Remember the time when hiring a limousine for formal transportation was the coolest thing imaginable?
Or maybe your uncle’s friend’s cousin had an old Monaro he hired out for just these very moments?
Well, it seems nowadays, teens about to embark on the final chapter of high school prefer a new method of showing up… in trucks.
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Klaudia Carroll’s grand entrance to her high school formal recently blew up on TikTok, garnering over 2.7 million views and 316,000 likes.
Trucking runs in the Carroll blood, with her father Troy and her grandfather all being involved in the transport industry.
“Dad used to be involved in motocross, racing for and managing Kawasaki teams,” Klaudia says.
“But then he gave that up in 2017 so he could spend more time with the family, and that is when he started Carroll Group Aus.”
Enamoured by the large rigs and personalised signwriting, Klaudia says she became interested in trucks right away.
“I just thought they were super cool. We were always around them.”
“When I was younger and dad was just starting the business, he used to do a lot of local trips, Gold Coast to Toowoomba and back and similar runs.
“I used to go with him and it was always such a nice time. I got a little feel for what he does and how much he has put into the business for our family.”
Klaudia says she has always appreciated the work her father has done, and when it came to choosing her ride for the big day, there was no other choice.
“It was my idea,” she says.
“I told him that I wanted to do it to show my appreciation and respect for his company and how much that it has done for the family.
“I loved getting to show off one of his trucks and be like, my dad’s pretty cool. He’s done this all on his own.”
Troy now has a fleet boasting 12 trucks, with this particular Kenworth 610 SAR dedicated to his wife.
“It’s number 5 because that’s the number she had playing basketball, and it has quotes she says to the family all over it.”
Drawing together elements from each family member, Troy says it made the moment even more special.
“I was so honoured she even asked me to drive her in that truck,” he says.
“As soon as she told me, I immediately pulled it off the road and started polishing it up and got it looking all good for the event.”
Onlookers were awed as the family pulled up, young kids fascinated by the air horn and lights.
“It was pretty special,” Troy says. “It was really good to see that our industry still makes an impact on young kids coming through.”
Troy got quite emotional seeing his daughter in the truck, proud of the woman she had become.
“It was a very proud dad moment. Seeing one of your trucks roll in and your daughter jump out, it was very special,” he says.
“And it’s nice to see she’s still got a bit of country left in her,” he laughs.
Swapping her heels for new Ariat boots when it came time to dance, Klaudia says her formal experience was a dream.
“It was everything I wanted it to be.”
Since uploading the video, Klaudia says her dad and her have bonded over watching the reactions online.
“Dad will often pull it up and get super excited because the views or likes have gone up,” she laughs.
“We never would have expected that reaction online and it’s just added to the experience as a whole.”
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