When Paul O‘Callaghan caught up with Dean Maffina and his son Jay, they had just pulled up after a day hauling grain around the Three Springs area of Western Australia. Dean was in the Cummins EGR powered Kenworth T658 he pilots for Lareema Transport based out of Bullsbrook on the northern outskirts of Perth. 

‘Deano‘ as he is known, has been driving for 32 years and follows in the footsteps of his father who was also a driver. Although he served his time as a Mack mechanic, Deano is a KW man and speaks affectionately of his 658 christened ‘Maverick‘, which he describes as being “sure-footed with a heart bigger than Phar Lap”. 

The ability to clear his head is the best bit about driving he reckoned, before adding that there were no bad bits…except when you are tired. 

For the vexing question, Deano was asked if he would he prefer to have a tooth pulled or his prostate checked? “It depends who checking it” came the unsurprisingly humorous response.