Just 1 freight train between Sydney and Brisbane can remove up to 150 single semi trailers “
I too have been the subject of intimidating truck behaviour such as tailgating on the Pacific Highway both day and night. The worst was a ‘mad man’ of a driver who tailgated me south of Woodburn to near Maclean at night. I was sandwiched between the truck and a slower driver in front and no reasonable opportunity to pass the car in front for some considerable time. In addition, in Nov 2007 I was recently forced to brake hard in an overtaking lane between Kiama and Gerringong when a B - Double fuel truck overtook me on the inside lane (uphill) and cut across my lane. Had I not taken evasive action I would have been either crushed under the truck and or possibly incinerated!
These a but a few examples of potentially lethal behaviour that truck drivers perform every day on the nations roads. No matter what systems are put into trucks they either are eventually manipulated or removed in due course. Note the 100 kph speed governors. Whatever happened to them?
The trucking industry is clearly out of control. Look at the delays inconvenience the 2 truck accidents caused on the F3 recently. I noted both truckies were wearing thongs - clearly a breach of road rules for any driver and a safety hazard. This is now common footwear amongst truckies. I bet they didn’t get a ticket for that though!
It is clearly time a complete reappraisal now commence for the long distance freight transport task in Australia - particularly in the eastern states, with a view to transferral of a significant proportion of freight from road to rail. This can occur in several ways but requires both state and federal governments to get real on this issue. There are far too many anomalies and safety issues to discuss here but rail is at a clear disadvantage in terms of competitiveness due to the lack of a level playing field when it comes to road safety and enforcement compared to the strict codes of safety etc enforced on the rail industry.Yet rail is more efficient, safer and by far more environmentally friendly. Just 1 standard freight train between Sydney and Brisbane can remove up to 150 single semi trailers and save the nations environment by about 50 tonnes of diesel as well as reduce the nations reliance of imported fuels
Now would be an appropriate time for Coast to Coast 100 and the Tweed Rail Society to work together collaboratively to push this issue onto the agenda of the states and federal transport ministers. If I can be of any further assistance in regard to this issue please don’t hesitate to call. In the meantime please checkout the website of the Tweed Rail Society. Go to www.tweedrail.org.au
Kind Regards, Phil Mackenzie
President, Tweed Rail Society Inc
February 24th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Phil Mackenzie is right. We need to get freight off roads and on to rail. The North Coast like most places in NSW has 19th Century track trying to cater for 21st Century transport needs.
Freight movements are going to double in the next 20 years. All of that increase has to go on to rail. The NSW government with the support of the federal govt has to start building new rail lines NOW. Not just on the North Coast but on the South Coast and to the West as well.
http://web.mac.com/corourke/
but we must be careful NOT to tar all truck drivers with the same brush. The vast majority of them I am sure are professionals who are just trying to do their jobs as best they can and are courteous and do not break speed limits. But you must wonder about the pressure put on them to beat deadlines.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:03 am
How much of the road freight travels the entire Pacific highway from Sydney to Brisbane? Most of the interstate drivers I have known use the New England Highway. Lindsay Brothers in Coffs Harbour and Jim Pearson in Port Macquarie are both very large companies who service the coast from Sydney to Brisbane bringing freight to and fromour region. Ask the people who live and work here if they will wait an extra day or two for their goods and food to come by rail and I guarantee the answer will be no. Surely the economies of scale and extra handling of smaller loads from regional rail depots will cost more. Once again, ask the people if they wear the cost.
I believe the bad truck drivers are far outnumbered by rude, inconsiderate, impatient drivers in cars on the highway. How many of these people cause the terrible truck accidents on our highway? Spend a bit of time in a car driven by a learner or P plater and you will know what I am talking about.
We need better driver attitudes all round. All the driving courses and training in the world won’t bring that about. That training begins when our kids are toddlers in child restraints, watching us double park at school when dropping up their siblings, they watch us swear at speed cameras and police, they watch us cut off people in passing lanes, they watch use speeding. Every time we take a risk on the road they are watching, and learning, OUR attitude. It’s up to us to change our attitudes, speed cameras and RTA regulations ultimately won’t make the roads safer, we can.
David
February 25th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
its fine to say we need to put more freight on rail but just a question where do those containers go to get from the rail yard to the place of delivery?You guessed it straight on the back of a truck.it may reduce the amount of trucks driving interstate but the amount of trucks in major cities will increase ten fold.Therefore in theory the idea is a good one dont me wrong, in practice i think you will find it would be alot more dangerous to have more trucks driving around dense residential areas.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Mr McKenzie I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some - for what I believe to be - misunderstandings you have about the trucking industry. Allow me to post your comment and follow it up with mine :-
“These a but a few examples of potentially lethal behaviour that truck drivers perform every day on the nations roads. No matter what systems are put into trucks they either are eventually manipulated or removed in due course. Note the 100 kph speed governors. Whatever happened to them?”
I, as a truck driver, DO NOT PERFORM potentially lethal behaviour, nor condone it by ANY ROAD USER be it car or truck. The implication also that we manipulate systems put in place on trucks or remove them is somewhat an insult. Further more I must ask you if it’s an unrealistic assumption that this behaviour is in EVERYONE, which includes you and I. It is displayed everytime we submit our tax to maxmise our return, this manipulation is also prevailing in your arguments is it not? An example of this is the emotive language that you have used in your letter to appeal to one’s emotions. These governors that you make reference to ARE NOT a speed limiters but merely a system which prevents the vehicle to ACCELERATE past a given point. The reason why you may see some trucks doing more than 105 km/h down hill is put simply the driver is too lazy to press on the brake pedal. Once again not an unrealistic assumption that it exists in EVERY DRIVER be it car, truck or motorcylcle. I might also add that it is an offence to tamper with such equipment. And as for on the flat ground and this minority that wish to purchase other equipment to fool the ECM. That too is an offence and with a little investigation around the back of the gearbox tampering can be visibly seen. Or a complete download of the ECM to determine what speeds the vehicle has been travelling at for anything up to but may not limited to the past 1000 hours.
“The trucking industry is clearly out of control. Look at the delays inconvenience the 2 truck accidents caused on the F3 recently. I noted both truckies were wearing thongs - clearly a breach of road rules for any driver and a safety hazard. This is now common footwear amongst truckies. I bet they didn’t get a ticket for that though!”
This first comment - in my opinion - is nothing but propagander. The thongs issue I haven’t noticed so far in the 413 pages of the Australian Road Rules, whereby it has an offence provision for the wearing of open footwear. If this were case then some women would not be able to lawfully be behind the wheel of any vehicle. And for your information Mr McKenzie I only wear steel capped boots whilst driving, for 2 reasons, 1 I feel better driving in enclosed footwear, and 2 I’m too tight to buy something else!!
You claim that it causes inconveniance when 2 trucks collide. Erm, isn’t it an inconveniance when ANY 2 vehicles collide? Or is the bottle necks due to the collision of 2 cars and the resulting rubber necking busy bodies an acceptable thing?
“It is clearly time a complete reappraisal now commence for the long distance freight transport task in Australia - particularly in the eastern states, with a view to transferral of a significant proportion of freight from road to rail. This can occur in several ways but requires both state and federal governments to get real on this issue. There are far too many anomalies and safety issues to discuss here but rail is at a clear disadvantage in terms of competitiveness due to the lack of a level playing field when it comes to road safety and enforcement compared to the strict codes of safety etc enforced on the rail industry.Yet rail is more efficient, safer and by far more environmentally friendly. Just 1 standard freight train between Sydney and Brisbane can remove up to 150 single semi trailers and save the nations environment by about 50 tonnes of diesel as well as reduce the nations reliance of imported fuels”
While rail may or may not be better for the environment - I can’t really say I’m not a climatologist - Mr McKenzie your claim that rail is more efficient is somewhat clouded - in my opinion - by propagander. I get paid to drive my truck to the customer and pick up the goods. There is 2 people involved with getting the goods on the truck, me, and the forklift driver. We can disregard the pen pushers as they are required for both modes of transport. I then drive to the receiving customer. Once again 2 people is all it takes, and 1 movement of the freight. If there is freight missing then there can be only 2 people responsible - providing the exterior walls of the trailer/s have not been breached. Once again we can disregard this point as theft from the carriage/trailer exists in both modes when sitting idle.
When we look at rail, we have that same truck driver, aka me, then the container packing yard, whereby it takes 1 person to unload me again, but now it takes 1 person to sort it, 1 person to pack the frieght onto the rail car or container. If in the instance of a container 1 more forklift driver to load the container onto the rail car. It is then hooked up in line with the rest of the cars going to the destination, or does it? This is where rail is SEVERELY more INEFFICIENT than trucking it. That rail car may be destined for Perth and end up in Sydney. Me in my truck have made it to Perth, anything up to 1 week before the rail car/container has reached it’s destination. And why is this? I don’t get out of my truck and another driver take it. I load it and take it there personally. And when the rail car/container DOES reach it’s destination it’s then dropped at the unloading area, sorted to be despatched to a delivery area, then loaded onto a truck, and THEN delivered to the receiving customer. So tell me this Mr McKenzie how exactly is rail more efficient? By putting freight on rail there WILL be rises in freight charges, and eventually as it runs down the line it gets into the inflation figures.
Your claim that rail has very stringent codes and regulations are no different to the transport industry. Securing the load into a box car however or freight container is like chalk Vs cheese. In fact for 22 pallets of wine there is LESS load restraints when transported in a rail car/container than on the back of my truck. There are also fatigue controls in place, as there would be for the rail.
So you see Mr McKenzie road Vs rail when it comes to regulation aren’t that different. When it comes to effeiciency Road Vs Rail are miles apart. But having said this I must also acknowledge the driver shortage, so the difference in the freight task that can’t be transported by truck COULD not SHOULD be considered.
Mr McKenzie I would also like to read your input on the withdrawl of services by Pacific National in Victoria. They have withdrawn their rolling stock, and bulk cars. Couldn’t we be forgiven for making the assumption that rail operators are in fact acknowledging the efficiency of the trucking industry?
I look forward to your reply.
Chris Cartwright
National Finalist Young Australian Truck Driver Competition 2007
March 11th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
when ever there is an naccident on the f3 it causes dramas be it car or truck. i doubt that these accidents were caused by these drivers wearing thongs. i dont think i need to say anything more
March 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Too true Marty
April 8th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
& what is this fixation with rail??? That kind of thinking is so 20th century!
Has anyone & I mean anyone (including Chris, Westy, Scooter, even Lyndal) ever considered lifting the 10pm curfew at Sydney Airport to allow freieght to be airlifted 24/7 into Mascot?
Arrrggghhhhh, good lord no!!!!
That would effect the residents of Sydney & no politician would ever, ever, ever allow that (do you actually know how many ‘beautiful’ people live under the flight paths of Sydney? … heaps!!!).
Shame though, it would take a lot of overnight freight instantly off the roads.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
John….it too would also make overnight freight to same day freight…imagine that??
June 19th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Mr Mackenzie,
Sir, all I need to read is the following;
” In addition, in Nov 2007 I was recently forced to brake hard in an overtaking lane between Kiama and Gerringong when a B - Double fuel truck overtook me on the inside lane (uphill) and cut across my lane”
This shows up your obvious shortcomings when it comes to driving vehicles at speed. It requires alot of forethought, especially when you are driving a heavy vehicle. WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN AN OVERTAKING LANE, IF YOU WERE NOT OVERTAKING?? According to you, a B-double had enough time to pass you, on the inside goin UPHILL! How slow were you going?!? Ever heard of the RULE, KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING? This RULE is NOT subject to YOUR discretion. You should be referred to the authorities for negligent driving.It would seem that overtaking, or travelling at a constant 100kph are beyond your capabilities, perhaps you should stick to taking the train.
Matt Pitcher