Truckie shortage

Well!!!
after my rant disapeared for some reason, dammit! Now I have to think up a new one!! geez..
Thanks everyone for the interesting dicussion. it's great..excellent posts, I'm really enjoying reading them, and seeing the various views.

Anyway- I'm with Chocs- pesonally, I'd love to run a truck. But when i do a trip somewhere these days, it's not the risk of breakdown that worries me. Nor being tired, or overworked. Not the cost, or rate. Not other motorists, or the condition of the road. (although that is a disgrace, generally- who enforces THAT? Where is their fine for supplying an unsafe workplace???)
No. It is the worry of being pulled up by some uniform wearing "person", who will go through MY "work diary" that I MUST by law fill in. They will look at MY truck, and perhaps fine me or make me get a RWC for a cracked lens, or a myriad of other potentially "unsafe" defects. They will enforce what I can and can't do, in MY truck, in MY time. They may find that because I drove ten hours yesterday, and stopped for a sleep last night, then took off this morning and drove four hours by lunch time, that I have committed a FATIGUE BREACH- the fact that I am wide awake, and have no symptoms of fatigue, and couldn't sleep if i tried, doesn't matter. IT'S THE STUPID BLOODY RULES!!!! I hate em. And they are endless.
I too have had old mate RTA inspector giving me grief for being a bullbar overlength whilst towing a single, then watched the b Double go past... "Ah, but thats different".
So thats why I don't run a truck. I can't stand the worry of being "checked" all the time, to see if i "comply". And so on. And so on......
GRR!!!!!!!
And as for a driver shortage, well the press has bastardised us, the authorities have hounded us, over policed us, harassed us generally, they charge us OVER $5000 FOR A PRIME MOVER REGO - and they wonder why you woudn't want to drive a truck?????? DUH...
UNITY, PEOPLE, UNITY- is the answer. Then, as an industry, we could have a voice in all these things we are talking about. For example,. why is it in the USA they can have whacking great sleepers, whilst here poor old mate has to crawl out of a rough riding cabover?
Without unity, we will continue be pushed around, as we have been, by every politician and newspaper who sees what an easy and disorganised target the trucking industry really is.
Without unity, big companies will bring in 457's and so on, because there is a "driver shortage".
With unity, we could have a say in the training of drivers. 457's, or not. And so on..
And I'm not talking union bastardry unity, I'm talking commonsense unity.
(ha! There's that word Chocs!)
Join an organisation....Go on. It may not help, but it can't hurt. I've just joined the NRFA- www.nrfa.com.au
Cheers!
Richard

Lang, you have left me no option here ..

And as the little bird was making his way through the system..
He saw a sign

You have been passed by another fox.....



ok ok im goin..

have a great day!

chocs

Lang wrote: PS Hayseed
The spelling mistake is an urban myth. The explanation section of the standardised log book specifically says you will NOT be penalised for spelling mistakes or arithmetic errors.

Lang, whilst It's never happened to me personally.
Also as you say the latest version of the [strike]Logbook[/strike] Work dairy cuts a bit of Slack for Spelling.
I do However know of several people who have an Old infringement Notice (or 2) That proves otherwise..

Hayseed

Well, there you go. When made aware of the stupidity they fixed it. Might work in other areas. Maybe if everyone wrote in about their over-the-top penalties (with a copy to their member) they might start to see a pattern and fix it. Unfortunately many of the letters will be from blokes caught cold and probably deserving everything they got.

If you think Australia has a monopoly of screwing truckies and dickhead registration laws, look at this USA truck plate. 11 registrations! They now make it easy with one plate but you must make returns to all of the 16 (or 46) states + Canadian provinces who are in the same scheme, you travelled in, give them the mileage done in their state and write maybe 46 individual tax cheques. They have logbooks and numerous compulsory tickets also.





I said I was going to stop so I will.

Lang

An extraordinarily educational topic. There is a lot of aspects of this industry at fault. There are even more in the non- operational side of our livelihood.

I wanted to drive a truck since I was 8 years old, after hearing them all start up on Monday mornings at the old Sundowner hotel in Punchbowl NSW. Life got in the way and I did not start driving until I was 38. Loved it...every single bit of it...and learnt so much about people and life along the way.

I am now 62, pretty much retired, burnt out by the endless officiousness of ignorant clerks, managers and company owners. There were 29 drivers in our group, and 8 "support staff"! Upper management were on bonus payments for cutting costs which entailed reducing times allowed etc. and, subsequently, real income for the drivers. Clerical staff remained untouched, simply by re-classifying themselves as "Compliance Managers"! This is now an official designation as a result of ridiculous and vague legislation instigated by various governmental "authorities", an oxymoron if ever there was one.

Larger companies have become greedier. Under the guise of competition, the tendering process has become farcical. Massive undercutting results in reduced payment for all concerned, except management. Society now seems to be driven by the instant gratification mind set. Younger people don't, or won't, work for an incremental pay system. The objectiveness of industrial development through experience is an alien concept when they see management receive big money for (apparently) little effort. We have all missed birthdays, anniversaries and social occasions as a result of being on the road. I know one bloke who, when home, sleeps in a 36" bunk in the shed because he can't adjust to normal beds!

This sacrifice was our apprenticeship to an industry that provided reward for effort. Sadly, the reward is no longer commensurate with the effort. This is, in essence, a major reason why younger people no longer want to enter an industry which, through hard work, mateship and all it entails, defined a fading national quality in a way few other professions could.

Maybe its a political stunt so they can get 457's :silly:

WELL
its getting hard to know what to say next....so I will go back a bit.
When I started driving the earlier KWs ..kids would always look as you went past..
either wave...or...give the "blow the air horn signal"....
If you were out socialising and it cropped up that you were a truck driver
the young ears would tune in, mostly saying ...what kind of truck do
you drive....when you told them ....they would say..WOW a Kenworth...
These young people were really interested in trucks.
Nowadays I doubt this would happen......
Does this mean lack of interest........or is there so many trucks around, that,
they are blasse about the situation..
Maybe some thing like me and late model cars. (they all look the same)
Lets face it ...who is going to work at something your not interested in.....
With all the regulations at the present time,, (that would be my biggest concern)..
there would be no way I would return to driving ,
Actually I would be flat out trying to start the things..let alone get them moving.
........................Billy......................

Browny might be on the money.

not strictly trucking but relevant to Brownie's comment and I can see the same thing happening in trucking and other industries...

The IT industry has not employed all the available IT graduates who want to work in IT since 1998. 4 times I have had to train my replacements who were either 'offshore (India or the Philippines)' or here on 457 visas. It's not that individuals fault, they are trying to do the best for their families just as I am trying to do for mine. A common theme is they are shown salaries that are 8 to 10 years income at home at around $30,000 to $40,000 so sign up to come here and send money to support their wife and kids at home. They land and find out what our costs of living are so end up living 2 to a bedroom in a flat/townhouse (ie 4 people (usually male)) in a 2 bedroom apartment as they struggle to support their families at home and themselves here. The contracts they sign mean they need to stay here signed to the company for at least 2 to 5 years or they need to repay not only their airfares but the companies expenses in hiring them and obtaining a 457 visa for them plus interest and penalties. If they speak out at home they are shunned and not hired by any firms at home due to their 'disloyalty'.

The net result is that with my degree ,, 30 years experience and further training I have funded myself, I am struggling to get as a temporary contractor the same hourly rate I earned in 1987 ($28 per hour). Contracts have gone from $100 an hour for someone with my experience in 2011 to $45 an hour (+ super) in 2013 to offering $25 per hour (including super) now. If a company doesn't pay you $450 in a calendar month (and most work it so they don't) then they don't legally need to put your super in your account so they don't. If I try to push for a better rate I am often told that they can get a 457 visa holder to do it for $10 an hour (as they are either chasing some extra money or trying to show continuity of work so they can emigrate here). The Australian minimum wage is currently just under $18 an hour and experienced casual cleaners are earning an average of $35 per hour around home. I can't even cover the costs of driving to the job at $10 per hour.

While all this is happening the big companies are crying out there is an IT skills shortage so more 457 people are allowed in. I see the same thing happening in the bigger transport companies as having done it with their IT and admin staff they have started on the drivers.

457 visas are meant to cover for temporary skills shortages yet I don't know of one profession, trade or industry where the 457 visas have been withdrawn even if an industry has over 50% unemployment. Does anybody know of one?

Just following on don't we think that we have out price yourself as Bruce pointed
We all need aleast 2 cars every has to a mobile phone plus add in eat out once a week ,a couple of televisions
a 4 bed room house minimum with en suite 300k mortgage so to support that we require in excise of $1500 per week
So why wouldn't look for some to do it cheaper
I'm used to living poor so when goes to $hit I'm had the experince in some areas :whistle: :whistle: