Lyndal Denny

In her own words

Twelve years ago, if you’d told me my future involved driving heavy vehicles, I’d want to know what sort of drugs you were taking. Whilst career paths are rarely a straight line, trucking was a deviation I’d never considered, so I’m often referred to as ‘the accidental truckie.’

The seeds to my journey into big rig driving were planted in 2007 when I was tailgated by an aggressive heavy vehicle driver on a remote section of the Pacific Highway in northern NSW. This was the third time in 12 months. I felt incensed and fed up with the culture of lawlessness that had built up on the highway, so I wrote a letter to the editor of a local paper detailing my three life-threatening encounters and expressing my fears for the safety of road users on a stretch of highway known locally as “the killing fields.” Many subsequent “Letters to the Editor” uncovered a multitude of nightmarish encounters with these massive vehicles. Encounters that included cars being forced off the road, extreme tailgating incidents, devastating 4:00am Police knocks and physical assaults.

After increased media and community scrutiny, I established ‘Report a Truckie’, a grassroots road safety initiative. This was established with full support from the road transport sector, professional truckies, police, local communities, unions and the media. This new approach not only warned offending truckies travelling this stretch of the highway that they were on notice, but offered road users an online option to report aggressive truck driver behaviour. Dangerous drivers were then identified and removed, as reports were forwarded to trucking companies and the police.

Late in 2010, I left my comfortable, predictable indoor life and Christian workplace to take up the challenges of heavy vehicle driving. I wanted to determine the reasons behind this persistent aggressive behaviour and I decided to plot a career deviation.

Three years later I had moved up through all the licence classes; heavy rigid to heavy combination (semi-trailer) to multi-combination (roadtrain) and was ready to commence my new career.

Developing new pathways

As a new driver, I found that every single employer I approached seem to parrot back the same mantra; come back when you have three years experience. Many others experienced the same thing, despite critical driver shortages in the industry and individuals like myself offering a solid employment background, excellent driving history, no drinking history, no criminal record while being flexible and willing to work for long hours.

I was forced to look further afield by an industry focussed on poaching drivers rather than developing a grow-your-own culture. So I relocated 5,000 kilometres west and quickly found myself sucked into a vortex of long hours behind the wheel, while working in an environment that engulfed me in diesel, dust and sweat in the outback. I felt like another cog in the mining boom of our nation. 

Twelve years on, I've observed a significant decrease in aggressive truck driver behaviour and the emergence of a new breed of professional Aussie drivers. This shift is largely due to an industry collaboration on driver mental health and wellbeing, focused regulation, more realistic delivery schedules, advanced monitoring technology and better driver training.

Disappointingly, female driver numbers remain persistently low as women overwhelmingly continue to experience the longstanding barriers and challenges previous generations have faced.

My vision is to collaborate with stakeholders to facilitate workplaces that transcend gender bias and tokenism, workplaces where female truck drivers are the norm, not the exception.

Celebrating and supporting women drivers

As a leader, it is important to me to ensure driver training resources and employment opportunities are equally available to women. It is also important to me to continue educating the sector on developing workplace cultures that welcome female drivers and empower them to thrive.

I am also passionate about motivating and inspiring women to consider trucking as a viable career choice. This vital work is possible thanks to the support of WiTA’s dedicated and highly engaged Board of Directors. We have an amazing team of men and women who all hold heavy vehicle licenses and, despite working full-time, continue to volunteer countless hours to the organisation.

Some highlights of my career include developing the framework for WiTA’s "Foot in the Door" pilot program which is funded by the Commonwealth government and administered by NHVR.

This program specifically recognises female primary caregiver status and upskills, recruits, and mentors women into heavy vehicle driver careers in their local communities.

At the QUBE Adelaide depot where I work, we have 40% women drivers. Achievable with the on-going support of senior management, we are proud to have a workplace that represents a 2,000% increase on the national average for female participation.

A passionate heavy vehicle road safety advocate, I researched and developed six 30 second world-first, award-winning TV advertisements which ran during two NHVR administered road safety campaigns.  fronted by female drivers. These confronting advertisements continue to air in 2025. 

Now I help by telling the stories of our drivers and celebrating their achievements through WiTA’s Facebook page which builds and maintains support of female driver networks. I’m also absolutely delighted that WiTA’s 2025 National Female Truckie’s Day and TOOTS Award celebrations continue each year. They attract large numbers of the nation’s female drivers who converge on the Darwin Convention Centre to network and celebrate on a platform of diversity, collaboration, resilience, fun, passion and teamwork.