Goodaye all. How do you see yourself? In conversations over the years, I have had many drivers refer to themselves as “just” a truck driver. I have always replied, don’t ever say “just” a truckie. We are castigated and blamed for every crash we are involved in and yes, with carnage on the road and the immediate reporting available to all now, no one really knows the cause of any event until well after it is all cleared up.
We know the stats, the media however too often happily go down the “trucks are overrepresented in crashes” path and yes, if you only look at the number of vehicles, that is correct, but is it a true representation of the facts? We know the media would not let that get in the way of a better and more sensational story.
I truly believe we are not recognised for the lives we save simply by driving to the conditions and maybe more than should be the case. We also do well in expecting some idiot motorist to do something stupid in front of or around us and being ready, or anticipating such events and acting accordingly to mitigate or prevent yet another crash. They have probably never been taught to share the road with trucks unless they have family in the industry, or they may simply not be focused on the traffic around them.
Yes we have stupid truckies too – none of us are perfect – but I keep saying I don’t know a single driver who goes to work to get involved in a crash. We simply want to get home to a family that we don’t see enough of. In any other area, if you had stats that suggests around 80 per cent of a problem was due to a lack of education or awareness, then you would act to change and improve that, wouldn’t you?
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With our rising road toll, what have the government done to educate the average motorist to share the road with more and bigger trucks? Not much or, in truth, bugger all. I did write to all states and complain there was only one question in a hundred about trucks and some then made a big improvement and took it to two! Wow, that will help! I will give credit to the NHVR – they are trying – but is it too little too late and is it enough?
If you see yourself as “just” a truck driver, how will others see us? I have been involved with nearly all industry associations over the years and more so and to a much greater extent with the NRFA for over 10 years now. A few years ago, with the approval of the then president Tony Hopkins, I tried a new group with little cost and no effort, no requirement to be involved to really take part.
We tried the “TRUCKTHAT Australia Drivers Club” and a few joined, but not enough. Tony had agreed that even after nearly 10 years, the NRFA did not have enough members.
It is said there are over 200,000 licensed truckies in Australia and yet, we have a shortage. Most say it is due to many things – fines, scrutiny, more and more cameras, untrained and or unskilled new drivers on the road and car drivers risking our lives every day, yet we still too often get the blame. Of those 200,000, I imagine less than five per cent are involved in any of the associations and that means they all struggle to be heard at a government level.
In the past week alone, four car drivers have overtaken me when they could not possibly see and risked not just their lives and that of their passengers, but mine as well. Yet in the press, it would have been deemed a truck crash.
So how do we get all those truck drivers to do more to recognise that how they are seen and how they behave on the road affects us all? If we can’t get them to join an association (and I have asked you all to consider it enough times) then either we simply let them live on saying the industry is shit, not like it used to be and so on, or we find a way to see them better recognised and to see themselves as a highly skilled driver who deals with so many different factors, loads and conditions. For them to see themselves as more than “just” a truckie. How do we change this? I would welcome your thoughts.
I will conclude on the cost of the new inspection station on the Golden Highway which will be covered in more detail elsewhere in this edition. If you can see or justify $11.9 million there, can you please explain it to me? No wonder we can’t get the roads fixed – the last bit from Mudgee to there is abysmal. That money could have been spent to improve that road and maybe save some lives, instead of in the middle of nowhere, where it gives them the chance to ping us for a broken shockies or such caused by the road you just travelled on to get there.
We need inspection stations and it would be nice to be able to check weigh there and again – credit to the NHVR for listening and making two sites available for a trial. I will follow them up now to see how that has gone. But $12 million! I wish I got paid like that for so little. Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.
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