Meet Trent Lee, the dairy farmer turned truck driver

As an adult he moved north to Beaudesert where he managed a dairy that milked 350 cows a day.

Mr Lee returned home to the Macleay Valley 12 years ago after meeting his now wife at Gladstone pub during a visit.

For six months Mr Lee drove the ten hours return trip every second weekend to see his new love. He then moved back to Kempsey Shire to Mooneba where he helped out on the family farm.

Before long he and his partner decided to get their own place. That's when Mr Lee changed careers to truck driving.

"The farm wasn't big enough to support a couple of families," said Mr Lee. "It was already supporting two families."

Dairy farming was no longer a viable option, but Mr Lee wanted to provide for his future family.

Already having a truck license prior to moving home meant taking the advice of a friend to join him truck driving was made easier; and so he took it and Mr Lee has been driving ever since.

Twelve years on, Mr Lee is happy with his choice.

"I have had a lot of fun, I've made a lot of good friends...[truck driving] has provided for my family," he said.

"It's given us everything we have."

Mr Lee has two sons; a fourteen-year-old and an eight-year-old.

His "youngest fella" has known the truck-driver-life since day one. "He was born on a Tuesday and I was gone the Wednesday," said Mr Lee.

Mr Lee works for the local family-run business O'Neil's. Most of the company's jobs are in Melbourne or Brisbane.

Mr Lee spends many hours on the open road.

"It's fourteen hours from here to Melbourne. And we do that in one go, with two half-an-hour breaks," said Mr Lee.

"We have BFM which is Basic Fatigue Management so it allows us to drive for an extra two hours a day."

In fact, he spends many days on the open road.

"I left home Sunday morning and I don't expect to be home until lunchtime at the earliest next Saturday...and then probably gone again Sunday night."

Mr Lee says that as long as everyone's happy, he will continue truck driving for the foreseeable future. He likes his line of work because of the people involved.

"I do like it, [because of] the good mates that I have made and there [are] some nice people out there," said Mr Lee.

"Some of the customers I meet I think 'that person there has to be the nicest person in Australia'...real polite, do anything for you, just go out of their way to help.

"You meet lots of characters."

Mr Lee says he enjoys working for O'Neil's because they are "good people" who are "very family orientated."

Mr Lee is Vice President of the North Coast Trucking Social Club which hosts the annual Kempsey Truck Show. The next show will be held on Saturday, September 23.

Mr Lee first participated in the Kempsey Truck Show in 2014 and has shown a truck every year since.

He says there is a lot of cleaning involved in preparation for the show and is expecting to spend the two days leading up to this year's event polishing his truck, inside and out.

Mr Lee says his wife and son love to be a part of the truck parade which kicks off the festivities of the day. His favourite part of the show - bringing happiness to the kids who love to blow the horn of his truck.

"If I see twenty kids wanting to blow the horn and I blow the horn twenty times, that makes my day," said Mr Lee.

"That's what it's about for me; it's for the kids. I'm not in it for recognition or trophies."

The North Coast Trucking Social Club is a non-profit organisation that raises money for local charities and community-focused organisations through their events.

The club was first created in 1972 with the objective to provide social interactions between "truckies", and its membership is now open to all.

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