Mr McQuade, 26, is among hundreds of truck drivers who cross the border each day, keeping the COVID-19 testing station busy. He is sometimes forced to wait more than half an hour at the border crossing when there is a big line-up of trucks.
He is employed by Porthaul to freight woodchips from a plant near Mount Gambier, in South Australia, to the port of Portland, more than 100 kilometres away in Victoria, where they are shipped to Asia.
Fully loaded, his rig – bigger than a B-double – weighs 83 tonnes, and he completes two round trips each day.
Each of the drivers plying the busy route…