Archive, Industry News

25 years on: United by safety

It’s 25 years since Owner//Driver was first published and we’re getting nostalgic.

Owner//Driver journalists have interviewed plenty of veteran truckies since the first edition of the magazine came off the press 25 years ago, in 1992.

Many of these drivers expressed nostalgia for the old days. They miss the camaraderie. And they miss mates who have died on the road.

Sometimes they talk about the driving practices which gave trucking a bad name in the 1980s.

By 1992 the industry was cleaning itself up, led by the association we now know as the Australian Trucking Association (ATA). It was formed in the wake of a truck and bus crash at Grafton in 1989. The tragedy killed 21 people and caused a public outcry.

Several of the ATA’s member associations disagree on industrial issues, but a commitment to safety brought them together to present a united voice for trucking operators.

An early achievement was introducing the ATA’s own voluntary accreditation scheme, TruckSafe. And in 1992, the year Owner//Driver was first published, it launched its Mobile Safety Information Trailer.

Over the past 25 years regulations have tightened, fines have increased and truckies have adjusted their driving behaviours accordingly.

Not all our readers have been happy to embrace change. Fatigue regulations, in particular, have been the topic of many Owner//Driver columns and letters to the editor.

Interstate truck driver Barry Grimson has written a letter or two to the editor. Grimson was one of the 1979 Razorback Blockade ringleaders, and ATANSW’s 2014 Professional Driver of the Year.

Looking back to 1992, he says the public’s concerns about safety were warranted and says the industry needed to change. “I probably owe the reason that I’m still behind the wheel to the changes made,” the 74-year-old says.

But he adds today’s fatigue regulations are too rigid and industry associations should lobby to have them fixed.

In Owner//Driver’s 25th anniversary December issue we reflect on changing attitudes to safety, compliance and conflict.

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