32 AUGUST 2019 ownerdriver.com.au
who are still learning the ropes. “He mightn’t have signed his
logbook. Once he gets a formal warning, he won’t do it again.
“It’s absolutely torturous for a truck driver – particularly a
young one – to get pulled up by these overzealous officers,”
Ian says.
“I’ve seen the aftermath of drivers when they get pulled up
and have a very bad intercept and they drive away from that
intercept in a bad mood – they’re the ones who are likely to
have an accident.”Training first
“Education beats litigation every day of the week,” says Ian
who suggests sending young drivers for training would
be more effective than imposing fines. With improved
knowledge, the driver is more likely to be compliant next
time he is pulled over.
The approach he proposes is not intended for repeat
offenders or truckies who have done something ‘dastardly
wrong’. It would only be for drivers who are new to trucking,
and whose minor infringements have not caused a danger to
the public.
The reality of trucking is much more challenging for
new drivers than the Utopia Ian dreams of. Despite the
challenges, he believes trucking is a great career because
drivers can “in an indirect way, be your own boss”. Seeing
Australia and meeting people are other attractions.
He urges young drivers to be enthusiastic learners and to
speak up when they have questions. To reduce their chances
of being fined, “young drivers should take training on board
and embrace training”.RMS response
A NSW Roads and Maritime Services spokesperson advises
that, where possible, RMS prefers to educate parties in
complying with the law. “Fines and prosecutions are pursued
only where the severity of the incident warrants this,” the
spokesperson says.
“Instances of wrong dates in diaries, counting time
errors or an incorrect heading or spelling mistake are most
commonly dealt with by a discussion with the driver and
altering the entry to ensure it is correct.
“This assumes most drivers are doing the right thing and
are not attempting to conceal evidence of an offence.”Top: Ian is a TruckSafe and NHVAS
AccreditorAbove: “I had a few frights”. Ian
Pendered jack-knifed a Wrights
Cattle Transport truck at Wave Hill
in the Northern Territory in 1974“[Police] are lurking
behind every tree and
every corner.”
Ian Pendered passed his truck licence in
Campbelltown, New South Wales, on his 18th
birthday in 1972, and delivered a load of cattle in
a petrol Bedford that same day. A year later he
was in the Northern Territory carting livestock in
road trains.
He has clocked up several million kilometres
since then, mostly carting agricultural products.
Ian earned his nick-name ‘Rice Eater’ when he was
driving a Japanese truck – a UD – for Morrison
Bros Dairies at Appin. He was an owner-driver for
many years, and was also employed by A&B Dean
of Adelong, Chinchilla Transport, Wrights Cattle
Transport of Mt Isa, Alan Davis of Dubbo, David
Findlay and other companies.
“In my heyday I drove trucks as fast as the rest
of them,” says Ian who also admits drivers had
scant respect for fatigue laws back in the 1970s
and 1980s.
“We did what we did back then because we
didn’t know any better.” Many of the older drivers
he looked up to drove too fast and overloaded
their trucks. “We just followed in their footsteps.”
As he matured, Ian began to question his driving
habits. “I had a few frights, and that started to
make me think about my behaviour.”
In the late 1990s, as part-owner of Specialised
Bulk Haulage and Hillston Agricultural Services,
he began employing drivers and took a serious
interest in safety. “Once I was responsible for
people’s lives, and getting them home to their
family safely, I then started to adopt driver fatigue
into my system.” And he joined the TruckSafe
program.
As CEO of Pentrans Consulting, which he
founded in 2003, Ian shares his passion for safety
with drivers and trucking companies. He is a
TruckSafe and NHVAS accreditor and operates
a training organisation at Wilton, NSW.WISER AND SAFER