“That name stuck over the years. Ever since I’ve been carting grain, they all reckon I’m grumpy. My wife started buying grumpy t-shirts. I even have a hat with Captain Grumpy written on it. When I go over the weighbridge at Grassdale, everyone knows me as Grumpy. I don’t care. That’s my name and I’m proud of it.”

Part of the Mort & Co Transport team, Doug started driving trucks for Farmhaul nine years ago, before it was rebranded under the Mort & Co banner. Yet living in the Clifton area for 60 years, he hasn’t always been behind the wheel of a truck. “In a younger life I worked in piggeries. I’ve also managed a potato farm. I was driving trucks before I was offered the role on the farm, thought I’d give it up for a while, but that didn’t last too long before I was back on the road.” “The farm owner was selling the farm and bought me a truck. After that, I did a few years with Woolworths carting their groceries out of Brisbane and then I started with Farmhaul as a road train driver running A-doubles. I’ve been here ever since.” But southeast Queensland is a far cry from the distances Doug has travelled, traversing Australia from farm gate to port, and meeting more people than many do in their lifetime. “I’ve done a lot of interstate truck driving and I’ve seen a lot of country. Melbourne and Adelaide, they’re not bad, Darwin too. Sydney, I dislike completely.”

With a name like Grumpy, and a resume that shifts gears in and out of the transport industry, you can’t help but wonder about the 500hp Kenworth, pulling Doug back to the driver’s seat. “It’s the lifestyle. Once you’ve got diesel in your blood, it just sticks.”