I have read with much interest the comments by many regarding truckies disregard for the traffic laws regarding speeding , bad driving in that they try to bully other drivers into giving way or when changing lanes. Than on the other side, truckies complaining about caravan drivers not having the skills to operate their vans safety and point to the number of roll overs that keep getting published.
I would like to point out right at this moment the National Transport Commission has requested Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) to review the transport industry to implement a risk-based approach to regulating heavy vehicles. The NTC will accept submissions until 31 May 2019 online.
View at https://hvnlreview.ntc.gov.au/risk-based-regulation
I bring this up, as here is your opportunity to put forward a submission in how the transport industry is to operate in future, be it speed limits, maintenance, loads , fatigue etc. and I have attached one issue that is likely to effect all road users as the transport industry in 5.6.2 could see larger vehicles (B triples, road trains, Higher productivity vehicles etc) doing higher speeds or longer hrs with only the operator being the one responsible for complying to the new legislation if passed.
5.6.2 Higher productivity
The new law should seek to eliminate any potential obstacles to achieving increased productivity and support the safe and efficient use of road assets and infrastructure by higher productivity vehicles. This means fewer heavy vehicle trips for a given freight and service task.
So unless you want to see what could become a lawless highway system in future years you need to submit some of those campfire suggestions or even some of your own experiences to this review before the closing date, as Im sure the transport industry would be pushing for greater caravan regulation.
outlaw40 said
12:54 PM May 10, 2019
Dont see anything their that relates to caravans . dont see that they are trying to restrict caravans or that caravaners should be adding there 2 bobs worth regarding the nasty truckies .
Mariner30 said
01:20 PM May 10, 2019
" a lawless highway system? "
A bit too dramatic there old boy
Olive Oil said
02:23 PM May 10, 2019
Whats wrong with truckies?
Very rare to strike a bad one.
Honest blokes earning an honest living.
What about the bad caravaners, we've struck a few cowboys in our 85,000kms in the past 8 years?
Aus-Kiwi said
04:53 PM May 10, 2019
Thing is theres a hell a lot of retired truckies out there nomading . Most complain about trucks because they are incompetent drivers themselves. Being terrified driving nearby trucks . I found in most cases out on open roads . Truck drivers very good . Even to the point of calling on CB to say they are turning off in 500 meters . Very safe . Plus I find their speed to be pretty much spot on to GPS . Passenger cars read high so they cant be responsible for speeding or at fault due to speed reading in accident !! Most speedos read 5 to 10% fast .
yobarr said
06:50 PM May 10, 2019
Olive Oil wrote:
Whats wrong with truckies?
Very rare to strike a bad one.
Honest blokes earning an honest living.
What about the bad caravaners, we've struck a few cowboys in our 85,000kms in the past 8 years?
Well said.....after my years truck driving,doing 1000km most days,I can confidently say that if many caravanners were twice as good as they THINK they are,they still would be absolutely incompetent.My biggest gripe would be about those who dawdle along at 80-85km/hr on the open road,gazing left and right,ignoring their mirrors,oblivious to the queue building up behind them.But as soon as a Passing lane ahead sign is spotted these clowns hit the loud pedal,racing up to over 100km/ht for the length of the passing lane,only to back off as soon as the lane ends.Truckies usually know the roads well,and can plan ahead for their overtaking manoeuvre,but these idiots regularly thwart those plans.We dont care what speed you travel at,as long as you STAY AT THE SAME SPEED when an overtaking lane appears.From experience,I know that this message will likely fall on deaf ears,but I have at least done what I can.When challenged at the next truck stop etc,these morons regularly will say Ill drive at whatever speed I want. Cest la vie.Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:06 PM
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:39 PM
Greg 1 said
07:12 PM May 10, 2019
I agree. In all my travels, the bad truck drivers would be only a handful. Most are professional in their approach and if you use the CB to communicate with them, you can get them past you and on their way without drama and most will give you a thank you and safe travels.
I do regularly run up against the caravanners who are travelling slowly and will go for miles with scant regard for the conga line of traffic they have behind them. I have no complaint if thats the speed they feel comfortable at, but for gods sake pull over from time to time and let the traffic past.
outlaw40 said
05:38 AM May 11, 2019
In case anyone missed it ,my original post was tongue in cheek . the ops post to me looks very inflammatory ( probably a troll ) trying to stir the pot . I dont think the survey that the link refers to is intended for the general public to go truckie bashing i believe it is for professional drivers and those involved in the industry to have there say on improving there industry . Again i think op is just a truck hater trolling .
travelyounger said
08:45 AM May 11, 2019
Hi while you are trying to put some new regulations in place why not push for higher penalties for some of the cowboys and cowgirls out there driving vehicles not towing .They should be made to pay for there poor irresponsible erratic driving puting truckies and us lives at risk
Rob Driver said
08:52 AM May 11, 2019
A bit harsh to refer to a participating member as a troll.
I take it (his post) as just a bit of information informing us that there is but a constant monitoring in the trucking industry.
The exercise apparently is asking to identify the areas where the industry has generalised with its regulations to the detriment of some operators because of operational circumstances.
The fact that a caravan operator may step from an office job of 55 years, retire, and then take charge of a 7 tonne articulated vehicle with little to no training or licence is unfortunately only a very small item on the agenda of risk assessment.
I could probably add without too much reservation that if some suggestions are taken up by the powers to be to increase the size and weight of trucks then these same caravanners would be the first to be up in arms about the new regulations.
I dont know the OP but he may have asked for comments from the caravan sector as he may want to complete the survey with a hands on view of our thoughts.
Constructive comments on what we on this forum are thinking, would be a lot better than calling a member a troll.
Eaglemax said
01:41 PM May 11, 2019
yobarr wrote:
Olive Oil wrote:
Whats wrong with truckies?
Very rare to strike a bad one.
Honest blokes earning an honest living.
What about the bad caravaners, we've struck a few cowboys in our 85,000kms in the past 8 years?
Well said.....after my years truck driving,doing 1000km most days,I can confidently say that if many caravanners were twice as good as they THINK they are,they still would be absolutely incompetent.My biggest gripe would be about those who dawdle along at 80-85km/hr on the open road,gazing left and right,ignoring their mirrors,oblivious to the queue building up behind them.But as soon as a Passing lane ahead sign is spotted these clowns hit the loud pedal,racing up to over 100km/ht for the length of the passing lane,only to back off as soon as the lane ends.Truckies usually know the roads well,and can plan ahead for their overtaking manoeuvre,but these idiots regularly thwart those plans.We dont care what speed you travel at,as long as you STAY AT THE SAME SPEED when an overtaking lane appears.From experience,I know that this message will likely fall on deaf ears,but I have at least done what I can.When challenged at the next truck stop etc,these morons regularly will say Ill drive at whatever speed I want. Cest la vie.Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:06 PM
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:39 PM
I agree with the rest of your post Yobarr (that's a first) but this bit has been a constant topic here on this forum that I totally disagree with "My biggest gripe would be about those who dawdle along at 80-85km/hr on the open road"
There are many drivers whom cruise at 80-85kph like farming/agricultural drivers, or those that two vintage caravans with vintage cars for example and in my experience towing our first caravan around Oz at 85-90kph we didn't a/ see any caravanner speed up when there was an overtaking lane then slow up when it ended- that's a furphy- such pure nastiness in driving isn't warranted if it does happen but I will say, many overtaking lanes are downhill I've noticed then uphill, so the intent of the driver isn't necessarily to be a pri*k and if they are acting like one they have a mean streak for no obvious reason. I jus think that occurrence is rare.
So in summary, imo it isn't the speed that drivers drive at....it is that when they drive at a slow speed they aren't considerate when the opportunity arises where they can be.
We don't own a CB radio, for my own reasons of too many distractions is a problem for me (no aircon either lol). I do however communicate with indicators, a brief flash or headlight flash when its safe for them to pull back in- 90% of the time I get a thankyou flash- good enough for me.
My main gripe with some truckies is the dirt/gravel/woodchip trucks either empty or full sometimes they pass and hit a small pothole and debris falls bouncing on the road onto your rig. The main culprits are the city tippers and they do speed a lot.
Otherwise truckies are great.
Tony
Mike Harding said
05:21 PM May 11, 2019
In my experience of 50 years driving many types of vehicles from motorcycles to large trucks in 17 countries I consider Australian car drivers are some of the worse and least skilled in the Western world and Australian truck drivers are some of the best in the whole world.
yobarr said
07:49 PM May 11, 2019
Mike Harding wrote:
In my experience of 50 years driving many types of vehicles from motorcycles to large trucks in 17 countries I consider Australian car drivers are some of the worse and least skilled in the Western world and Australian truck drivers are some of the best in the whole world.
NOW someone is talking sense! I have similar experience,and have driven in a similar number of countries.Australian car drivers seem to live in a world of their own whilst theyre driving,oblivious to all around them,and having little ability to anticipate and manage potentially dangerous situations.But dont even THINK about telling them that! Cheers
Micka said
07:04 AM May 12, 2019
Sorry I may of missed the general vibe of the past blogs of this forum where there is a constant call for caravan operators to have mandatory testing of their skills to pull a caravan, usually by truckers or x truckers..
Here is the opportunity for all road users to have their say on the way forward for the truck industry by submitting to this current review.Of concern to ever- one should be the pharse higher productivity vehicles as this could mean, faster trucks, longer trucks, longer driving hrs, bigger loads or even driverless trucks.
Yes this reviews open to all roads users and the review panel encourages the general public to comment.
Peace to all
fwdoz said
09:16 PM May 12, 2019
We just spent 10 weeks on the road from Melbourne to Adelaide, across the Nullarbor to Carnarvon & back down the coast to the South West corner, then back across the Nullarbor to the Riverland & Echuca.
In all that 12,400kms we had one truckie overtake just a bit too close, but all the rest were no trouble at all. In fact, quite a fair few were extremely friendly.
Mariner30 said
11:24 AM May 13, 2019
" Truckers or ex Truckers " as well...
Outrageous!!
outlaw40 said
01:11 PM May 13, 2019
Dont have TRUCKERS in australia we have TRUCKIES and bloody good ones
jeepnudger said
03:54 PM Jun 1, 2019
We live on central coast NSW and travel up and down the M1 motorway .What astounds me is the way a truck/semi-trailer/bdouble will pull out into middle lane to overtake another truck etc and then find his speed is the same as truck he is trying to overtake and the 2 trucks take up 2 lanes causing traffic following to scream to a snail pace while these trucks carry on like the roads belong to them. The other dangerous thing these trucks do is just put blinker on and move out into centre lane with no care about the vehicles they cut off and again cause lots of following vehicles to slow down.
Trucks on hills should be made to stay in left lane and not try to overtake another heavy vehicle.
yobarr said
07:41 PM Jun 1, 2019
jeepnudger wrote:
Trucks on hills should be made to stay in left lane and not try to overtake another heavy vehicle.
Surely you jest? If not you obviously have not driven trucks. Can you seriously expect a 650hp Kenworth,capable of well over 100km/hr (I wont say how much over 100km/hr for fear of causing you to have a heart attack) to sit behind a fully laden 350hp ACCO B Double as it struggles up a hill,just because YOU said it should? Behave. The last truck I drove before I gave the game away (another story altogether) was a 650hp Kenworth 950 which flew up hills like they werent there.How a comment such as yours can be made by anybody with anything more than the the most remote understanding of how traffic flows is beyond me. For years,I drove a 62 tonne B Double 1000km/day,6 days a week,so I believe that I have enough experience to reply to your post. Trucks have nowhere near the power to weight ratio of the average car,and depend on momentum to help them maintain a steady speed,whereas a car driver simply can easily accelerate on any hill if he wishes. I could go on to explain a few simple truths to you,but in summary I will ask you to look at the last of the pretty faces you posted above.That face summarises my thoughts about your post.Safe and happy travels to all.Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of June 2019 07:42:24 PM
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of June 2019 07:45:18 PM
Ron-D said
08:58 AM Jun 2, 2019
Trucks on The road no problems we need them to move our commodities around,caravans we need them to enjoy our life styles,the thing that annoys me on the big expressways ,even if your towing at the 100k speed limit,they fly past you on the straights seeing a caravan is like we have to get around it no matter how fast its travelling thats there mentalitys ,then on the hills they crawl and your stuck behind them ,and so the game goes on...
I have read with much interest the comments by many regarding truckies disregard for the traffic laws regarding speeding , bad driving in that they try to bully other drivers into giving way or when changing lanes. Than on the other side, truckies complaining about caravan drivers not having the skills to operate their vans safety and point to the number of roll overs that keep getting published.
I would like to point out right at this moment the National Transport Commission has requested Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) to review the transport industry to implement a risk-based approach to regulating heavy vehicles. The NTC will accept submissions until 31 May 2019 online.
View at https://hvnlreview.ntc.gov.au/risk-based-regulation
I bring this up, as here is your opportunity to put forward a submission in how the transport industry is to operate in future, be it speed limits, maintenance, loads , fatigue etc. and I have attached one issue that is likely to effect all road users as the transport industry in 5.6.2 could see larger vehicles (B triples, road trains, Higher productivity vehicles etc) doing higher speeds or longer hrs with only the operator being the one responsible for complying to the new legislation if passed.
5.6.2 Higher productivity
The new law should seek to eliminate any potential obstacles to achieving increased productivity and support the safe and efficient use of road assets and infrastructure by higher productivity vehicles. This means fewer heavy vehicle trips for a given freight and service task.
So unless you want to see what could become a lawless highway system in future years you need to submit some of those campfire suggestions or even some of your own experiences to this review before the closing date, as Im sure the transport industry would be pushing for greater caravan regulation.
Very rare to strike a bad one.
Honest blokes earning an honest living.
What about the bad caravaners, we've struck a few cowboys in our 85,000kms in the past 8 years?
Well said.....after my years truck driving,doing 1000km most days,I can confidently say that if many caravanners were twice as good as they THINK they are,they still would be absolutely incompetent.My biggest gripe would be about those who dawdle along at 80-85km/hr on the open road,gazing left and right,ignoring their mirrors,oblivious to the queue building up behind them.But as soon as a Passing lane ahead sign is spotted these clowns hit the loud pedal,racing up to over 100km/ht for the length of the passing lane,only to back off as soon as the lane ends.Truckies usually know the roads well,and can plan ahead for their overtaking manoeuvre,but these idiots regularly thwart those plans.We dont care what speed you travel at,as long as you STAY AT THE SAME SPEED when an overtaking lane appears.From experience,I know that this message will likely fall on deaf ears,but I have at least done what I can.When challenged at the next truck stop etc,these morons regularly will say Ill drive at whatever speed I want. Cest la vie.Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:06 PM
-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 10th of May 2019 06:54:39 PM
Hi while you are trying to put some new regulations in place why not push for higher penalties for some of the cowboys and cowgirls out there driving vehicles not towing .They should be made to pay for there poor irresponsible erratic driving puting truckies and us lives at risk
I take it (his post) as just a bit of information informing us that there is but a constant monitoring in the trucking industry.
The exercise apparently is asking to identify the areas where the industry has generalised with its regulations to the detriment of some operators because of operational circumstances.
The fact that a caravan operator may step from an office job of 55 years, retire, and then take charge of a 7 tonne articulated vehicle with little to no training or licence is unfortunately only a very small item on the agenda of risk assessment.
I could probably add without too much reservation that if some suggestions are taken up by the powers to be to increase the size and weight of trucks then these same caravanners would be the first to be up in arms about the new regulations.
I dont know the OP but he may have asked for comments from the caravan sector as he may want to complete the survey with a hands on view of our thoughts.
Constructive comments on what we on this forum are thinking, would be a lot better than calling a member a troll.
I agree with the rest of your post Yobarr (that's a first) but this bit has been a constant topic here on this forum that I totally disagree with "My biggest gripe would be about those who dawdle along at 80-85km/hr on the open road"
There are many drivers whom cruise at 80-85kph like farming/agricultural drivers, or those that two vintage caravans with vintage cars for example and in my experience towing our first caravan around Oz at 85-90kph we didn't a/ see any caravanner speed up when there was an overtaking lane then slow up when it ended- that's a furphy- such pure nastiness in driving isn't warranted if it does happen but I will say, many overtaking lanes are downhill I've noticed then uphill, so the intent of the driver isn't necessarily to be a pri*k and if they are acting like one they have a mean streak for no obvious reason. I jus think that occurrence is rare.
So in summary, imo it isn't the speed that drivers drive at....it is that when they drive at a slow speed they aren't considerate when the opportunity arises where they can be.
We don't own a CB radio, for my own reasons of too many distractions is a problem for me (no aircon either lol). I do however communicate with indicators, a brief flash or headlight flash when its safe for them to pull back in- 90% of the time I get a thankyou flash- good enough for me.
My main gripe with some truckies is the dirt/gravel/woodchip trucks either empty or full sometimes they pass and hit a small pothole and debris falls bouncing on the road onto your rig. The main culprits are the city tippers and they do speed a lot.
Otherwise truckies are great.
Tony
In my experience of 50 years driving many types of vehicles from motorcycles to large trucks in 17 countries I consider Australian car drivers are some of the worse and least skilled in the Western world and Australian truck drivers are some of the best in the whole world.
NOW someone is talking sense! I have similar experience,and have driven in a similar number of countries.Australian car drivers seem to live in a world of their own whilst theyre driving,oblivious to all around them,and having little ability to anticipate and manage potentially dangerous situations.But dont even THINK about telling them that! Cheers
Sorry I may of missed the general vibe of the past blogs of this forum where there is a constant call for caravan operators to have mandatory testing of their skills to pull a caravan, usually by truckers or x truckers..
Here is the opportunity for all road users to have their say on the way forward for the truck industry by submitting to this current review. Of concern to ever- one should be the pharse higher productivity vehicles as this could mean, faster trucks, longer trucks, longer driving hrs, bigger loads or even driverless trucks.
Yes this reviews open to all roads users and the review panel encourages the general public to comment.
Peace to all
We just spent 10 weeks on the road from Melbourne to Adelaide, across the Nullarbor to Carnarvon & back down the coast to the South West corner, then back across the Nullarbor to the Riverland & Echuca.
In all that 12,400kms we had one truckie overtake just a bit too close, but all the rest were no trouble at all. In fact, quite a fair few were extremely friendly.
We live on central coast NSW and travel up and down the M1 motorway .What astounds me is the way a truck/semi-trailer/bdouble will pull out into middle lane to overtake another truck etc and then find his speed is the same as truck he is trying to overtake and the 2 trucks take up 2 lanes causing traffic following to scream to a snail pace while these trucks carry on like the roads belong to them. The other dangerous thing these trucks do is just put blinker on and move out into centre lane with no care about the vehicles they cut off and again cause lots of following vehicles to slow down.
Trucks on hills should be made to stay in left lane and not try to overtake another heavy vehicle.
Surely you jest? If not you obviously have not driven trucks. Can you seriously expect a 650hp Kenworth,capable of well over 100km/hr (I wont say how much over 100km/hr for fear of causing you to have a heart attack) to sit behind a fully laden 350hp ACCO B Double as it struggles up a hill,just because YOU said it should? Behave. The last truck I drove before I gave the game away (another story altogether) was a 650hp Kenworth 950 which flew up hills like they werent there.How a comment such as yours can be made by anybody with anything more than the the most remote understanding of how traffic flows is beyond me. For years,I drove a 62 tonne B Double 1000km/day,6 days a week,so I believe that I have enough experience to reply to your post. Trucks have nowhere near the power to weight ratio of the average car,and depend on momentum to help them maintain a steady speed,whereas a car driver simply can easily accelerate on any hill if he wishes. I could go on to explain a few simple truths to you,but in summary I will ask you to look at the last of the pretty faces you posted above.That face summarises my thoughts about your post.Safe and happy travels to all.Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of June 2019 07:42:24 PM
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of June 2019 07:45:18 PM
Trucks on The road no problems we need them to move our commodities around,caravans we need them to enjoy our life styles,the thing that annoys me on the big expressways ,even if your towing at the 100k speed limit,they fly past you on the straights seeing a caravan is like we have to get around it no matter how fast its travelling thats there mentalitys ,then on the hills they crawl and your stuck behind them ,and so the game goes on...