The longest haul makes a dream come true
Seeing oversize, extra wide, and long loads is an everyday part of living in the Pilbara but there are not many people who can say they have been part of one of the longest ever loads to leave Port Hedland.
The dreams of one South Hedland truck enthusiastic came true earlier this month when the team organising the 105m, 560-tonne move gave him a ride from the Port Hedland Boulevard Shopping Centre to Redbank Bridge.
Since November, Cory Chapman has been waiting at the shops every time an ALE Heavy Lift night move was scheduled to take place.
His presence didn't go unnoticed with ALE Heavy Lift transport supervisor Dominic Perri taking the time out to have a chat about the moves while Mr Chapman scooted along the road taking photos.
Mr Chapman was waiting in his usual spot at 10pm on Monday, May 4, as the 30-axel trailer carrying the boom for the Roy Hill mine site, pulled by two trucks and pushed by another, approached.
Knowing there wasn't much time, he raced back to meet Mr Perri for a brief chat during which he mentioned it had been his birthday the day before.
Never in his wildest dreams had he thought what would happened next would be possible.
With the permission of ALE Heavy Lift convoy marshal Lee Gumley and all the other agencies involved, Mr Chapman was quickly kitted up in a high visibility vest and allowed to "walk the load" with Mr Perri.
"I walked the whole length with this thing over my head, and I was looking up thinking 'that's nearly 300 tonne over the top of my head' - it doesn't sink in," he said.
Permission was then given for Mr Chapman to sit beside the lead driver as the load made its slow journey to Redbank Bridge.
"Very safely we gave him the ride of his life," Mr Gumley said.
"The staff are very proud because they are all very specialised boys in what they do, they are very proud when the general public take an interest in our work and what we achieve."
Chatting to the Telegraph on Sunday, Mr Chapman still couldn't believe he'd been in the huge rig.
"I still can't work out how I go from being there to watch this load go out and take photos of it, to walking down the side of it, to then being asked if I'd like to go for a ride in the truck," he said.
"No words can explain (being in the truck), it was absolutely incredible."
His mother Sue Parker thanked everyone involved in the move for making her boy's dreams come true - noting that she still cries every time she talks about it.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that made my boy's dreams come true," she said.
The load took a week to make the 420km journey to the Roy Hill mine site.
