Let's jump on trucks yet again

[XR8 Uterous]

How many people commenting about how the transport industry should be run, have ever worked in the industry?

I suggest not a lot. Assuming they don't know the work that 99% of transport companies put into making their trucks, and drivers, as safe as possible. The laws and regulations the industry has to follow. The transport industry is one of the most regulated industries in the work place, the amount of paper work and documentation which needs to be kept for legal reasons. I know for one it takes up a lot of my day...

Car drivers need to understand that a 64.5t B-Double will take longer to pull up in an emergancy, they do have larger blind spots then cars, they do take up more space on the road. So give them the space they need, be patient, and remember, that fresh produce you as consumers demand in the supermarkets, is the reason trucks are on the road daily. So if you want your fresh produce, you want your local servo to have fuel when you fill up. Give the truck driver space, and be corteous. They are bigger then you, and I can promise in an accident, the truck will always win. Keep in mind, if you cant see a truckies mirrors, he cant see you.

The more regulations and laws enforced on transport companies will simply result in inreased frieght rates, and therefore a higher price on goods. The transport industry already runs on incredibly tight profit margins, so any increased running costs will simly be passed on to the final consumer, the general public.


Without trucks, Australia stops.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I'm constantly amused by claims of drivers being "pushed" to "break the law" to meet deadlines.

Sure they are.

And they do know that it's an offence, quite a serious one, for someone...an employer say...to encourage or try to force someone to break the law for you? One logbook or schedule that proved you couldn't possibly do what you were being asked to do without breaking the law, handed to the proper authorities, and there'll be some quite heavy police involvement.
However, a majority of drivers are quite happy to do whatever it takes. My nephew works as a manager at a large truck maintainance dealership, and they get asked at least once a week how to get around speed governors or fiddle tachygraphs and data recorders..."hypothetically" of course. They tell them to go away, but they just know someone else will say yes.

One of the heads of the trucking industry union some years back was on the ABC radio one day talking about a rash of raids that caught drugged up truck drivers and speed abuse in the industry, and wheeled out the usual "pushed to meet deadlines" argument. He got very flustered with the interviewer and said angrily "What would people rather have? A wide awake truck driver who's taken a few pills, or someone half asleep and wandering on the road!?". There was a pause and the interviewer said, incredulously, "Did you just say what I thought you said...?"

I'm certainly hoping that increased energy costs in the future mean that semi trailers aren't profitable enough to run effectively, especially over long distances, and that rail will start to make a comeback.
Australia has always been paradoxically in the odd position of being the very country where you'd think rail, given the long distances we have, would be the natural first choice for freight. However, unlike the USA where rail is the first option and trucks a distant second for transporting good across distances, we have for some reason gone for massive semi's that the roads aren't designed really for.

You obviously know very little about the industry... Transport company's all work on km rate, so ofcourse they are going to want to do the most amount of kms in the least amount of time. That doesn't mean they all break the law at doing it, as they all do have to comply with lots of regulations. The bigger they are the more compliant they are typically, but its the bigger ones who have caused most of the drama in the first place. As for drivers dodgying up log books, its not uncommon! Why do you think they all run around with UHF's turned on all day alerting each other to where the RTA are hanging out. Ofcourse they do it. The only ones who don't are the likes of Australia Post who are probably run simliar to QR Rail, by the book. Amazingly enough Australia Post has accidents too!! Or any of the big ones who are national accredited, but their drivers still play with books anyways at times.

In the old days it use to be quiet a lucrative industry, until 2 well know giants decided to break in and monopolise the market to the point where everyone else went broke or ended up working for them on their terms. With the increase in cost of deisel the margins are getting tighter by the day.

I know of a largish QLD transport company that pays its drivers bonus's for beating the time clock..... the Department of Transport go and visit them on a regular basis but nothing ever comes of it?

The only way to fix the industry and make conditions better for the drivers and all other motorists is up the rates they can charge.. That will never happen unless some of the bigger players lose control and the monopoly they own.

[nstg8a]

i unload interstate b doubles every day at work, and i see the state of some drivers when they get here, most are just rooted, but some are far beyond that, like the poor bastards that get 2 hours into their run and whammo, theres a car accident ahead of them and theyre stuck on the side of the road until the road is open again. so if theyre running close to the end of their hours they only have two choices, go over their hours and risk getting caught, or delay the load until they have had their proper rest period.

the 'right' choice is to delay the load... but how long do you think a driver would last if he kept doing that... his company would have to replace him. the freight has to go through on time. so many contracts now have time penalties that its financial suicide for some companies if theyre consistently late.

[vztrt]

I like the idea of one speed for trucks and another for cars.

100kph for trucks 110/120kph for cars.

Wouldn't have save the girl as we don't know the full story. It could have been the car slowed due to mechanical failure and she didn't have time to move over. She was busy doing something else rather then driving (seems to be an increasing problem out there with the mobile phone culture). Could have been a mix of things that has caused this.

Unfortunately the truck driver is always the first to blame. Its a tough job with some peoples poor attitude out on the road and the lack of knowledge of what can happen to them when a 40t truck goes through them.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Ben73

More freight off trucks and on rails is a good idea. Might be a bit slower, but you will get many trucks off the road making them less busy. There for safer.
Use rail from say Brisbane to Sydney, then just use a truck to get it from the rail yard to the supermarket.

the instant a truck has been involved in a fatality lets get rid of trucks regardless of fault or not, yet theres no mention of getting rid of imbecile car drivers when there are so many of them and when they are more often than not at fault? putting more freight on the railways won`t help anything except to put prices up on goods, the same amount of trucks will still be delivering in the burbs .

[mark300]

Originally Posted by pauljh74

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mor...-1226047671011


*Differing speed limits - causing frustration and more dangerous driving. Car flies past 10km/h faster, cuts off truck. Rinse, repeat.

*Banning trucks from right lanes on freeways and overtaking on single lane roads - enforcing keep left unless overtaking rules for all drivers should be sufficient to address the first point and an outright ban on overtaking on single lane roads is ridiculous. Of course overtaking only when safe is required and if someone is holding a truck up and the truckie pulls out to overtake, slow down and let them pass quickly, then resume. Never speed up as you are being overtaken - car or truck. They are going to drive away from you if you continue at your old speed. Imagine some grey nomad with a caravan doing 80 or less and being stuck behind them for 100km+ because you can't overtake.

correct me if i am wrong, but are semi trailer and B double trucks not limited to 100kph??? on numerous occasions ive seen trucks pulling more than 100 on the F3 between sydney and newcastle.

ive just spent a few weeks down in the melbourne werribee and geelong area, on the main freeway between geelong and melbourne trucks are banned from the right lane all together, a great idea in my opinion.

i dont think we need more stupid "nanny state" rules from the government, what we do need however is more education for drivers. teach people about the dangers of such things and what they should do rather than shouldnt, rather than just making laws and expecting everyone to follow them.

[hiper]

Originally Posted by vztrt

I like the idea of one speed for trucks and another for cars.

100kph for trucks 110/120kph for cars.

awesome idea! but it wouldnt work

there are already so many d-bag car drivers out there that think they are so good and perfect.. they think they are safe in their economic 4cyl hatch that they forget about how fast other cars are going, forget to leave decent gaps. etc

all drivers should go back to school and learn how to judge distances.


my main concern is that a lot of people do not go anywhere near the posted speed limit.
sure, its a maximum but it would be nice if everyone was doing roughly the same speed.

i drive a car. never driven a bike or truck but have extreme respect for both.

on the freeways where they have already banned trucks from using the right lane all it has done is increase the amount of slower drivers clogging up the right lane because they don't want to be "stuck" behind a "slow" truck.
this usually means i have to navigate my way through gaps to "undertake" a slow moving car in the "fast" lane.


cant satisfy everyone... but surely we don't have to bend to the crazy demands of grief stricken parents after their daughter died in a crash that was (we assume) quite possibly her fault.

[Mechan1k]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHzaeTpYB0

[The G6ET Spot]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I'm constantly amused by claims of drivers being "pushed" to "break the law" to meet deadlines.

Sure they are.

And they do know that it's an offence, quite a serious one, for someone...an employer say...to encourage or try to force someone to break the law for you? One logbook or schedule that proved you couldn't possibly do what you were being asked to do without breaking the law, handed to the proper authorities, and there'll be some quite heavy police involvement.
However, a majority of drivers are quite happy to do whatever it takes. My nephew works as a manager at a large truck maintainance dealership, and they get asked at least once a week how to get around speed governors or fiddle tachygraphs and data recorders..."hypothetically" of course. They tell them to go away, but they just know someone else will say yes.

One of the heads of the trucking industry union some years back was on the ABC radio one day talking about a rash of raids that caught drugged up truck drivers and speed abuse in the industry, and wheeled out the usual "pushed to meet deadlines" argument. He got very flustered with the interviewer and said angrily "What would people rather have? A wide awake truck driver who's taken a few pills, or someone half asleep and wandering on the road!?". There was a pause and the interviewer said, incredulously, "Did you just say what I thought you said...?"

I'm certainly hoping that increased energy costs in the future mean that semi trailers aren't profitable enough to run effectively, especially over long distances, and that rail will start to make a comeback.
Australia has always been paradoxically in the odd position of being the very country where you'd think rail, given the long distances we have, would be the natural first choice for freight. However, unlike the USA where rail is the first option and trucks a distant second for transporting good across distances, we have for some reason gone for massive semi's that the roads aren't designed really for.

After being on holidays for 4 weeks I was looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.(yes I drive trucks for a living)

But after reading this thread and seeing this post, I think I may stay at home rather than have to put up with morons like this on he road day in day out.

2011G6E, you obviously have no idea what goes on in the industry with statements like you have made. Therefore I highly suggest that you go and get some factual information before you go typing the crap that you have here.

It may even surprise you with what actually goes on in the industry.

And yes, deadlines have been around for a very long time.It was one of the main reasons why I stopped doing interstate work.Like getting out of Melbourne at 9pm and expected in Sydney by 6am. By one of the largest transport companies in Australia.

[hiper]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHzaeTpYB0

maybe we need to sit the family down (and anyone else who wants to punish trucks) and make them watch all of fullnoise' videos

[The G6ET Spot]

Originally Posted by hiper

maybe we need to sit the family down (and anyone else who wants to punish trucks) and make them watch all of fullnoise' videos

Maybe it was about time that a bit of education about trucks was given to learners when they are given driving lessons.

[Mechan1k]

Education is needed defintely ... along with a ton (no pun intended) of videos for parents ... and also youngin's going for their licences.

[barra265t]

Speaking of truckies, what are they trying to say when they flash their highbeams after you overtake them? Also notice they do this when the road up ahead is clear and there is another truck following closely behind.

[Mechan1k]

Usually to let you know you are safe to pull in ... also sometimes as a thanks for being patient as well (if on a dual-carriageway and that truck had been overtaking as well prior to your passing).

[69XWGT]

Doesn't matter if they're on a bike, driving a car or driving a truck.

There arer people out there that shouldn't have a licence
Poor drivers are everywhere and unfortunately for the professional drivers out there some are behind the wheel of a heavy vehicle
The worse ones i've seen on the M1 are in rigid trucks.
These idiots give all truck drivers a bad name.
The cowboys between Brisbane and the Gold Coast on the M1 are the worst drivers i have seen

I pounded the highways for years and to keep traffic flowing all trucks should be banned from the right lanes unless they are overtaking a slower vehicle

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

What are you doing on freeways if you can only go 80km/h?.

i don't get why they won't let p platers go 100. i mean, sure 80-90 teaches them patience, but it's a pain for other drivers behind them.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by mark300

correct me if i am wrong, but are semi trailer and B double trucks not limited to 100kph??? on numerous occasions ive seen trucks pulling more than 100 on the F3 between sydney and newcastle.

When NSW first introduced the 100 speed limited signs, owners were not required to prove they had a speed limiter installed before putting the signs on the back of the vehicle.

[irish2]

I rarely ever see truckies do the wrong thing on the road. Often they are compensating for the other idiots around them in cars.

[maty]

I drive the f3 regularly in a semi syd to gosford in a 100km speed limit truck n it does 100 to 101km and i pass alot of cars on 110km road ,most these people should have there speedo checked. Certain parts have truck use left two lanes on the 3 laned road.Whats annoying is ther are people sitting in the middle lane doing 80-90km n dont merge back left after the overtake.The biggest offenders are caravans n motorhomes they dont seem to like the left lane.There is also safety cam measuring point to point in nsw, the law of averages apply to your speed in a heavy vehicle.there was 1 put out near bathurst got 5 trucks in 18 months. Maybe these cameras should be activated for cars.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

Would you be prepared to wait extra days for your time sensitive freight?

Are you prepared for food to not be fresh when it hits you in the supermarket in Qld from WA, or Vic from WA and vice versa?

Or will you be the first to complain about all these things?

P

Container trains are allowed to do 115km/h
Trucks are limited to 100km/h

If there was double tracks everywhere to eliminate time spent stopped in crossing loops, and most tracks were good quality high speed track and a train should be able to get to the destination in a similar time to a truck.


People here saying they see more bad drivers in cars then trucks. Well that's true because there is alot more cars on the road then trucks.

[irish2]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Container trains are allowed to do 115km/h
Trucks are limited to 100km/h

If there was double tracks everywhere to eliminate time spent stopped in crossing loops, and most tracks were good quality high speed track and a train should be able to get to the destination in a similar time to a truck.

Sounds really feasible in a country the size of Australia.

We need trucks for transport it is that simple. We just have to teach people how to drive with mandatory defensive driving courses and the like. I often see people break road rules whilst still being "safe" at 10 under the limit.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by irish2

Sounds really feasible in a country the size of Australia.

What you mean a massive country that doesn't have that many people in it which means there is millions of acres that just have nothing? Take up some of that space with some more railway tracks.

Yeah it would cost some money, but they make enough from speed cameras. Plus most of the rail infrastructure already exists. Just needs some improvements.

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Container trains are allowed to do 115km/h
Trucks are limited to 100km/h

If there was double tracks everywhere to eliminate time spent stopped in crossing loops, and most tracks were good quality high speed track and a train should be able to get to the destination in a similar time to a truck.


People here saying they see more bad drivers in cars then trucks. Well that's true because there is alot more cars on the road then trucks.

Alright then, idealism intact, who do you suggest pays for such a change to tracks. Who is going to fund the high speed train, and while we're at it...who's going to be responsible when said train derails (which they do - people just don't hear about it). Do you know how long it takes to clear up derailed trains? How much damage is done to people's goods, if they get their goods back at all?

great idea Ben, but it's not viable, not even using as you suggested, money from revenue cameras.

You would need to change the guages on the tracks to avoid unload and load at borders, etc.

Not to mention, without a 'full load' - trains won't run...period.

The upgrade for 19km's of the Ipswich Motorway in Qld has cost us $19 billion dollars, how much do you think it's going to cost to restructure, repair and upgrade a whole rail network?

[irish2]

Originally Posted by Ben73

What you mean a massive country that doesn't have that many people in it which means there is millions of acres that just have nothing? Take up some of that space with some more railway tracks.

Yeah it would cost some money, but they make enough from speed cameras. Plus most of the rail infrastructure already exists. Just needs some improvements.

We are too big and have too small of a population to support massive infrastucture like you are proposing. The whole of europe fits inside mainland Australia and they still use trucks for transport, even with their much more advanced rail systems.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Container trains are allowed to do 115km/h
Trucks are limited to 100km/h

If there was double tracks everywhere to eliminate time spent stopped in crossing loops, and most tracks were good quality high speed track and a train should be able to get to the destination in a similar time to a truck.


People here saying they see more bad drivers in cars then trucks. Well that's true because there is alot more cars on the road then trucks.

They have argued in the past about having a double rail line along the QLD coast many yrs ago.... but like everything else, it comes down to money (lack of).

You could argue that the accident rate would also decrease if we had better roads and a dual carriageway Bruce Highway! But that aint ever going to happen either.....

Having a 2nd rail line for frieght is great, as long as it doesnt run parrallel to the the main line. A derailment of one train would mean the closure of both tracks for several days as crews work to clean it up. So again a dual line isnt 100% solution.

[2011G6E]

What we can boil it down to then is this:
Trucks are the knights of the road, any a vanishingly miniscule percentage do "the wrong thing".
Car drivers are the real problem and are to blame for all truckies woes.
Car drivers are the ones who should be undergoing driver training, leave trucks alone.

The problem is that observation of the situation is all that most people have to go on.
As I said, we can sit at the railway station here in my little town, right on the Capricorn Highway heading west, and at night (in fact most of the day too) watch approximately 80% of the B-doubles and Triples (mostly fuel tankers, a lot of cattle trucks, and grain trucks in season), not slowing down at all through town and continuing on at 100 to 110kph. Maybe because we don't have a police station in town?
Everyone, but everyone out here has been overtaken by semis, B-doubles, and even triples at some time, when we've been sitting on 100kph, or even 110 kph. Speed error doesn't come in to it...if our car speedo error means we are actually sitting on 95kph, there should be absolutely no way, given only a 5kph speed differential of the truck is indeed "limited to 100kph" (or apparently 95kph with triple road trains) they could not possibly get past you as quickly as they do and vanish off into the distance.
After being overtaken, many people have had the pleasant experience of a truck pulling back in after only his first trailer is past you, making you jam on the brakes or run off the road. "Misjudgement by the poor old truckie?". Nope. It's simply not the sort of mistake someone allegedly trained to a high degree of driving skill should make with a vehicle like that.
I don't know, something must magically happen to the speed limiters as soon as they turn off Highway One down the coast and start to head inland...

The stupidity and lack of foresight by governments of all political colour over the decades have created a situation where the rail network has concentrated almost solely on coal and heavily subsidised passenger services. Where freight networks did exist to almost every town, allowing a central pick up and drop off point for smaller trucks to do local deliveries as it should be, the government has ripped up lines, which don't get replaced.
This has formed a situation where semis and road trains now infest highways in numbers the roads were never designed for.
As for "freight will never get there on time"...freight trains are allowed to do 100kph, same as a truck...or more accurately should I say "same as a truck should be doing...".
Deliveries right to the door"? Generally, no they don't, unless we are talking some very large department stores. Most semis and B doubles go to a depot and get unloaded as they can't get to the middle of town, so what's the difference if it was getting unloaded at a rail depot and put on smaller trucks?

Hopefully in the future someone with political will and nation building foresight will invest in freight rail again. This, linked with environmental legislation which is sure to come, will hopefully mean a reduction in truck numbers on the roads.

However, until that time we all have to put up with a significant number of truck drivers doing the wrong thing. Unfortunately observation shows anyone willing to look honestly at what goes on across the highways that it isn't a "tiny minority" who do the wrong thing...plenty of ex-truckies will tell horror stories of what goes on in the industry, police know how much amphetamine abuse goes on and continually have raids and roadside stops with the Transport Department "Mermaids" (ask a truckie what it means ) to try and crack down on it, and if people are honest enough to admit it, they will know deep down that there's a lot of odd stuff going on.

So how about truck drivers just stick to the speed limit, if they claim they are being "forced" to break the law with unrealistic deadlines then go to the authorities with evidence, and have a bit of social conscience. Car drivers can't be simply blamed for all the problems.

[Full Noise]

Blah blah blah, the usual parrots crapping on about things they know nothing about. Let’s ban trucks, put everything on the rail, this truck tailgated me just because I kept speeding up on the overtaking lane and slowed down when he couldn’t pass.

I’ll tell ya something…
I don’t discuss the stock market, why? Because I know stuff all about it, yet everyone seems to be an expert about the road transport industry. Most parrots that harp on about the transport industry on forums and the general media also know nothing about it, well unless you take into account what they “learn” for ACA and Today Tonight.

I live just up the road (about 8 minutes) from where this young girl was killed on the freeway and managed to miss the traffic that day because I take Dandy Rd into the depot.

This was a tragic accident, that’s right, I used the word “accident” here. There’s a reason why the police haven’t charged the truck driver and that’s usually because they (the police) know that facts of what happened and understand that the truck driver was in an unavoidable situation and most likely, charges wouldn’t hold up in court.

The fact that the truck was in the right lane have stuff all to do with whether this young girl died. She would have died regardless of what lane she was in, also, there’s no guarantee that she would have lived if she was hit by another car while travelling at 30 KPH in a 100 zone.

This is a tragic accident and I fully understand the grief that the young girl’s family are going through, however, blaming the transport industry for the poor driving skills and lack of “road sense” of this young girl is just plain wrong.

What if the young girl had cut off a motorcycle instead of a truck and killed him instead? Would the young girl’s family be going to the media demanding changes to the way motorcycles are ridden? I think not. Perhaps they could suggest roll cages for motorcycles? Someone in government would be stupid enough to listen to them.

Once again, the road transport industry is the punching bag for everyone who as a gripe with how their life has turned out, for whatever reason.

Mistakes and accident just happen, some people just need to realise this.

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

What we can boil it down to then is this:
Trucks are the knights of the road, any a vanishingly miniscule percentage do "the wrong thing".
Car drivers are the real problem and are to blame for all truckies woes.
Car drivers are the ones who should be undergoing driver training, leave trucks alone.
The problem is that observation of the situation is all that most people have to go on.
As I said, we can sit at the railway station here in my little town, right on the Capricorn Highway heading west, and at night (in fact most of the day too) watch approximately 80% of the B-doubles and Triples (mostly fuel tankers, a lot of cattle trucks, and grain trucks in season), not slowing down at all through town and continuing on at 100 to 110kph. Maybe because we don't have a police station in town?
Everyone, but everyone out here has been overtaken by semis, B-doubles, and even triples at some time, when we've been sitting on 100kph, or even 110 kph. Speed error doesn't come in to it...if our car speedo error means we are actually sitting on 95kph, there should be absolutely no way, given only a 5kph speed differential of the truck is indeed "limited to 100kph" (or apparently 95kph with triple road trains) they could not possibly get past you as quickly as they do and vanish off into the distance.
After being overtaken, many people have had the pleasant experience of a truck pulling back in after only his first trailer is past you, making you jam on the brakes or run off the road. "Misjudgement by the poor old truckie?". Nope. It's simply not the sort of mistake someone allegedly trained to a high degree of driving skill should make with a vehicle like that.
I don't know, something must magically happen to the speed limiters as soon as they turn off Highway One down the coast and start to head inland...

The stupidity and lack of foresight by governments of all political colour over the decades have created a situation where the rail network has concentrated almost solely on coal and heavily subsidised passenger services. Where freight networks did exist to almost every town, allowing a central pick up and drop off point for smaller trucks to do local deliveries as it should be, the government has ripped up lines, which don't get replaced.
This has formed a situation where semis and road trains now infest highways in numbers the roads were never designed for.
As for "freight will never get there on time"...freight trains are allowed to do 100kph, same as a truck...or more accurately should I say "same as a truck should be doing...".
Deliveries right to the door"? Generally, no they don't, unless we are talking some very large department stores. Most semis and B doubles go to a depot and get unloaded as they can't get to the middle of town, so what's the difference if it was getting unloaded at a rail depot and put on smaller trucks?

Hopefully in the future someone with political will and nation building foresight will invest in freight rail again. This, linked with environmental legislation which is sure to come, will hopefully mean a reduction in truck numbers on the roads.

However, until that time we all have to put up with a significant number of truck drivers doing the wrong thing. Unfortunately observation shows anyone willing to look honestly at what goes on across the highways that it isn't a "tiny minority" who do the wrong thing...plenty of ex-truckies will tell horror stories of what goes on in the industry, police know how much amphetamine abuse goes on and continually have raids and roadside stops with the Transport Department "Mermaids" (ask a truckie what it means ) to try and crack down on it, and if people are honest enough to admit it, they will know deep down that there's a lot of odd stuff going on.

So how about truck drivers just stick to the speed limit, if they claim they are being "forced" to break the law with unrealistic deadlines then go to the authorities with evidence, and have a bit of social conscience. Car drivers can't be simply blamed for all the problems.

Oh my god...you really are clueless...

I've got a better idea - you go drive a truck, and see what happens. You will be surprised.

Firstly, wake up to yourself...

Secondly, those to blame for truckies woes?
- People like you who spout all sorts of rhetorical BS and believe that it's okay to pigeon hole them all in the same cage.
- Car drivers who have ABSOLUTELY no understanding of how difficult it is to stop a 40 Tonne vehicle when they overtake them pull in so close to their front end and jam on the brakes, cut them off in traffic and behave as though they own the road - Physics 101 - you will never come out on top with a truck. Why bother trying it?
- Idiots who believe that they can do whatever the hell they want - truck drivers included who go to work on drugs to stay awake because some pompous ***** in an office needs a document YESTERDAY!

There is unlikely to ever be a rail system such as you keep suggesting...and the reasoning? It's not profitable, and never will be. Goods won't arrive on time, goods will arrive in poor condition, you name it. It happens - even the best forkie loader has the potential to ******* up, and movement in trains etc. Carriage A can't connect to carriage B because it contains DG, carriage C can't be within 100m of carriage D because it's food. And as I said earlier, if it's not a full load - it just DOESN'T go...

The problem is that most people lack the brain capacity to understand it's not as cut and dry as you might think.

Meh, I'm wasting my breath...go hard, you'll make a great politician...

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

What we can boil it down to then is this:
Trucks are the knights of the road, any a vanishingly miniscule percentage do "the wrong thing".
Car drivers are the real problem and are to blame for all truckies woes.
Car drivers are the ones who should be undergoing driver training, leave trucks alone.

The problem is that observation of the situation is all that most people have to go on.
As I said, we can sit at the railway station here in my little town, right on the Capricorn Highway heading west, and at night (in fact most of the day too) watch approximately 80% of the B-doubles and Triples (mostly fuel tankers, a lot of cattle trucks, and grain trucks in season), not slowing down at all through town and continuing on at 100 to 110kph. Maybe because we don't have a police station in town?
Everyone, but everyone out here has been overtaken by semis, B-doubles, and even triples at some time, when we've been sitting on 100kph, or even 110 kph. Speed error doesn't come in to it...if our car speedo error means we are actually sitting on 95kph, there should be absolutely no way, given only a 5kph speed differential of the truck is indeed "limited to 100kph" (or apparently 95kph with triple road trains) they could not possibly get past you as quickly as they do and vanish off into the distance.
After being overtaken, many people have had the pleasant experience of a truck pulling back in after only his first trailer is past you, making you jam on the brakes or run off the road. "Misjudgement by the poor old truckie?". Nope. It's simply not the sort of mistake someone allegedly trained to a high degree of driving skill should make with a vehicle like that.
I don't know, something must magically happen to the speed limiters as soon as they turn off Highway One down the coast and start to head inland...

The stupidity and lack of foresight by governments of all political colour over the decades have created a situation where the rail network has concentrated almost solely on coal and heavily subsidised passenger services. Where freight networks did exist to almost every town, allowing a central pick up and drop off point for smaller trucks to do local deliveries as it should be, the government has ripped up lines, which don't get replaced.
This has formed a situation where semis and road trains now infest highways in numbers the roads were never designed for.
As for "freight will never get there on time"...freight trains are allowed to do 100kph, same as a truck...or more accurately should I say "same as a truck should be doing...".
Deliveries right to the door"? Generally, no they don't, unless we are talking some very large department stores. Most semis and B doubles go to a depot and get unloaded as they can't get to the middle of town, so what's the difference if it was getting unloaded at a rail depot and put on smaller trucks?

Hopefully in the future someone with political will and nation building foresight will invest in freight rail again. This, linked with environmental legislation which is sure to come, will hopefully mean a reduction in truck numbers on the roads.

However, until that time we all have to put up with a significant number of truck drivers doing the wrong thing. Unfortunately observation shows anyone willing to look honestly at what goes on across the highways that it isn't a "tiny minority" who do the wrong thing...plenty of ex-truckies will tell horror stories of what goes on in the industry, police know how much amphetamine abuse goes on and continually have raids and roadside stops with the Transport Department "Mermaids" (ask a truckie what it means ) to try and crack down on it, and if people are honest enough to admit it, they will know deep down that there's a lot of odd stuff going on.

So how about truck drivers just stick to the speed limit, if they claim they are being "forced" to break the law with unrealistic deadlines then go to the authorities with evidence, and have a bit of social conscience. Car drivers can't be simply blamed for all the problems.

Must be something to do with northern Qld because where I drive on country highways 99% of the trucks do the right thing oddly enough.. To be honest I could count the amount of times I've had dramas with a truck on one hand, where as the amount of dramas I have with morons in other cars is a daily occurance.

You do know trains kill innocent people as well dont you? I hope no one ever drives a car infront of your train when you are unable to stop it in time. My grandpa worked for QR and had a car load of teenagers drive into the side of his diesel one night outside toowoomba, was that his fault? No, but in the end it killed him too because he couldnt do anything, just like the truck driver in this case couldnt do anything when the girl stopped infront of him.

[FgNewbie]

A distressing tragedy. I agree cars should go faster than trucks. I do not agree with truck bashing good drivers.

I just had a frustrating phone call with a friend's sister (she is probably 59).

She is so accustomed to driving around 50 in the burbs, she was "PUSHING IT" to do 60 - 70 on the highway / freeway.

I suggested she should catch a train next time to which she replied... " I'm safe, I keep left "

I'm now considering which is more dangerous: a slow driver or someone driving faster than their ability. (Yeh Yeh... get them both off the road).

If it's a slow driver, should cars with trailers be banned because they may need to slow when hit with cross winds (or may be under powered to climb hills).

Not that it would guarantee a different outcome, I wonder at what point the truck driver saw the car.

It reminds me of the culture to keep accelerating when driving something (not only trucks) that takes effort to build up speed when common sense and safe driving would dictate backing off.

Also add spirited car drivers that effectively play chicken with gap management as they accelerate towards cars which are indicating to turn or similar.

It doesn't take much for something to go horribly wrong especially when not driving to conditions. Doesn't matter who's right or wrong when you are dead. Drive safe and share the road.