Skilled drivers - industry shortage

Six munce ago I couldn even spel Truck Driva. Now I are wun!

Adding to Gryphon's post.
Roderick.

Truckie road rager switched vehicle, upgraded weapon then struck again, court told 30 May 2018.
The truck driver accused of running two teachers off the road during a road rage and hammer attack on the Tullamarine Freeway allegedly went on to swap vehicles and attack a second couple with a baseball bat hours later, fresh police
charges reveal.
Elten Gevergizyan, a Muay Thai fighter, faces 17 charges relating to the alleged two-day, ice-fuelled spree.
He appeared handcuffed in the dock of Broadmeadows Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he made no application for bail.
Elten Gevergizyan outside court on Wednesday. Photo: Eddie Jim.
It’s alleged following Saturday’s incident, the 27-year-old excavation company co-owner armed himself with a baseball bat and attacked two other motorists after ramming them on a 100km/h stretch of road at Epping.
Mr Gevergizyan sat silent throughout his brief court appearance on Wednesday, dishevelled and dressed in a long-sleeve grey T-shirt.
Lawyer Mihal Greener told the court her client was withdrawing from ice and needed assistance.
“He has asthma. And he’d like assistance with ice withdrawal,” she said.
“He’s feeling very nauseous.
“It’s his first time in custody.”
video: Court told truckie withdrawing from ice.
Elten Gevergizyan has appeared in court after allegedly confronting and threatening two women along the Tullamarine Freeway towards Melbourne Airport
Mr Gevergizyan was arrested on Tuesday evening after he allegedly tailgated schoolteachers Leigh Mahady, 62, and Julie Dougherty, 60, as they drove at 80km/h through Strathmore along the Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport.
The truck driver allegedly tailgated their car before he began repeatedly beeping the horn about 1.10pm on Saturday.
He then allegedly pulled up next to the women, side swiping them before pushing the car towards a concrete road barrier and damaging doors, a side mirror and tyres, police said.
The women were hoping to exchange names and numbers with the truck driver for insurance purposes.
But while they were inspecting the damage to their car shortly after at pulling over, he returned armed with a hammer and stick, police say.
He then allegedly charged at Ms Mahady, knocking her to the ground.
Accused man Elten Gevergizyan is a Muay Thai fighter.
Fresh charges have since revealed on Sunday, while behind the wheel of a separate truck, Mr Gevergizyan allegedly rammed another car on a 100km/h stretch of road at Epping, causing $1000 damage to the husband and wife’s vehicle.
Police say Mr Gevergizyan then armed himself with a baseball bat and assaulted the couple.
Mr Gevergizyan has been charged with multiple offences including conduct endangering life and assault with a weapon.
Magistrate Abigail Burchill remanded Mr Gevergizyan to reappear in the Broadmedows Magistrates Court on June 8.
The court appearance came as Victoria's top traffic cop Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer called for calm on our roads in the wake of another road rage attack in Sunbury, where a mother and her children were terrorised by a violent
driver.
Road rage assaults have jumped by 60 per cent across Victoria in the past four years, from 210 to 380 reported cases, according to Crime Statistics Agency data.
"People are just in a rush to get where they need to be and we just implore everybody just to relax," Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said.
"The idea that perfectly reasonable people lose the plot because of a minor traffic altercation or something not letting them in just makes no sense. Chill out."
Mr Fryer rebuffed suggestions of creating a new charge for a road rage offence, saying there were already significant offences in place, including "conduct endangering life" or "recklessly cause injury".
Police Minister Lisa Neville agreed, saying police have the powers they need to hold people to account.
"We'll have discussions with Victoria Police about any measures that can promote respect on our roads, including education and awareness to minimise driver aggression on our roads," she said.
Shadow Attorney General John Pesutto said something must be done to better protect innocent drivers and passengers.
"In addition to the many announcements we've already made to fix our justice system, we plan to address this escalation in road rage violence if elected later this year and will have more to say in the near future," he said.
< www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/truc...20180530-p4zigg.html >

Tree lopper near me had a guy apply for a drivers job.....checked licence,machine tickets etc,,ok,so time being short,applicant was told to drive truck to job site,and tryout on machines there.......he was hopeless,refused to stop truck ,went faster and faster thru suburban streets,kept screaming he must get job,eventually rolled truck at roundabout.......truck went over on passenger side,driver fell onto owner ,breaking owners arm,then legged it....Cops turn up,arrest owner. ,Truck,small digger and bobcat then taken by towies to their yard.Cops charge owner with dangerous driving,he cant get his gear back from towies,cops want it for evidence......Immigrant driver was given licence by Social Security Dept contractor.

Roderick.

Victoria suffering from a shortage of truck drivers for major upcoming projects.
Herald Sun August 8, 2018.
video: The $5.5 billion West Gate Tunnel will run from the freeway to Yarraville.
VICTORIA faces a shortage of people to drive trucks during the building of its major infrastructure projects, the trucking industry says.
The Victorian Transport Association said parts of the industry had been suffering from low driver numbers for a long time, and more young people were needed.
VTA CEO Peter Anderson said: “It isn’t a sexy industry, and one reason why is because it doesn’t enunciate a career path, despite providing a good livelihood for many people.
“We continue to beg people to come and work for us.”
At the height of the excavation of the $6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel a truck is due to leave the Footscray construction site every two minutes.
Mr Anderson said meeting this demand would be difficult.
“For that project alone, you’re looking at an additional 125 truck drivers, and we don’t have those currently around waiting for work,” he said.
The trucking industry has been hit by low driver numbers for some time. Picture: Ian Currie
“We’re building high-rise towers, subdivisions, housing estates and commercial areas that are all taking the normal fleet of tip trucks to do the job.
“All of the upcoming major projects, including the North East Link and Metro Tunnel, are major earthmoving projects that require a great deal of resources.
“You could see operators pulling drivers off other projects to meet their contractual requirements.”
It is expected that more than 350,000 trucks a year will clog the streets in and around the CBD during the construction of the West Gate Tunnel and Metro Tunnel.
Mr Anderson said a new taskforce, set up by the Andrews, Government, would investigate the heavy licensing system and could help encourage more drivers in Victoria.
350,000 trucks are expected to cause issues around the city during the West Gate Tunnel’s construction. Picture: Ian Currie
“We hope to bring it into a more robust, accountable and transparent system than what it is now,” he said.
“At the moment you need 120 hours to get a car licences, but there are no prescribed hours behind the wheel for heavy vehicles.”
The Minister for Roads, Luke Donnellan, said the State Government’s unprecedented program of projects were putting pressure on resources and suppliers.
“That’s why we’re investing in driver training and conducting a major review that will look at how we can attract more young people into the trucking industry,” he said.
SHAME FOR VICROADS AFTER $5M TRUCK BUNGLE BACKS THIEVES.
DASHCAM FOOTAGE SHOWS TRUCK’S LUCKY ESCAPE.
PROPOSAL FOR DAYTIME MELBOURNE CBD TRUCK BAN.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victo...225e3bcbf7807ebef045 >
* Don’t forget to tell any prospective driver that they could be fined a week’s wages or more for making a simple logbook error. Actually, they call them Work Diaries now, but there is so much confusion with them that even traffic
police can’t understand them 100%. In no other industry can a worker be fined thousands of dollars for making a mistake, whether logbook or some other reason. No wonder a lot of the older drivers are retiring when they’ve still got
years left in them.
* Great reference to a section of the industry that usually pays on load rate. People aren't stupid. Load rates and km rates are one of the biggest ripoffs in this industry.
* love how these industries say they are crying out for workers yet they will not train anyone up they just want ready made workers. hard to get any work in these industries because you must have years experience but cant get the
experience without a job.
Webb St safety: state government, council spend $405,000 on lights.
Cranbourne Leader August 8, 2018.
video: Home crime prevention.
THE once “seedy” Webb St village shopping area in Narre Warren has been transformed with measures to prevent crime and make people feel safe.
To combat complaints of drug use, graffiti and anti-social behaviour the State Government and Casey council spent $405,000 on security measures including extra lighting and new toilets, along with landscaping work and additional seats.
The old toilet block had been “inhabited by junkies”, according to local trader Richard Edwards who is also the treasurer of the Narre Warren Region Business Group.
“It is great money has been spent cleaning up the area, improving lighting and making the area user friendly,” he said.
Traders including Ross Neilson raised concerns about safety and the need for improvements at Webb St in 2015. Picture: Susan Windmiller.
Another trader and business group vice-president Tara Angelone said the area had become “seedy”, especially since the closure of a gym left a large building vacant attracting undesirable people who caught the nearby train.
“Now it’s more inviting, lighter and vibrant,” she said.
Leading Senior Constable Frank Bailey from the Casey Proactive Unit said the project was based on crime prevention through environmental design principles.
Graffiti has long been an issue in Webb St. This photo of a vandalised Webb St bus shelter was taken in 2015. Picture: Susan Windmiller
He said when an area was clean and bright it encouraged families while discouraging undesirable people loitering “under the cover of darkness”.
Police Minister Lisa Neville, Roads Minister and Narre Warren North state Labor MP Luke Donnellan, and Narre Warren South state Labor MP Judith Graley, visited the village last week.
“With these improvements I’d like to see a Webb St Village Festival in the future … (to) celebrate our multicultural community in this new improved environment,” Ms Graley said.
Roads Minister and Narre Warren North state Labor MP Luke Donnellan, Police Minister Lisa Neville and Narre Warren South state Labor MP Judith Graley at Webb St. Picture: Wayne Taylor
Casey Mayor Geoff Ablett said anti-social behaviour in Webb St such as graffiti, alcohol consumption, public toilet misuse and damage to property, lights and signs had left local traders and residents with the perception their community wasn’t safe.
The state government provided $250,000 and the council $155,000 toward the project.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/south-east/w...abce60f20d1a9837301c >
with two stock photos.

Centrelink will supply all the truck drives needed........the Centrelink contractors get paid by license,so everyone gets one.............sometimes the new drivers are asked tricky questions like....."which side of the road do you drive on.."....Answer..."either side......if youre in India.".....correct.....here s your license.

You would be amazed the amount of people used to show up saying "yeah yeah I can drive a road ranger" or "yeah Ive used a HIAB for years blah blah" and then proceed to completely trash the gear and break the freight due to a total lack of knowledge... its too easy to get your license and just tear arse off down the road with no idea what your really doing... I'm one of the younger/st posters on here and even I can see the lack of idea (or more importantly care factor) possessed from my peers...

I'm not surprised, I'm surprised that anyone would want to drive anything in Victoria firstly but then the laughable rates that truck drivers are paid would drive away half of the drivers that were remaining then the WHS bullshit would drive away a few more and most of the remainder would struggle to tolerate the senile old fools that tried to tell them how to do their job.

Wont take em long to figure out they re getting $800 a week,and the builders labourers on the job are getting $2000 a week........and its no big deal if the labourers turn up half stoned on Monday morning.,while the truckie cant even have a drink the previous day.

Ah well, here come the 457 Visas, because there's an industry shortage, and the hourly rate will go down even more. You ought to see SOME, ( not all), of the trash in truck and dog tippers in Sydney. They might as well have spurs and leggings, to complete the image.

You just have to listen to the UHF to gain the impression we are dealing with the scum of Australian society behind the wheel of the city area trucks. The blokes with some pride in their work must be depressed by the impression these no-hopers are giving to the world - most four wheel drives and grey nomad vehicles have UHF and are having their ears assaulted continuously.

Truck driving is an honourable profession essential to our nation but unfortunately, it takes little to qualify for a basic job. Those wanting to raise their skills. qualifications and knowledge to provide a high and reliable standard of work are prized and will always find a position but sadly as rates get screwed many small operators cannot see past survival so hire the nowhere-men at cheap rates. Monkeys and peanuts comes to mind.

I can not see an answer to the problem and trucking is one of the purest forms of supply and demand. So long as it is easy to get into there is never going to be high wages. The only thing that will force wages up is artificial government intervention which will send some small operators broke and remove even more opportunities or wages getting so low nobody will work for them, forcing a raise. Any importation of foreign labour for semi-skilled work only creates a bigger pool of Australians preferring the dole to low rates.

I am strongly against importation of foreign basic level labour of any description. We are swamping the country with unskilled migrants who live on the dole, the pool is big enough to use them internally with tougher conditions of learn a REAL skill (facilities provided for them obviously) or have their benefits reduced.

Foreign workers should be restricted to teachers, trainers, researchers and those with real skills, specialised trades and professions or those wanting to invest in small or large business start-ups. Many "shortage" justifications put up by the people wanting to bring in labour are because wages are too low for Australians and Asians will work for them.

Maybe the real answer is we should get rid of Foxtel, the latest Ipad, stop buying two vehicles per family, spending billions on gambling, fashion clothes and eating MacDonalds every night and, most importantly, tear up the credit card, and we would find we can live a happy comfortable life on the wages offered.

I have absolutely no idea of the answer (and neither does anybody else it would seem)

Lang