Thomas Hanson
Thomas John Allan Hanson, known as Tom, was born in Smithton in January 1954, the second eldest child of Patrick and Rita Hanson. He and his five siblings grew up in Leesville, a small sawmilling community just northwest of Smithton, Tasmania. It was there, surrounded by timber trucks and diligent families, that Tom’s lifelong connection to the transport industry would begin.
He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, known as Grandfather Smith, a log truck driver in Victoria who carted logs out of Tanjil Bren to sawmills in Moe. Tom admired his grandfather, and when the opportunity presented itself to drive trucks, he did not hesitate.
In 1972, at the age of eighteen, Tom began his transport career with V R Bonnie, driving a 190 International crane truck, lifting, and hauling old bridge decking for the Department of Main Roads. He then transitioned into log carting, driving a 190 International to cart logs from the Holder bush to the Wilshire log yard and Chatlee sawmill. Tom stayed with V R Bonnie for approximately six years.
Tom then joined Arnie House Logging, driving a Fuso log truck from Dip Bush and Mawbanna to Smithton and Wynyard. From there, he moved into milk tankers, carting milk for Dudley Donohue, before going back to log trucks, driving for Des Walsh from Smithton to Wynyard over a four-to-five-year period. Following this Tom went onto F.J. Parsons & Sons, carting freight statewide.
Tom’s resume reads like a roll call of Tasmanian transport: FJ Parsons & Sons, Des Walsh, Dudley Donohue, AW & MA House, N & A Smith, Perrotti Brothers, and currently Barker Gravel & Excavation, where he has proudly driven for over 25 years.
Tom has hauled everything from logs, milk, unfilled coke cans, Harley Davidsons, Telstra components, sawn timber to top shelf alcohol, often under security escort. These were not just freight runs; they were lifelines that kept Tasmania supplied and connected.
Tom has driven an incredible variety of trucks including Internationals, Freightliners, Western Stars, MANs, Mercedes-Benz, Kenworths, and his all-time favourite, a powerful and comfortable Scania for Alan House. His longest stint was seven years in a Kenworth SAR 408.
Tom’s career has included tense moments such as tyre blowouts, narrow misses, and mechanical failures. Yet he has also shown courage, when rescuing a woman and her children from a rolled and submerged vehicle, cutting a child free from a seatbelt submerged in a creek.
For over 53 years and counting, quietly and humbly Tom has sat behind the wheel, contributing to Tasmania’s communities through mentoring, participation in local events and keeping freight, goods and the state moving. Tom estimates to have clocked approx. 4.5 million kms, averaging 85,000 kms a year. His life has been spent in motion, grounded in humility and driven by heart, The road may keep going and so does Tom, kilometre after kilometre.
