Truckie proposes a daily $100 “danger money” allowance for truck drivers.
Truck drivers should receive a $100 allowance to account for the dangers they face on the road, a truck driver has told the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT).
Steven Corcoran has written to the tribunal requesting it to require employers to pay “danger money” to drivers on a weekly basis at a rate of $100 a day.
Corcoran says the allowance should be tax-free and applied to all heavy vehicle drivers required to comply with fatigue management regulations.
“While I personally worker under a Federal Award, I am remunerated for ‘working at night, working in the rain, working away from home’. Yet I am not remunerated for working in Australia’s most Dangerous Occupation,” Corcoran writes.
“This application goes directly to the heart of what the RSRT stands for, protecting those Truckies who die in such great numbers.”
The fatality rate in the trucking industry is 15 times the rate of all industries, according to Safe Work Australia. In a report it released late last year, Safe Work found there were more than 29 deaths per 100,000 workers in in the road freight sector in 2012.
Corcoran lodged his claim in response to the RSRT’s call for submissions on how truck drivers should be remunerated.
The tribunal is due to hold a hearing next month on the matter.
A recent submission urged the RSRT to mandate rates and an industry-wide cost calculator for independent contractors from May 1.
The submission also argued hirers should be required to add an extra 10 per cent to an independent contractor’s payment to provide them with a profit margin.
What do you think? Should truck drivers receive “danger money”? Will it help improve safety in the industry?
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