He took his grandson Sam on his final job through Wagga, Canberra and Goulburn then back into Albury at 5.30am.

As he peeled the last stickers from the driver’s- door, the for sale sign stood at the front of the truck.

But with the offloading of one vehicle, Baker said he is ready to explore Australia from another.

“I’m going to hook the caravan up and be a grey nomad,” he said.

“I’ll be on the road, but in a different way.

“Western Australia is the one part I haven’t seen yet that I want to visit.”

Mr Baker recalls the 70s as the best years for truckies.

He said they were the most exciting days, back when he was a grey ghost operator.

“Just the road and the comradeship we had in those days doesn’t exist any more, it’s dog eat dog there now.”

“One bloke would pull up and so would another to see if you’re all right.

“The old original 31 highway back in the 70s was the best, it was the hardest but it was the best, there wasn’t the volume of traffic that we’ve got today.”

With so many years on the road, Mr Baker said it came with its fair share of close calls.

“I had a big one (accident) out at Culcairn a few years ago when I blew a tyre and ran off into a heap of trees,” he said.

“Then you get blokes going to sleep, they would end up on your side of the road and you’ve either got to avoid them or hit them head on.”

“Fatigue is all about how you manage it yourself, my run, I come home every day but it’s a 12-hour night, so that day you’ve got to get a good sleep.”

Mr Baker often took his grandkids out on the road during school holidays.

His grandsons said they would miss the truck and the trips, but look forward to going fishing instead with their granddad.