98 AUGUST 2019 ownerdriver.com.au
THEINTERSTATERVoiceofthetruckdriver
T
HISMONTHI wouldliketohandoverthe
pagetoa letterI receivedthatI foundvery
interesting,extremelyinsightfulanda must
readfrom“Roy”.Nowretiredatage67,Roy
hasalwayshada disabilityduetochildhood
polio,buthecanstilldriveandhe’s“bloody
goodatit”.
Unfortunately,onedaywhileadjustinghisload,Roy
slippedoffthebackoftherig.Topreventhishead
hittingtheroad,hestretchedoutmyleftarm.Ithit
theroadstiff,palmfirst,andsplitbothradiusand
ulnalength-wise.
Then,Roy’shipshittheroadtwisted,followedby
hisleftshoulderandbackofhishead.Now,hisneck
andshouldershurtallthetimeandhecan’tlifta gate,
palletoranythingabovehisshoulders.Butoneday
afterthefallhewasbackatworkdriving,witha big
plaster-castonhisleftarm;andchanginggearswith
hisrighthand.
“Ihadnochoice;nowork,nopayandI stillhada
wifeandkidtosupport.”
ROY’SLETTER
DearInterstater,whatyouwroteintheJuneissueof
Owner//Driverpromptedmetofinallyexercisethe
typing-bones.
I gotmysemi-licenceat16,whichI wasabletodo
inSouthAustraliabackin1968.Inordertogetsome
experiencedoinginterstatedriving,I wasassistedby
theproprietorofmylocalservice-station,‘Gus’ofBP
Highbury.Heputmeincontactwith‘John’whoagreed
totakemeonhisnexttriptoMelbourne.
Johnhada single-driverigidCommerwith24fttray
(gatesandtarps),anda 6.354Perkins,5-speed‘boxand
2-speedaxle.Weloadedwith‘generalfreight’inthe
afternoon,andheadedofftoMelbourne.Notethat
generalfreightmeantanyshitthingthatthesemi-
driversdidn’twanttotake,andabout 10 different
deliveriesinMelbourne.
I wasinformedoncewewereonourwaythatthis
wasJohn’sthirdtriptoMelbournewithoutsleep!Each
one-waytripwas:afternoonload,overnightdriveand
morningunload.That’sfourone-waytripsx 24hours
= 96hours!Andwewerenowona thirdroundtrip.
Mybeinginformedofthis,atmytenderageof
16 years,wasinresponsetomyinquiryaboutthe
medicationJohntookasweproceededuptheSouth-
EasternFreeway.“Oh”,hereplied.“Thesearetokeepme
awake”.Itwasmyintroductionto‘speed’(ephedrine
sulphate),notthatI everusedany.
EventhoughI’vedone 38 hoursina stretch,I’veonly
evertakencoffeeandPepsi(andstuckmyheadoutthe
windowoncoldnights).
Anyway,wesurvivedthetriptoMelbourne,with
Johndrivingalltheway.Myabilitytoassistwith
unloadinghelpedustodoallthedeliveriesbylunch-
time.Afterlunch,Johnhadarrangedpick-ups;and,we
finallygotoutofMelbourneatabout6pm.
WestoppedatTed’sRoad-House,DeerPark,andhad
a goodfeed.Onourwalkbacktothetruck,Johnasked
mehowI feltaboutdrivinguptoBallaratsohecould
grabanhour’ssleep.I said,“Noproblem”.So,I climbed
intothedriver’sseat,Johnleaneda pillowagainstthe
passengerdoor,andhewassnoringawaybeforeI was
evenonthehighway.
WithJohn‘awaywiththefairies’;andmeenjoying
myfirstinterstatedrive,I cruisedthroughBallarat
andontowardsAdelaide.Wehaddrinksand
sandwichesinthecabanda fullloadofdiesel,soI
lethimsleepandkeptondriving.Afterthecurves
andbendsofthedrivedownfromEagle-On-the-
HilltoDevil’sElbow,Johnfinallyawokeaswewere
approachingtheoldtollhate,justbeforetheCross
Road/PortrushRoadtraffic-lightsatabout5am.“Yawn,
yawn.AreweinBallaratyet?Hang-on,thisisAdelaide.
Youdrovealltheway?”saidJohn;nodoubtastounded
thathehadsleptforabout 11 hours.
I toldhimthat,asheneededthesleepandI wasfine
tokeepdriving,I justlethimsleep.
Hewassograteful.I wasjustalongfortheridebut
heevenpaidme$25fordoingthedriving(which
wasnotbadfor1968,andmeonly16).I toldhim
nottoworryaboutpayingmebutheinsistedashe
reallyneededsleep.WedidtheAdelaidedeliveries;he
droppedmebackatBPHighburyandwentofftosee
hisfamily.I wentonwiththerestofmylife.Neversaw
himagain.I hopehedidn’tdieontheroad.ECONOMICALDRIVING
Laterinmydrivingcareer,I drovefora reallynice
Dutchguy,Bill.Hewasa verywisemanandtaughtme
a lotof‘oldschool’tips.Oneofthemwas,“Godowna
steephillinthesamegearyou’dusetocomeupthe
hill.”Thatwayyouensureyourengine’scompression(anda ‘JakeBrake’,ifyouhaveone)wouldslowyour
vehiclewithoutoveruseofyourbrakes.Anoccasional
touchofthetrailer-brakeswasallBillneeded.
AnothertipwasprettymuchwhatCumminsare
nowdoing:keepyourenginerevsaslowastheyneed
tobe.Themoreyoupressthethrottlepedal,themore
dieselyouburn.
BillandhisbrotherHenryoftendiddoublewide-
loads,withmedrivingthepilotvehicle.Billdrovea
Mercedes.Henrydrovea D-SeriesFordwith,I believe,
a 190hpCummins.Anyway,Henrywasa ‘lead-foot’
who’dhammerawayateveryhill,pedal-to-the-metal,
usingeverygearupthehill,andacceleratingoverthe
topanddowntheotherside.Bill,however,wouldjust
usea moderatethrottle,lettingtherevsslowlydrop-
off,thenshift-downtwogearsandcontinuewitha
moderatethrottle,justslowly‘plodding’overthecrest
ofthehill.Thenhe’dletgravityacceleratehimdown
theotherside.
Attheendoftherun,Billwasgetting7mpg,witha
17-tonneload.Henrywasgetting5.5mpgwitha 12or
14-tonneload.Makeyourownassessmentofwhich
techniqueisthemoresensible.BillwasalwayswillingCareer in retrospect
totakeanextrahalf-hour,and save
heapsonfuelcosts(nottomention wear-
and-tear,brakelinings,tyres, etc.).
Asfortherestofmy‘career’? Well,
I didn’tstayinthetrucking game. I
spentmanyyearsdriving,working
inwarehouses;operatingcranes and
forklifts.I evengota jobmanaging a
warehousefora while.
Asfarasdrivinggoes,I’ve driven
trucks,semis,busesandtaxis. With
thetrucking,I eventuallysettled for just
drivingaroundAdelaide.I had a wife
and young child. My wife didn’t like
me being away or spending nights by
herself, so I got a local delivery job with
my own rig and the occasional trip to
Melbourne.
Eventually all the stress of being an
owner-driver became too much and
I packed it in. Costs were rising. What
we get paid never rises in proportion
and we are always expected to do too
much unpaid work. I figured that it had
become too much of a ‘mug’s game’ and I
didn’t need the stress.
In the intervening years, I’ve had an
occasional driving job, including one in
Tasmania where I was often expected
to do 38 hours without sleep. I gave that
one away after three months.
I really miss driving heavy vehicles.
Although I have done a good deal of
driving, I never really got to ‘live the
dream’. Actually, I don’t believe that
dream actually exists. For most of
us, it just becomes a nightmare or it kills
you.
If things were different and we
actually got paid what we’re worth, I
would probably still be doing it, but it
isn’t going to change any time soon. In
fact, I reckon it’s still pretty much how
it was in the ’70s. We are still expectedto speed, overload, drive un-roadworthy
vehicles and stay awake for days at a
time. And we’re never paid what we
are worth.FAIR RATES
I reckon that the best hope we had for
getting decent rates was the RSRT. It
might not have been perfect, but it was
the best that’s been done so far.
The LNP Government, Coles, Woolworths
and all their cronies will never want
fair rates. Unless drivers get organised,
militant and political, we haven’t got
ëɐIJşżĕȰ
For better or worse, that’s my
contribution to the debate. There’s a
lot more I could say; but ‘Interstater’
(whoever you really are), I agree with
pretty much everything you say.
Keep on saying it like it is; don’t
pull any punches. Cheers, mate.- Roy
Tosendfeedback, e-mailThe Interstater at
[email protected]An avid Owner//Driver reader offers these words of
wisdom after a lifetime in the transport industry
“All the stress of being an owner-driver
became too much.”