Opinion – Riskier business

It’s no joke that, as the truck driving population ages, regular health checks become more crucial

I’ve had a couple of comments come across my dining room table of late that have given me cause for comment. Additionally, I was passed a compliment on my January comments that I hope spurs me to greater efforts to get some sensible reform to conditions suffered by industry participants.

Rod Hannifey has called for drivers and owner-drivers to become involved with an association. Rod and I go back many moons and I have the highest regard for him. Also, over those many moons and for many moons prior, I have been involved with many associations.

I suggest a major reason for the failure of the myriad of associations to make headway in improving our lot rests with the failure of volunteers to be able, on the one hand, to rise above their desire to rub shoulders with an elite – their fear of getting the elite offside via being forthright and scrupulously honest in discussion. I haven’t suffered that fear – hence my being offside with most of bureaucracy. And I haven’t been abusive – just forthright.

Timidity might be an understandable outcome. The second aspect is that those who are in a position to make an improvement either have little desire to do so or little understanding of the truck driver’s job description. Note: the National Transport Commission’s recent call to reduce driver hours.

Another comment across the kitchen table is attributed to Australian Trucking Association (ATA) chair David Smith. David is calling for better screening of heavy vehicle driver health issues in relation to sleep apnoea. I have to agree but only to a point.

It concerns me that David is putting too much emphasis on the issue of sleep apnoea. Don’t get me wrong, the issue is a very serious and potentially and probably at times a fatal condition. The condition is not limited to overweight short-necked individuals. My younger brother Bernie suffers from the condition. He has to wear the Darth Vader mask for sleep and has suffered memory loss from earlier bouts of loss of breath during sleep. Bernie is no hulk but a trim and fit 70-plus kilo bloke whose life involves plenty of physical activity. Sleep apnoea is no joke.

Diabetes diagnosis

For many years I was a dangerous goods transport operator. Prior to the 50-year mark I had a medical every three years. Beyond 50, one every 12 months. In around year 2008 I was diagnosed as being type-2 diabetic. That diagnosis was purely the outcome of the, by then, required yearly medical. Consequently, my good wife directed me to a change of lifestyle – more exercise and a different food regime. The more exercise part involved a tramp across the Owen Stanley Range via the Kokoda Track.

The stress test prior to embarking on that mission discovered that I was 90 per cent blocked on a major heart artery and a drop-dead candidate. I missed out on the opportunity of being probably world famous. Imagine the New York Times report on the environmental impact of 24 tonnes of arsenic acid being let loose into the Murray River catchment as a result of a truck driver succumbing to a fatal heart attack. Or going for a Burton coming down the Toowoomba Range.

Since then, I have completed two crossings of the track in commemoration of those who offered all and the many that gave all.

It’s not that I’m blasé about sleep apnoea. David’s suggestion simply does not go far enough. All heavy vehicle drivers need to be subjected to a stress test if we are really serious about road safety. Remember, we are generally an aging workforce.

I’ll talk about my good mate Chris who suffered a major coronary while on the phone during an association hook-up. Chris is a truckie of the highest integrity and standard who was very lucky to survive his episode. He was lucky in one instance that his heart attack happened at home where help was quickly and readily available. He was lucky in the second instance that it didn’t happen at speed on the highway where both unrestrained impact and time required for support were potential and likely death certificates, either for Chris or some unlucky bystander.

Sleep apnoea

There is another less appealing thought that is lurking in my consciousness in relation to the sleep apnoea issue. I strongly suspect that industry leadership is deliberately closing its mind to the diurnal aspect of humanity’s nature. I remember back in the late ’80s. I had undertaken to deliver an overnight refrigeration run to North Queensland. In spite of attempting to day-sleep prior to the designated departure time of 6pm, sleep was usually not possible. The consequence that by 11pm I was a risk to myself and a threat to other road users.

I go back again to the late ’80s. Two horrific heavy vehicle accidents occurred on the Pacific Highway in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales – one involved a truck and a coach. The truckie was found to have ingested stimulants and driving more than prescribed hours. He was considered to be the guilty party.

Another nail in road transport’s integrity portfolio – on the second horrific accident two coaches came together and again with horrendous loss of life. It was reported that one of those drivers suffered from sleep apnoea. I’m in no position to argue differently but I point out that both crashes took place in the early hours of the morning.

Again, because this society simply seems not to able to come to terms with the naked truth, I suspect that an outcome has been reported that could be convenient. It worries me that it might be just too inconvenient to recognise the implications of humanity being diurnal. If we were able to convince those with influence to undertake impartial investigations into heavy vehicle accidents, we might get a better picture of the cause and the best path to reduce it.

I’m not suggesting overnight operation be banned – but I do suggest more awareness of the possible risk. I don’t consider the current attitude of simply restricting night hours to be any real answer. One still has to get through the first night.

*KEN WILKIE has been an owner-driver since 1974, after first getting behind the wheel at 11. He’s on his eighth truck, and is a long-time Owner//Driver contributor. He covers Rockhampton to Adelaide and any point in between. His current ambition is to see the world, and to see more respect for the nation’s truckies. Contact Ken at ken@rwstransport.com.au