Family is at the heart of Michael Trimboli’s trucking story.
It’s what led him to his truck, his fleet and the Adelaide Convoy for Kids, where Deals on Wheels tracked him down.
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Before his father passed away six years ago, Michael had an idea in mind of what model he wanted his first truck to be.
Travelling all around Australia, eager to find the perfect first truck, Michael looked at Macks and Ivecos, but nothing felt right.
But one day, looking through Adelaide’s weekly newspaper, the Stock Journal, his father found the rig Michael had been searching for — a Kenworth 659.
“I’ve always wanted that model of truck, and he found it for me,” he says.
“It was for sale, so I grabbed the opportunity and bought it straight away.
“I feel like it was meant to be, it just fit the picture.”
The moss green Kenworth is easy on the eyes, with sparkling chrome and charcoal bull bar that complements the overall aesthetic of the truck.
This stunning rig is mesmerising due to its minimalistic design, featuring white sign writing and stainless steel hub caps and exhaust pipes, polished up to such a shine it could blind spectators.
Little did Michael know that this truck and its siblings would go on to win him the Best Presented Fleet award at Adelaide’s first Camp Quality Convoy for Kids.
Camp Quality’s event is a fun way for trucks to show their support and raise money for children fighting cancer.
Parading his gleaming Kenworth through the convoy, smiling kids waved up at him as truck horns blared.
Alongside him in the cab sat his mother, who is currently battling leukemia.
Sadly, she isn’t the only one in Michael’s family who has struggled with the disease.
“I have a cousin who is the same age as me, and she had leukemia a long time ago, when we were just kids,” he says.
“I used to go to the convoy with my uncles, which originally got me into it.
“I thought this time, I’m going to do it for my cousin as well.
“I’ve wanted to do it since I owned my first truck. I wasn’t going there for a trophy at all.”
Michael says he was blown away after winning Best Fleet at the convoy, as it was an honour he never expected.
After the event, strangers flooded Michael’s Facebook messages with compliments about his fleet. He says the secret to his win was lots and lots of polishing and cleaning.
“It has my name on the door,” he says. “When you think about it, it’s a driving business card.”
Trimboli Contracting began with a 24-year-old Michael and his green rig.
Twelve years on, his fleet has grown to seven rigs — all of them trusty Kenworths.
A couple of his trucks were bought brand new from Graham Thompson Motors in Shepparton, while the rest are second-hand. About six years ago, he got them repainted and freshened up.
As proven by the convoy judges’ selection, he likes to keep his trucks in good nick.
Living on a farm his whole life, where livestock and produce needed to be carted around, Michael was destined to fall in love with trucks.
Now he not only runs his own transport business, but works on the farm with his brother, while looking out for his mum.
Next year, Michael plans on bringing even more of his trucks to the Adelaide convoy, to fight against the disease that has affected his family in more ways than one.
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