These blokes don't want a minimum payment FFS......They have a large investment and seek a good return on that investment.
The Mum and Dad truckies want to earn a good return for their efforts.....To be able to own a nice house, to educate their kids, to provide for their retirement with a good super.
How are they supposed to do that on a minimum rate......Some people have no idea how to run a business including the majority of the Labor Party who are ex union hacks.
Your argument does not hold water and the truckies would think the same way.
They are not going to able to afford a nice house if they are forced to run at a loss just to get business, which is what the government wants ; ie to force down the pay rates of the truckies so that the people with their ar$e out of their pants willing to take the lowest rate and make up for it by cutting safety costs get the jobs.
So if you get wiped out by one of these people on the roads you can't complain can you ?
How can they be forced to run at a loss?...That is the queerest statement I have ever heard....If you run at a loss it is your own fault and nobody elses.....For what it is worth to you and your buddies in the Labor Party and the unions, you build a business on a calculated risk, hard work and good service from one who knows only too well....10 and 12 hour days, 6 and 7 days a week was the norm for me......It did not kill me as you can observe.....I was still working when I received my OBE.
As I stated in an another post why are you quick to blame the truckie for wiping out a family when in fact it could be that the driver of the family car who fell asleep at the wheel, strayed onto the wrong side of the road and into an oncoming truck.
Your argument does not hold water and besides are you and your buddies interested what the truckies want or what the unions want?...You and I know the answers don't we Rumpy?
What's does OBE stand for?
When truck and car hit, chances are the truckies are overworked, overtired. Sure it could be the parents driving a bit recklessly and without sleep to get their kids to McDonalds or something.
The OBE used to stand for the "ORDER or the BRITISH EMPIRE" from memory.......But in Australia it is something different like may be "OVER BLOODY EIGHTY" or something like that....Ask Rumpy....I bet he knows.....He might even have one for all I know...If he does have one, he will probably keep it a secret.
You say "the next truck that wipes out a whole family"?????...........why are you so sure that an accident of that magnitude would be the truck drivers fault when perhaps it could be the driver of the family car who has gone to sleep at the wheel and strayed onto the wrong side of the road into the path of an oncoming semitrailer....I think you are too quick to blame the truck driver.
They are not going to able to afford a nice house if they are forced to run at a loss just to get business, which is what the government wants ; ie to force down the pay rates of the truckies so that the people with their ar$e out of their pants willing to take the lowest rate and make up for it by cutting safety costs get the jobs.
So if you get wiped out by one of these people on the roads you can't complain can you ?
What's does OBE stand for?
In the last two months there has been three truck rollovers on the back roads in my patch. These are not small rigs, two of them double B's loaded down and in a hurry. Anyone coming the other way would be toast. There was a another well telecast rollover a few moths back at Nerang where the truck managed to rollover of the 100kph freeway on a bridge and the black top melted with the heat of the subsequent fire.
And there's the drivers replete in their blue wife beaters, the thongs, the unkempt appearance the missing links of the past and present sapiens..... Barnaby's Boys
Take your rage glasses off 'ol mate and think logically about what I am saying:
1) truck drivers, especially long haul contractors are on the road for long periods of time which results in fatigue;
2) truck drivers are well known not to take the prescribed rest stops
3) truck drivers do fudge their time manifests to be where they want to be instead of forced stops
4) truck drivers do get around the speed recorders
5) truck drivers are paid on results and penalised if they do not meet schedules
6) truck drivers do not earn a lot of money as sole traders
7) if a truck driver earned a good quid he/she would not be concerned with the minimum wage threshold
8) if a truck driver earned a good quid there would be no need to have ill maintained vehicles
9) if a truck driver earned legitimately a good quid he/she wouldn't be need to take risks
10) if truck drivers played by the rules of the road and transport dept there wouldn't be head ons with entire families because the truck driver would be vigilant and aware of his/her environs
The key here is that truck drivers are driving long distances and time is paramount to them; it shouldn't be but it is. You would know that the client transport/distributor are more of a bully than any shop steward and will cancel a truck driver's contract he/she fails to deliver . It is very much a master/serf industry for private operators and it truly is a miserable existence for most driver's families ... a poverty trap with a big rig hung around their necks... no super, no workers comp, no medical, no minimum wage just gypsy lifestyle and a lot of luck not to be living in squalor.
You might like to take the party line on all things, but where do you draw the line between the welfare of the community and the harsh politics of win at all costs? Is it "I suffered, I worked hard, I did alright so the rest of you should too" in play here?
Would be interesting to see the number of trucks caught for speeding and/or safety deficits. I doubt if these figures are available though and maybe the cops go easy on them because they are "mums and dads".
One of my life long friends went on the lamb for a couple of decades and drove long haul from Melbourne up through to QLD and over to Cairns and in between. He gave it away because the cartel transport business' that sub contract out their work were sending the drivers broke through demands for more output and lower renumeration. He could see he was going to be left without the ability to pay for his rig and put food on the table. He tried the usual work arounds, but it just made him more fatigued and miserable.... he got out before he was put into servitude but many of his mates haven't been so lucky; some topping themselves, others divorced, houses gone, and still the lease payments due on the rigs.
It's a 5hite industry unless you are Lindsay Fox.
Tisme, you don't have to be in the trucking industry to go broke......lots of business go broke every day through bad luck or bad management...You don't have to be in the trucking industry to get fatigued and miserable...there are lots of businesses which can offer you those complaints......you don't have to be in the trucking industry to finish up in the divorce court.
Your mate was probably not cut out for trucking......There are plenty of guys who do it all their lives...My son's father-father-law is one......he is in his late sixties and has been doing it all his life and without incident......He still drives a semi on a regular basis between Townsville and Brisbane Still with his first wife, had 4 kids and has a nice home...He says he would not want to do anything else.
I am assuming you have actually chatted to your son's father-father-law to see if he is vehemently opposed to the minimum wage along party lines, or if he opposed at all? I would assume, as a veteran driver, he has carved out a niche would preclude any negative impact of the minimum wage on his operations and might even welcome it's introduction so that he can play on a level playing field without being undercut by a hand to mouth driver?.
Data released by Safe Work Australia today in the report Work-related fatalities involving trucks, Australia 2003 to 2012 show an alarming number of Australia’s truck drivers are being killed at work each year.
In releasing the report, Safe Work Australia Chair, Ann Sherry AO said more needs to be done to ensure the safety of these workers and reduce these worrying statistics.
"Around 80 workers are killed each year while working in or around a truck,” said Ms Sherry.
“Not only is this figure disturbing in itself, but 39 per cent of these people die in single vehicle truck crashes.
“While the data showed that driving too fast for the conditions caused some of the fatalities, for many the cause of the crash was unknown, however it is likely that fatigue and lack of concentration played some part in these deaths.”
The report outlines target areas to help reduce truck-related fatalities, including:
managing public road travel to reduce fatigue and using appropriate speed for the conditions
ensuring that vehicles are braked appropriately
increasing awareness of pedestrian workers and members of the public
ensuring that vehicles and equipment are maintained appropriately and used correctly
improving protection from falls for those working at heights, and
ensuring cargo is appropriately restrained particularly during unloading operations.
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