds
Whether he was behind the wheel of a truck, car or motorcycle, the open road was his trusted friend.
But in 2023, an awful motorcycle accident changed everything, leaving Sludge with significant injuries, including bleeding in the brain, fractured bones and torn ligaments.
And while physical injuries healed, the head trauma is still difficult to navigate, meaning driving trucks was off the table for quite some time.
He regained his license back in October last year, and since the accident has spent two nights in his truck.
“I’ve always been a bit of a rebel, but I’ve lived life to the fullest,” he says. “I’ve pushed the limits of life, and it nearly killed me the last time. So now it’s time for me to give back.”
“A lot of people helped my wife Wendy and I after my accident when we were in a really bad spot, and now it’s time that I give back to people and say thank you.”
After his son brought him back to life that day, Sludge now views life, and the open road, from a different perspective.
These days, The Outback Truckers star doesn’t spend as many nights on the road. He’s traded the long hauls for family dinners and the satisfaction of being home with loved ones.
“Life has changed hugely since the accident,” he says. “I missed my kids growing up, going to school and their sporting events. Now I don’t want to be away. I want to be home.”
“With our kids at home, we have a lot of fun. I suppose I’m lucky enough to still be here, and I now want to cherish the time that I have left with them.
“That’s the big thing about being a truckie. You miss out on all the milestones and family life, now I’m making up for lost time. I feel like I’ve learnt to slow down, appreciate more and not take things for granted.”
But don’t think for a second he’s left the world of trucks behind.
The week before his interview with Deals on Wheels, Sludge was off at a truck show, with many more lined up in the coming months.
His truck, ‘The Phantom’ is quite the show truck itself.
The 2009 Peterbilt was imported from America and stripped down and rebuilt from the ground up when it arrived in Melbourne.
The left-hand drive was swapped over, the bunk expanded from 60 to 72 inches and it was painted a striking purple, similar to the Holden Morpheus which came out around the same time, transforming the Peterbilt into an absolute showstopper.
“I called it ‘The Phantom’ after an old American song called ‘Phantom 309’, it’s about a school bus full of children pulling out in front of a truck. The truck driver swerved and in doing so, ran off the road in an attempt to save the kids,” he says.
“I wanted ‘The Phantom’ written across the side of the truck, but a painter in Melbourne wanted to do it for me and kept the design under wraps until I flew over to pick up the finished product.”
When it was done, the truck didn’t just turn heads, it turned him into a TV personality.
Initially he says he was quite reluctant to join Outback Truckers – a friend nominated him to be filmed. Before long though, the purple Peterbilt and its larger-than-life driver would become known Aussie favourites.
“At first it was very strange having the cameras around, I hated it,” he says.
“As a truckie, you spend so much time by yourself, you become a bit of a recluse. Your family are the people at the roadhouse, more back in the day especially.
“I tried to pull out of the show in season five, but they wouldn’t let me. Now I’m looking at going overseas to film next year, so I’m a bit spoilt.”
The show has made a big difference in not only his daily life, but also his personal business.
“It’s allowed our business to grow huge, now we sell merchandise,” he says. “Life is never boring; there’s always something going on.”
This year, the team behind Outback Truckers have filmed a new show where veteran truckies train up rookies, and Sludge has taken part.
“I’ve spent a bit of time teaching people. I had a woman over in Gunnedah that I had been training up, and she’s now gone from having a single trailer license to a road train license which is cool.
“They fly us all over the place to do this, which I’ve really enjoyed because it’s giving back.”
As an experienced truckie, who has experienced the highs and lows of driving long highways, Sludge is a softer, wiser version of the man who once lived full throttle.
“I’ve seen a lot of accidents and people killed, so you kind of have to become quite strong, you become immune to all that kind of stuff,”
“These days I think a lot more about people. When they’re broken down, you always stop to help, in general you learn to help out more.
“I try not to take anything for granted. You never know what’s around the corner.”
Deals on Wheels asked Sludge what makes Aussie truckies special, and he doesn’t miss a beat.
“It’s the distance. We’re one of the only places in the world that has this bloody distance,” he says.
“You rely on your trucking mates to help you out. They become your family.”
From hauling fuel and oil across WA with his business, ‘Paul Andrews Transport’, to filming for a truck show, to deadly accidents, to mentoring the next generation of truck drivers, Sludge has lived through it all, the highs and the heartbreaks of transport.
And now, he’s ready for his next chapter.
Read more:
- What’s in Ken’s shed?
- Big rigs under Vegas lights
- On the lookout for a crane truck?
- Gear up for the new year with a Hino
- All the best 2026 truck shows and events for your calendar
Check out the Deals on Wheels Facebook here.