Outback pub 'pay it forward' truckie campaign goes viral

The Oasis Exchange, between Hughenden and Charters Towers, relies on trade from truck divers travelling the Flinders Highway, often making long haul trips between Townsville and Perth.

Once the campaign kicked off on social media as a random act of kindness, people started calling the pub and paying for food, beer and snacks.

The docket, printed and pinned to a board, is there waiting for a driver - as a gift for their long journey.

Amidst flooded roads and cost of living pressures, the town of 17 people is feeling the pinch as much as anyone, but that didn't stop owners Priscilla and Col Meli from coming up with the novel idea.

"We rely on the highway so we do free hot showers 24/7 and that sort of stuff, but Col's always talking to them (truck drivers) over the bar and he hears their stories," Priscilla Meli said.

"There was one about a week ago where one truckie was helping another with his airbag.

'He said 'mate I'm doing it a bit hard I've got 200 bucks to go to Perth and back and I'm happy to give you a 100 for helping me out'. And the other truckie's like don't be stupid, it's fine."

From there Priscilla combined an idea she had seen in the US with her own personal spin. The pub kicked it off with three rump steaks going up on the board.

"We had some tourists come through and say 'what's this?'," Priscilla said. "I put up a post on Facebook to thank them and to say to drivers we've got this available for you if you need it.

"Within 24 hours - I think it's called going viral - it just took off. We had people from all over Australia contacting us.

"Some ex drivers, some from driving families. Some were just wanting to say hi and thank you."

Since then Priscilla said the stories have been flooding in. The drivers, often on $40 meal allowance per day, think it's fantastic.

"At the moment everyone's doing it hard. As a small business here that relies on the freeway (it's tough)," she said.

"With the weather we've been having and the road was closed a couple of weeks back for a full week, everybody is doing it hard but if we can make a little bit of difference somewhere and make a dent then that's good."