NEWS AND INFORMATION

Hi Dave N.  Great reply!  Smoky  …..  I have a better idea!  Bring up the rate for frieght, “Not speed” , suport TWU in their fight for better ,safer respectable work conditions that will cover the cost to suvive for both the ownerdriver and companies within the transport industry.  I know 1st hand that things are starting to happen and yeh there are a few hick ups at present with gov dept in some rushed solutions to date ie new log book , workcover with OHS, self defence procedures etc . I hope its all for the best!

Carl  …..  I drive a car and a coach.  Sorry I don’t tow a carravan - just a pop top when taking my wife and 3 little girls on holiday. “big deal” SO what do you mean about this game??  I thought this site is about communicating between all drivers. 

I personally find, not sitting up the ass of the vehicle in front leaves the driver to concentrate and do the speed that they’re comfortable with SO get up RTA for more dual pass lanes.. DONT BAG OUT THE OTHER DRIVER. This word (family) what can we do to preserve that living word?
I mean (mine,yours tanya’s westy’s others even Chris’s new baby girl!

Carl stop being a such a hypocrite and DO a little to preserve this word (family)…
Just dropping in to say hi to every one.  Keep safe
Ian B (The favourite coach driver)

do ya remember him (Chris N,F,Y 2007) ha” ha”

Good morning all. I am both a truck driver and motorhome traveller. Ones imagination runs wild with that combination because once one steps out of a truck one is no longer considered a part of the fraternity. Mentality verses logic.  There are 3 issues I would like to raise.

1. In late 2006 I attempted to report to the police (NSW) a very, very dangerous trucking fraternity racket.  My life had been seriously compromised. The issues were massive. The Police seemingly - did nothing. We, the decent older wiser drivers would like nothing more than to see the idiots outlawed because of the stats and the carnage. How can it be safe when resting in a RTA station almost cost a life!   So, with the information I have,  one would then start to believe that the Police in NSW also need to be re-educated about matters reported.

2.  As I mentioned, once down out of the truck and into the motorhome I am simply another pest on the road for the cowboys in the trucking fraternity. The other day I heard something so stupid yet funny, but dangerous. A group of truck drivers travelling north, mid north coast NSW. The front driver has come up behind a motorhome which he claimed was going fast on the double lanes and slow on the single. This can be a bit of a problem. The truck driver jumps on the uhf to gather support from other truck drivers. The motorhome is sporting a UHF number on his rear end, so a conversation is sparked by the truck drivers about ‘how good the motorhome people thought they were’, ‘making out they are truckies’ calls one. Another then said, “yeah calling us up to help us go around them, like they are big truckies”!  The latter statement needs a re-read to believe it!  We are dealing with idiots here.

The front runner, now with support, decides to get aggressive with the motorhome owner, getting in closer to his rear end.  To myself I said ‘wait for it’!   Next I could hear over the UHF the front driver quickly backing off as the motorhomer slowed down even more.  More screaming and swearing from the front driver, calling the motorhome driver nasty names. 

Moral to the story - all these truck drivers knew the motorhome owner had a UHF. Whilst the motorhomers preferred channel may have been - say 25 - does not imply that he/she remained on that channel. So whilst these cowards were verbally tongue lashing the driver of the motorhome and riding his/her rear end, the motorhomer was listening to it on the UHF.   All to soon the motorhome slowed even further, placing the truck drivers under more pressure.   Absolute stupidity from both fraternities.  It is a common occurrence. Deliberate retaliation and intolerance on our roads coming from various angles.

3. The trucking fraternity is at boiling point - pushed to the maximum by ruthless clients who are demanding quicker freight but refuse to pay good dollars to suit their high demands. The $’s paid to many drivers has not risen since the early 80’s.  Government demands which go on and on. High fuel costs, road taxes, worse restrictions on log books.  All of this is not only penalising the cowboys within the fraternity but the decent drivers especially the small independent guys.   Many years ago when the Constitutional laws were adhered to by the Government and the clients made less demands without so many ruthless rogues in charge, the trucking fraternity was great.

Ask a mature truck driver, he or she will tell you themselves, they miss the old style of driving which was courteous and helpful to all road users. They did not drive to demands, they drove for the love of it. The drivers supported each other in a greater manner and extended that courteously to other road users. (I was saved from certain death, an Ivan Mallatt story), by a Brambles car freight driver in the early 80’s who went out of his way to turn his rig around and pelt back to make sure I was ok.  These days, and sadly, not one of them would stop to help.

So when we look for solutions we must start from the ground and work up.  Wasn’t it Howard who made the statement, after the Dubbo trucking affair, that he would be sending a clear message to the large conglomerates (like Coles, Safeway, Woolworths etc) to back down from squeezing the heck out of the trucking fraternity.  So what happened?  Another lie?  So who do we target? Maybe targeting the large conglomeriates with the road carnage stats would be a start. Issuing them with the entire story behind a trucking accident, especially the ones involving kids which always drops me to my knees. Then sending a copy to the Government until they are sick of it and do something about it. Taking legal action against the government for a breach of the constitutional laws is a possibility.

Removing licences from cowboys is the only way to rid the rot. Slapping them by expulsion from one trucking company only sends them to another. Take a look at the positions vacant ads! The next generation entering the trucking fraternity, should include more women. (The oldest and most respected woman/driver was in her 90’s and drove in the NT)  As the licence fees are extremly high now a sponsorship scheme should be made available. The education/training programs should include - staying safe and staying clean programs. 

I think your site is great and I am sure you are doing a wonderful job, well done.  I for one am sick and tired of the bitching and griping from all angles and long to see a far reaching and suitable outcome.  Thanks for taking time to read this.

Becki

Good on you lass for having a go.  We professional drivers have had enough and are now starting to question other drivers.  This is a great forum and if it educates and saves one life it is worth it and good on you Chris for having a go.  Mate the events of the past week have left me shattered.  Broadwater should not have happened.  No cars were involved just 3 trucks and 2 dead.  Enough is enough blokes back off and slow down.  You are the ones holding the wheel, not the Police or RTA or government stop making excuses and accept that you control your destiny.  Stay safe
David
Started in the transport industry in 1979.  No fatalities, has not up-ended one or hurt any person with a heavy vehicle.

To all at CTC 100  …..  with this proposed stoppage or blockade - as some are indicating  -I feel if it disrupts or disadvantages the public to a great extent then you will have the general public off side.

This action would be a very personal issue for heavy vehicle owners/drivers and theirs alone to decide either way.

The real question that I put to all truckies out there, irrespective of his or her desired actions for or against, is “what can the general public do to help in this regard?”

Why I ask this is that fuel, i ncreased costs and other burdens upon the freight haulage eventually means higher living costs to everyone so there is a flow on effect straight down the line.

So come on people,  don’t disavantage the general public or face ruin yourself but put your case forward to the general public and ask for their assistance and support.  You might be surprised at the level of support that you would receive from them.

Don’t fight this on your own even it if is very fragmentized amongst the different organisations of freight haulage.  I for one would be very happy to help in any way possible.

So I’m asking “what can I do to help you?”

Dave

Lyndal, have you ever been in a truck and had a car slam its breaks on?   I tell you know it’s not a nice thing.  It’s even worse in the rain and fog especially when you can only see a few meters in front of you.

My other half is a truck driver and he has taught me so much about trucks. I used to go with him everywhere between Adelaide and Brisbane.  He drives B doubles and road trains. He is only in his thirties; he has taken one of the most wonderful gifts of all in the truck with him. His four year old son who is truck mad. His son has forgotten more about trucks then you could ever know.

You talk about how truck drivers sit right on the back boot of car drivers but what you don’t talk about is the games car drivers play. I have been in the truck when car drivers do about 70-90kms in 110kms zones. Until it comes to double lanes then they speed up, you hit the single lanes, and what do you know they slow right down again. So yes when it comes to the hill’s some truck drivers will take advantage of the hills and let the trucks go a little quick going down. Even my partner has done it in the past.

Why do car drivers do this?

Is it their way of trying to get back at truck drivers for going a little quick at times or is it that car drivers are just as bad as some truck drivers called cow boys. There are some, even I know that. But you go to your local supermarket and watch the car drivers act like the car park is a speed way. I get very nervous walking through a car park with my partners two small boys because I’m worried one day a car driver will be going that quick and hit one of them. Yet this issue you don’t hear about all over the news and shows like today tonight. If the police sat in a car park they would get 98% of drivers speeding, yet no one is screaming about it like you are over truck drivers and the speed they do.

99% of trucks are speed limited on 100kms. So in case you don’t understand it means that they can not go over 100kms.  Roadmasters trucks are speed limited, my partner has driven for them, so that car must have been going slow for him to sit so close. Now he’s out of a job, which affects his whole family.  Give truck drivers a little slack.

Remember with out trucks Australia stops.  Thank you for your time. I do hope that you will let my opinion be heard, it would not be very fair if you didn’t

Tanya

Lyndal  …..  I am aware that few outside the transport industry may know about a forthcoming National Transport Shutdown that is scheduled to begin next week, 28th July and so I write to give notice to the readers of Coast to Coast 100.

As opposed to the ‘Truck Blockades’ in 1979, where all major roads were blocked by protesting truck drivers this action by the industry is a shutdown whereby roads will not be blocked however, all truck drivers, owner drivers and salaried drivers have been called on to just refuse to carry freight.

I am not posting this information to promote this shutdown, but to at least inform those that I can of what is planned.  The information I have at this stage is that there is widespread support for this action from several sources including Large Fleet Companies, the Maritime Workers, local trucks and tippers, the Trawler Fishing Industry and even Farmers may be joining.

I believe Toll and Linfox drivers and sub contractors have been told that they can join in if they wish under certain conditions, which leads me to the point of this letter.  As these companies control the huge majority of deliveries of all supermarket products, including food, both fresh and preserved, coupled with the supermarkets system of minimum storage, groceries could become scarce in days.

While there is no need for panic buying, I do suggest that this week would be a good time to stock up on essentials.  We all know that talk is cheap but arrangements have been made

Australia wide and talk on the highway is that this may well be the last chance for the Transport Workers to get changes made and they are serious about it. Their very livelihoods as well as the lives of road users are at stake.

Tanker drivers have agreed not to cross picket lines however, petrol deliveries will not be interrupted even though there will be no diesel deliveries.  The shutdown has been timetabled for two weeks but organizers believe the government will be forced to the table before then. Even so, I believe it could be most of the week.

Anybody interested in understanding more of the issues may well be more informed by watching the 7:30 Report on the ABC, either Monday or Tuesday night, but, that aside, let me say that there are many issues needing addressing.  If anymore information becomes available I will keep Lyndal informed.

Cheers Westy

Thanks for providing us with this information Westy, for giving readers forewarning of what I understand could well evolve into a major economic shutdown across the country.  Having spoken to many drivers myself, it would appear that support is strong.  The prospect of financial ruin – as is the case for many owner drivers and company owners – is very real due to the ever increasing costs of fuel.  From a road safety point of view, there is a very real danger that heavy vehicle maintenance may be being overlooked as truck owners pour their dollars into fuel tanks to keep their trucks (and livelihoods) on the road.

Given the difficulties truck driver have in getting together as a unified group due to the fact that they are on the road most of the time, I know it is difficult for them to have their collective voice heard by governments and the population in general.

This “shutdown” will graphically illustrate the work carried out by the transport sector once consumers are unable to purchase the goods that miraculously appear in stores across the country.

I am aware also of the concerns within the industry of new fatigue legislation to be introduced in most states over the coming months.  I understand that one of the unintended consequences of this new legislation will be to force more heavy vehicles onto the roads in daylight hours – a situation that has the potential to see an increase in the freight related road toll.

Westy, I have indicated that we at COASTTOCOAST100 understand the reasons for this planned stoppage.  I just hope that those that need to heed the message do so quickly and that the collateral damage to the image of the industry is not too great. 

Excellent interview on the 7.30 Report Tuesday night Westy.  I hope all our readers got to see you in the flesh!

Kind regards Lyndal

GerDay Lyndal  …..  this may very well become a Coast To Coast 100 first!    Let me recount a truthful tale and share with your readers a thing or two. 
                       
I read in this web site, watched in the meejah (you know those pillars of righteousness who have done a bang up job of pillorying the road transport industry, time and again for many years now) and been berated in person with regard to the “cowboys out there in their juggernauts” who, with no regard to the sensitivities of “poor, innocent motorists” create a real life “Fear Factor” on our roads on a daily basis.
 
Fine.

Let me give you one in return, only this one has INDEPENDENT WITNESSES and is FACT written by someone with nearing 30 years experience on our roads with an AVERAGE distance covered in each and every one those years of probably between 200,000 and 220,000Kms.  Me!  You got it right.  Average of about 200,000Kms a year.  For ease of mathematical choice (and since truckies like me are supposed to be dumb) let us say that is 30  X  200,000.  Get out calculator (because I haven’t that many fingers and toes) and it would appear that I have somewhere in the order of 6,000,000Kms experience in heavy vehicles, professionally.

Dayum!  Just a learner!!!!
 
 Now  …..  they say that it is about 384,400Kms from the Earth to the Moon (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Moon).  Thus, it would appear that I have driven the equivalent of from the Earth to the Moon 15.60 times - all of which is virtually WITHOUT incident.  One would have to assume that I am neither prone to placing myself, my truck or the public in danger, nor going off “half cocked”.
 
Introduce a nice clean, WHITE Toyota “people mover” (Tarago, perhaps ????? although I am not good at what modern cars are called, aside from reading the emblem etc), registration number  FJM-223. 

The driver was so dedicated to the task of overtaking my Quad Dog that it didn’t matter that the dotted (broken) centre line HAD ALREADY RUN OUT and had become UNBROKEN DOUBLE LINES.  She just kept trying to carry on regardless.  Unfortunately for EVERYONE concerned, she was only half way up my trailer (at about the 4 metres mark from the back - my guess-timate) and my truck is a mere 19 metres long.  In other words, she had still about 15 metres to go before she would be clear of the front of my truck and be able to “get back in line”.
 
But worse is yet to come! Where the centre line became UNBROKEN in the southbound lane (the direction we were heading) there was an overtaking lane or 3 laner for Northbounds.  In those Northbound lanes were one motorist beetling along being overtaken by 2 others - something they were perfectly entitled to do.  So now we were 4 wide but only 3 lanes with the place where at least 3 would occupy the EXACT same space at the exact same time rapidly approaching (like within a hundred metres or so) and all doing about 100Kmh. 

Beauty!
 
So what do you reckon our rocket scientist in the Tarago did?  You guessed it!  She TRIED to continue overtaking even though a head on collision was guaranteed.  Not wanting to be involved in a catastrophic meeting I went for the brakes - hard but not so hard as to lock up.  Now this genius decides she just isn’t going to make it and SHE hits the brakes so that as I am slowing down, she, too, is slowing down!
 
At that point, I had no option then but to “head bush” and run along the edge of the table drain, doing probably in the order of 90 Kmh, still.  When I say head bush, I mean I actually left the carriageway completely. Now, with a truck and dog combination, running along the edge of a table drain isn’t too salubrious.  Next option was to roll myself over to protect all the innocents, probably killing myself in the process.
 
Fortunately, the cars heading North were on the ball and they, too headed off the road.  Old mate in the mini double (19 metre B-Double) behind me was ALSO under emergency braking and doubtless would have collected the lot of us would there have been a coming together, even though he was originally adequately separated from me until our Tarago Terrorist decided to overtake HIM, in the first place, then carry on trying to bag me up.
 
You see, I neglected to tell you that this maniac (in my opinion) had tried to overtake 2 WELL SPACED trucks with oncoming traffic in a vehicle with the acceleration characteristics on a camel on mandrax.
 
Much ringing of Police stations ensued but naturally they were too busy checking logbooks and licences of trucks doing the right thing  or similar to catch someone dedicated to killing herself and all around her.
 
Oh!  How do I know it is a her you may ask?  Simple, really.  About 10 Kms further the road comes to a T intersection at traffic lights in Dubbo, where I lined up to turn right.  SHE lined up next to me to turn left and head towards Dunedoo.  In this people mover was the blonde driver, a female that I would estimate to be in her late thirties or early forties.  In the passenger seat was a male but I didn’t get much of a look at him.  In the back, both rows appeared to be fully occupied with early teenagers, thus totalling a minimum of 6 occupants, 4 of whom were kids.
 
Do you think they were contrite or concerned?  Nope!  They were pointing up at me and laughing.  I have to say that I fail to see the humour of the situation.  Let us extrapolate a little from this incident.  Without any sense of bragging, the truth of the matter is that I am a highly trained, highly experienced operator. Fortunately for all concerned, I am.  Further, it is equally fortunate that the cars coming the other way were switched on.
 
If we would have all had a coming together, the meeejah would have presented it as something like this:-
 
“Today at Dubbo, 6 people were killed in a 3 car 2 truck pile up.  The accident occurred when a car and a truck collided, then the following B-Double ploughed into the wreckage.  Both truck drivers escaped without injury”.  NO mention would have been made of the absolute dead set lunacy of the Tarago Terrorist.
 
If I would have simply rolled over in order to save their lives it would have been reported thus:-
 
“Today a truck driver was killed when his B-Double rolled over in a single vehicle accident new Dubbo”.  The fact I am driving a quad dog doesn’t sound as dramatic as a B-Double, so B-Double it would be.  The fact that I would have given my life to save others completely ignored and our Tarago Terrorist would not have even had a mention.
 
Given the circumstances, and given that I have OFFICIALLY reported this incident to the Police (I have an event number), given that I have at least one COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT witness, I think this vehicle should be added to the site as a “Report A Motorist”.
 
I do NOT abrogate the responsibility those who tailgate, but in the overall scheme of things, they frighten people.  This woman was dead set hell bent on killing herself, all occupants in her car, probably the on-coming motorists and me as well.  Were it NOT for the professionalism of myself and the B-Double behind me, as well as the quick thinking of the on-coming motorists, she would have achieved her aim.  Thank God OUR aim was better!
 
It would be hard to argue a case against her inclusion in the “shame file” area of this site, given she didn’t just frighten people, she came within a whisker of killing up to a dozen people in one hit.  Good one, Tarago Terrorist.
 
Kindest Regards Indy

Hi all  …..  I am new to this site, however a few of you probably know my wife Rhonda who is becoming somewhat of a regular on this site from what I can gather.

I am all in favour of a lot of laws and regulations being changed so long as it is across the board for ALL road users and not just another encyclopedia for tuckies only. I drive road trains here in the west and the legislation that now governs this particular area of the transport industry over here is somewhat of a joke, as is the body that comes up with these laws,( the dept of planning and infrastructure.)

The latest little gem from these people has cost companies alot of money for nothing. A few months ago they decided that the A Frame for dolleys had to be made longer, so companies abided and started changing them at a great cost, only to be told that they had changed their minds and no longer required that.Just another example of law makers not really in touch with the industry they are governing.

We are required to do a comprehensive vehicle check before turning the key and keep strict hours of driving records, both of which I have no objections to if it makes things safer out there on the road, however a car driver can stumble out of bed after a hard night , climb straight into their vehicle, and drive off down the road for as long as they like without any checks, and get away with it so long as they aren’t stopped by the police.

A recent trip to the goldfields last friday night saw me drop to 65km/h following a car that was wandering over to the wrong side, only had one tail light and was clearly fatiqued or drunk. So the question is why aren’t all road users required to adhere to the same laws and regulations as we are as truck drivers. Over here we have both the police and transport inspectors regularly checking records, vehicles and weights, while unroadworthy cars drive around at will.

How about a bit of across the board uniformity for all road users
Cheers Neil