Meet Ally Sweeney - Canberra's  trailblazing tow truck driver - video Dailymotion

Have you see the TNA Towing pink truck around Canberra? Ally Sweeney explains why she loves being a tow truck driver in the national capital

Transcript

00:00I have a passion for cars, always have.

00:19I love every day is different in this job, but there's a lot of kind of problem solving,

00:25reacting to situations.

00:27You know what, the crux of all of it, people are usually when they're calling a tow truck

00:31in need of help.

00:33As a mom, as a female, I like to bring that kind of side to it where I understand that

00:38it's stressful, it's hard, it's a bit overwhelming, and I just try and bring that component of

00:44compassion and empathy and care really to a situation that's not ideal for anyone.

00:50You know, license or something.

00:52Okay, so the reaction to the pink truck is always, kids love it, they're always smiling

00:59and waving.

01:00I mean, you know, TNA was built on my personality.

01:03The name is a very good reflection of exactly who I am, full of laughter, bubbles, this,

01:08that, and the other.

01:09And the truck, you know, just reflects my personality even further, so I love seeing

01:12the kids smile, I love seeing people go, oh my gosh, look at that truck.

01:15It just, everyone knows me by my pink truck and I love that.

01:19Being a female is obviously a really interesting, you know, challenge in this role.

01:25A lot of the time, I took my partner out one day just to show him, you know, some really

01:29cute examples.

01:30A lot of the time I'll walk into a workshop and go, oh, here's the keys for that car or

01:34whatever, and I often get, oh, what did you run into?

01:37Because just being a female, they don't associate me with a tow truck, even though I'm wearing

01:41my uniform, that kind of thing.

01:43It's just, you know, it's a very big stereotype and it's one that I'm working really, really

01:47hard to break down.

01:49So my biggest piece of advice would be to people, if you're in an accident or you're

01:52in a situation where you do need a tow truck, make sure that the person picking you up is

01:56who you've organized through your insurance company or who the police have assigned or

02:00someone like that.

02:01You know, Sydney has a lot of people that just kind of rock up and take your car and,

02:07you know, you're not 100% sure of what happens to it.

02:09Canberra is very different in terms of, we all have our own unique, you know, contracts,

02:15businesses, you know, flows of work.

02:18So just make sure you trust and you know exactly who's picking up your car, so you know exactly

02:22where it's going.

02:28So T&A is the main business that I run.

02:31I also have a diesel delivery business, which runs diesel out to job sites, your homes,

02:36diesel heaters, anything that you've got that needs diesel, and I've got that.

02:39And we've also got something coming to Canberra that Canberra has never seen before in summer.

02:44So keep your eyes peeled.