How much is truckies’ time valued within the industry?

Goodaye all, have you ever thought much about how others see ‘our’ time, do they value it or not? You probably have while sitting somewhere waiting in a queue or just waiting to load or unload. Then there is the next question most aligned with that – do others really understand or think about how trucks operate? For example, do they think about getting in and out of places which, of course, can lead to loss or the wasting of more time.

Sometime ago, loading out of a facility leased to a major storage company in Melbourne, I had just gotten in the out gate, as the in gate was chained shut (there was no real big sign, you only found out as you started swinging to get in, that you could not), when I asked “do you get many complaints about the size of the entry?”. In reply, I got told that, yes, drivers have complained, but the company was only renting the place, so they couldn’t do much.

In other words, it is not their problem, so just deal with it. Now, this particular entry was narrow enough for a semi, but due to both the cars parking on the street out front and the rise from the street to the level of the yard, as you swung past and then back to get the back trailer of a b-double in the narrow gate, you risked the trailers kissing or even hitting your trailers onto your chassis.

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So having tried the site users, I took down the name of the managing company and after a bit of a chase, emailed them asking if they were aware of the current problems and if any consultation had been done and what were they planning to do to fix it. I was told the site had been there for a few years, the fault with the closed in gate was not their problem as a truck from the current lease had hit it and they would be paying for repairs.

I then asked about the height from the road and explained the issue, again saying that if we could drive in straighter through a wider entry, the problem would not be as bad. I was told it was designed to spec and that they believed these issues had been considered. Even then, I was told it was far too late now to do anything about it.

The only saving grace in getting out of the place was that there was a driveway opposite, so you could use more of the road width to go out straight before turning. But do they understand b-doubles, do they care? No, they do not.

This leads me to the far from enjoyable attempt to deliver in Brisbane recently. Given a delivery address, I came down the street to see the number. As I saw it, the street alongside where I had just come from looked to have the entry. By now, trucks were queued up behind, so I went around the block. On the next street there was a gate, but it was signed for that street, so I didn’t think it could be the entry gate.

It was a fairly big block, so I used the roundabout and headed back to turn into the street with the gates, only to find it was a cul-de-sac with out gates only and a sign saying that I had to enter on the back street I had driven past. Following another U-turn in a B-double, I was back at the rear gate. By now I was a bit frustrated, as a boom gate with a speaker and a sign asked me to turn the truck off so they could hear.

I yelled back politely into the microphone that the truck was hot, I received no help and I wouldn’t turn the truck straight off. I couldn’t back up due to another truck being stuck behind me, and I couldn’t go forward due to the boom gate, so I cooled down for a minute, turned the truck off and found out I could go in. So why have the boom gate at all?

It got worse. With no direction map or list of the number of different companies operating within the site, I got directed down the end to be told the company had moved. I was getting rained on and made a call to the sending depot to get a new address. I had to go to the opposite gate, but was told it was at the next gate and that I couldn’t get out of the current exit gate.

So I then backed into the corner, screwed the wheels off the trailers to get out and into the next gate. Unfortunately, after all of this, I found out there were now two trucks in front of me. We were in a site with no room or awning under which to unload, so I was left waiting in line after a very frustrating ordeal.

I was ready to tear out the last of my hair.

Had the large billion-dollar multinational considered the hundreds of trucks that will arrive there for the first time over the next 10 years, a sign detailing where the entry was would help them all and would have saved me at least 20 minutes and then possibly another two hours, as I would have arrived in front of the other trucks. Do they care and can we get them to? I am still trying, but will they ever listen or learn? What do you think? Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.

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