A 28-year-old has revealed the surprising salary he earns while travelling the country, despite the industry he is in being branded a ticking time bomb.
A young Aussie worker has started a business that not only addresses a growing issue in one of the country's most relied upon industries but also sees him earning up to six figures a year in the process.
Elijah, 28, started his own fly-in, fly-out truck driving business, Auto Distania, two years ago.
He will fly to locations across the country, pick up trucks that need relocating and drive them thousands of kilometres to their destination.
Typically, when companies need to get their trucks back from certain locations, one of the main options is towing.
However, this is expensive, and Elijah's model offers a cheaper and faster alternative for these companies.
Elijah has started his own FIFO truck driving business. Picture: Supplied
Say there's a job up in Cairns. A truck needs to come from Cairns down to Sydney. I'm from Brisbane, so I'll fly up to Cairns, and Uber out to that truck and drive it along the coastline down to Sydney, he told news.com.au.
Then from Sydney, what I can do is I can either fly back home or fly out to wherever my other job will be next after that.
Australia is facing a critical shortage of truck drivers, with National Road Transport Association CEO, Warren Clark, branding it a ticking time bomb.
The 2024 Global Truck Driver Shortage Report released by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) found the ageing workforce is a key factor in the shortage, with the report finding Australia is one of the most affected countries.
Forty-seven per cent of drivers in the country in 2024 were 55 or older, with only 5.4 per cent being under 25. The report also projected that 21 per cent of Australian drivers are due to retire by 2029.
Last year, there were 28,000 unfilled truck driving positions in the country.
The projected retirement over 50,000 workers in 2029 would see the shortage grow to over 78,000 unfilled positions – move that would cripple the supply chain.
Elijah is one of the very few young people working in the industry, and he believes it would be beneficial to show a different kind of truck driving life in order to attract more workers.
He said it is a great way to travel and see different parts of the country while still earning money.
He noted there is often a stereotype that truck drivers are angry and jaded about other drivers on the road, which can give people in the industry a bad name.
But Elijah believes truck driving can offer great opportunities for young people, particularly for those wanting to see different parts of the country while earning money.
Having previously worked in sales, he first started driving trucks as more of a hobby, working with rental companies and doing a few jobs on the side.
The 28-year-old had always been interested in doing road trips to see Australia, and he figured this was a good way to do it.
After he got some experience, he started to build up contacts in the industry and eventually decided to set up his own business, and is earning between $80,000 and $100,000 a year.
According to SEEK, the average annual salary for truck driver jobs in Australia ranges from $75,000 to $90,000, so Elijah is already earning at the top end of this range by working for himself.
His expenses include things like fuel, flights, insurance, accommodation and food, but this is all factored into the quote that he provides the companies that reach out to him.
On top of his solid salary, the way Elijah's FIFO business works allows him a lot of flexibility.
As he is often on the road for weeks at a time, he likes to break up his drives by pulling over into different places to check out a particular view, go for a swim at the beach or have a picnic.
Because he works for himself, he is able to adjust the trip how he wants, while still getting the truck to the customer well within the required time frame.
He noted that FIFO work can be difficult at times, but you have to make sure you maintain balance.
It's easy to keep going from one extreme to another where you keep on flying and you keep on doing other jobs, but just make sure you go back home for a bit and base yourself, the 28-year-old said.
The young worker also incorporates the use of Loadshift into how he runs his business.
Loadshift is Australia's largest freight marketplace, which has more than 40,000 users and connects businesses with transport solutions.
When Elijah receives a job, he will often look at Loadshift beforehand to see if there is a truck near where he will be ending his journey that needs to be picked up and delivered to Queensland.
Doing this not only gets him a bit of extra money, but it also allows him to offer a discounted quote to clients because he doesn't have to book flights back home.
The whole process is seamless, with the driver saying he has used other similar services before but they haven't been as good.
Speaking to news.com.au, Loadshift Operations Manager, Alex Randall, said they have heard similar stories of drivers being able to gain greater freedom and flexibility within their work by using the Loadshift platform.
Loadshift Operations Manager, Alex Randall. Picture: Supplied
I think Elijah proves that truck driving is something that can be incredibly rewarding – it's a job where you can see so much of the country and meet such a wide variety of people, he said.
Businesses like Loadshift are also working to help ease the impact of truck driver shortages, with Mr Randall saying the platform is doing this in two key ways.
First, it is by maximising the efficiency of every truck that is already on the road.
Our platform connects businesses that need freight moved with operators who have available capacity – whether that's a truck making a return journey that would otherwise be empty or a carrier with spare capacity on an existing route, he said.
We're essentially making every truck work harder and smarter.
The company also improves access to freight services, allowing businesses that may have previously struggled to find a carrier to be matched with thousands of verified transport operators.
Every load moved efficiently through our platform is one less truck needed on the road, which helps ease the pressure the shortage creates, Mr Randall said.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/28yearold-aussie-reveals-what-it-is-like-being-a-fifo-truck-driver/news-story/18371a137d664ee2d3724a20cc0e49e5
