Project truckie interview

barrie · Guru

Project truckie interview

Sahara05 · Veteran Member

Lots of truck incidents on the news lately,he claims others need educating?

Jeff

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Struth and this comes from a 'truck' driver. Only in the last 48 hours loved ones were lost due to a 'truck' driver running into other vehicles stopped at road works near Dubbo. It was only early September 2017 exactly the same thing happened on the Pacific Hwy just north of Port McQuarre. I was unfortunate enough to see the mess of 3 trucks as it was my turn to drive slowly though the scene. How no one died in that one, I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for heavy vehicle drivers until stupid things like that are said in the media.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

There are always instances where car and caravan and truck drivers do foolish, or unsafe, things on the road. None of us are blameless.

However, "A spate of fatal truck crashes has "disturbed" NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey after a 45 per cent increase in deaths last year."

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/truck-deaths-disturb-nsw-roads-minister-melinda-pavey-20180116-h0j67h.html

Cheers - John

Woody n Sue · Guru

As rocky said non of us are blameless .
Personally I wouldnt put any creadence on anything that comes out of that tv show

Woody

boab · Senior Member

Having driven road trains for several years i can agree there are plenty of gray nomads shouldnt be driving also plenty of cowboys driving trucks but in countless circumstances if truck drivers were not good at there job there would be a lot more deaths on our roads. As a truck driver we had to fill in log books and were limited in hours we could drive depending on what state we were in. As a gray nomad i dont have to fill in any log book and can drive as many hours as i want to. What we should all keep in mind is the older we get the slower our reflexes become dunno about you but my eye site is not what it used to be and my hearing is on the way out. I know i dont have the same level of skill i once had i would say its a pity a lot of other older drivers didn't realize the same.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I never saw the show .. and to be honest there is very little inducement that would make me watch it either - I have seen promotions for it .. and that is more than enuff. cry

However, if the truckie was talking about when a truck is driving along a road, particularly a freeway, in city traffic, cars just LOVE to take up the 'braking space' the truckie builds in for his (and every one else's) safety - ie he stays back four or so car lengths and a car sees that as 'space' and just cuts in and take it up.

This often happens approaching traffic lights ... taking away the truck's ability to pull up in time .. without drama anyway.

I encounter the same damn thing when I have the misfortune to drive on city streets/freeways. I keep back for my 'braking distance' and cars keep moving in and out of 'my' space ... I just back off and sure enough, make more space and another whacker takes it up.

Like I said, none of us are blameless. I am sure someone somewhere is telling a story about this old phart in his Land Rover and caravan that did something silly.

cheers - John

barrie · Guru

We all know log books can be fudged as well as tacographs

barrie · Guru

The accident at Dubbo the cars were stationary what is the excuse for safe distance there.

brickies · Guru

Till there is an outcome from investigation we will not know what happen , Could be that the driver black out from heart attack .

-- Edited by brickies on Wednesday 17th of January 2018 10:14:09 PM

adreamer · Senior Member

brickies wrote:
Till there is an outcome from investigation we will not know what happen , Could be that the driver black out from hearth attack .

-- Edited by adreamer on Thursday 18th of January 2018 11:41:07 AM

adreamer · Senior Member

brickies wrote:
Till there is an outcome from investigation we will not know what happen , Could be that the driver black out from hearth attack .

What is a hearth attack? is it something that happens when sitting too close the hearth? Sounds very dangerous. confuse

dogbox · Guru

met a fellow once he reckon he must been the second best driver in the world said everyone he met reckon they were the best an did everything perfect

dogbox · Guru

met another fellow he said everyone he knew said they were good drivers but not many could hammer a nail ,lay bricks , do plumbing ,ect ect ect but they were all good drivers

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

None of you people have been cut off by some "great driver" in his super-charged hot car who didn't see what you could when he overtook you on a rise, blind corner? And crossing double lines? And you see them doing the same to truckies! A long vehicle is simply a challenge to see how fast they can overtake regardless of the risk.

Like John (rockylizard), I find myself going backwards down roads - just to cater for these yahoos! I have thought about putting a sign on the back of the van "My brakes with this load on might not be as good as yours when you cut me off"!

Mind you I don't like the rogue trucky sitting as close as he can get to the rear of my van!! I've found lots of good & less numbers of bad truckies on the highways.

Desert Dweller · Guru

Most of think that we're good drivers by our own judgement but are we?

There are so many obvious idiots on the road that make us look good, but are we really?

People that sit around at happy hour telling everyone what a great driver they are are just showing their insecurities.

barrie · Guru

Watch the ladies on Open Road 8pm channel 2 monday nite driving the big rigs.

rockylizard · Guru

dogbox wrote:
met a fellow once he reckon he must been the second best driver in the world said everyone he met reckon they were the best an did everything perfect

Gday...

Well Said a.jpg

cheers - John

barrie · Guru

Another truck accident on the Hume Highway one heading north crossed into south bound lane hitting another truck.

yobarr · Guru

barrie wrote:
We all know log books can be fudged as well as tacographs

Hi Barrie...this may have been true in the past,but the point to point cameras,

plus the ridiculous breaks truckies are forced to take when theyre not tired are

what caused me to give up driving interstate in my B-Double.How a pen pusher

who has never been in a truck can tell me that I am tired is beyond me.

As an aside,are you aware that well over 70% (I dont have the exact figure on me,

but could be as high as 85%) of fatal accidents involving trucks are caused by car drivers?

Many truckies drive 5000kms/week,which is around 10 times what the average car driver travels.

Given the huge number if cars versus the number of trucks it is easy to see that it is not the truck

drivers that need educating! And I agree with Warren-Pat that the car drivers mentality seems to be

Gotta get past the truck,gotta get past the truck and they take all sorts of risks to do just that before

immediately slowing to 90km/hr....why!

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 20th of January 2018 06:25:48 PM

Ron-D · Guru

yobarr wrote:
barrie wrote:
We all know log books can be fudged as well as tacographs
Hi Barrie...this may have been true in the past,but the point to point cameras,
plus the ridiculous breaks truckies are forced to take when theyre not tired are
what caused me to give up driving interstate in my B-Double.How a pen pusher
who has never been in a truck can tell me that I am tired is beyond me.
As an aside,are you aware that well over 70% (I dont have the exact figure on me,
but could be as high as 85%) of fatal accidents involving trucks are caused by car drivers?
Many truckies drive 5000kms/week,which is around 10 times what the average car driver travels.
Given the huge number if cars versus the number of trucks it is easy to see that it is not the truck
drivers that need educating! And I agree with Warren-Pat that the car drivers mentality seems to be
Gotta get past the truck,gotta get past the truck and they take all sorts of risks to do just that before
immediately slowing to 90km/hr....why!

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 20th of January 2018 03:13:58 PM

The truck drivers mentality is gotta get past the caravan gotta get past the caravan wink

and the recent ruck accidents have been trucks running into parked vehicles that have been involved in accidents ,drivers not leaving enough braking distances to stop safely,but haveing said that most truck drivers are very safe drivers,but like anything your going to get a few cowboys...

Gus1949 · Senior Member

I am a cyclist and the cyclists v's cars argument is just the same as this one. We have to breed the idiots out of our civilisation so we can all be civilised to each other.

yobarr · Guru

Ron-D wrote:
yobarr wrote:
barrie wrote:
We all know log books can be fudged as well as tacographs
Hi Barrie...this may have been true in the past,but the point to point cameras,
plus the ridiculous breaks truckies are forced to take when theyre not tired are
what caused me to give up driving interstate in my B-Double.How a pen pusher
who has never been in a truck can tell me that I am tired is beyond me.
As an aside,are you aware that well over 70% (I dont have the exact figure on me,
but could be as high as 85%) of fatal accidents involving trucks are caused by car drivers?
Many truckies drive 5000kms/week,which is around 10 times what the average car driver travels.
Given the huge number if cars versus the number of trucks it is easy to see that it is not the truck
drivers that need educating! And I agree with Warren-Pat that the car drivers mentality seems to be
Gotta get past the truck,gotta get past the truck and they take all sorts of risks to do just that before
immediately slowing to 90km/hr....why!

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 20th of January 2018 03:13:58 PM
The truck drivers mentality is gotta get past the caravan gotta get past the caravan
and the recent ruck accidents have been trucks running into parked vehicles that have been involved in accidents ,drivers not leaving enough braking distances to stop safely,but haveing said that most truck drivers are very safe drivers,but like anything your going to get a few cowboys...

Sorry Ron-D,but all the truckie wants to do is maintain a speed as close as possible to the limit,but I was

regularly frustrated by caravans travelling at 85km/hr,oblivious to those behind until we reached a passing lane.

It was then that these clowns sped up to 105km/hr until the passing lane ended,when suddenly they want to

travel again at 85km/hr.Remember,trucks have speed limiters,so overtaking takes careful planning,given

that most truckies know the roads well. Speeding up as we attempt to overtake often leaves us stuck in

the opposite lane,as we cant just tuck back in behind,given that the truck is 26 metres long!

All that is required is that the caravan maintains a constant speed,whatever that may be.

However,the last two lines of your note show that you do understand the situation.Thanks!

SouthernComfort · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Ron-D wrote:
yobarr wrote:
barrie wrote:
We all know log books can be fudged as well as tacographs
Hi Barrie...this may have been true in the past,but the point to point cameras,
plus the ridiculous breaks truckies are forced to take when theyre not tired are
what caused me to give up driving interstate in my B-Double.How a pen pusher
who has never been in a truck can tell me that I am tired is beyond me.
As an aside,are you aware that well over 70% (I dont have the exact figure on me,
but could be as high as 85%) of fatal accidents involving trucks are caused by car drivers?
Many truckies drive 5000kms/week,which is around 10 times what the average car driver travels.
Given the huge number if cars versus the number of trucks it is easy to see that it is not the truck
drivers that need educating! And I agree with Warren-Pat that the car drivers mentality seems to be
Gotta get past the truck,gotta get past the truck and they take all sorts of risks to do just that before
immediately slowing to 90km/hr....why!

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 20th of January 2018 03:13:58 PM
The truck drivers mentality is gotta get past the caravan gotta get past the caravan
and the recent ruck accidents have been trucks running into parked vehicles that have been involved in accidents ,drivers not leaving enough braking distances to stop safely,but haveing said that most truck drivers are very safe drivers,but like anything your going to get a few cowboys...
Sorry Ron-D,but all the truckie wants to do is maintain a speed as close as possible to the limit,but I was
regularly frustrated by caravans travelling at 85km/hr,oblivious to those behind until we reached a passing lane.
It was then that these clowns sped up to 105km/hr until the passing lane ended,when suddenly they want to
travel again at 85km/hr.Remember,trucks have speed limiters,so overtaking takes careful planning,given
that most truckies know the roads well. Speeding up as we attempt to overtake often leaves us stuck in
the opposite lane,as we cant just tuck back in behind,given that the truck is 26 metres long!
All that is required is that the caravan maintains a constant speed,whatever that may be.
However,the last two lines of your note show that you do understand the situation.Thanks!

The only thing missing in this argument is tolerance. None of us owns the roads exclusively, whether trucks, cars, cyclists or caravaners. I'll continue to pull my van at MAX 90kph on the straight because my vehicle is tow-rated for 87kph (3kph gauge variation added). Why is this factor so hard to understand?

Speeding up at overtaking lanes is indeed stupid, if anything I'll slow a bit to let others pass more easily, but I will not be bullied by anyone into driving faster than is safe for the conditions. And not all of us are oblivious of the traffic behind, but most of us are patently aware of the impatience on our tail.

Gregory · Newbie

I drove for a very well known company on the nsw mid nth coast... This company looked to be doing all the "right" things in as far as having "proof" their drivers were taking all the required rest breaks.......... But that was as far as it went... During my time with them, I was told, in relation to rest breaks, that "I was too honest for my own good", was pressured into showing a rest break when I was actually loading/unloading, asked to drive over my hours (17hr day), just to get the truck/trailers back to the depot......... Unfortunately, governments spend their time punishing the average truck driver, rather than looking deeper into what companies do.... You know why? Because it is cheaper to go after the drivers, instead of the companies!

baglimit2002 · Veteran Member

Hi i agree with what the bloke said about maintaining speed my pet hate is what he said about van speeding up then slowing boils my blood but as my triple road train is 53.3mtres and needs 4 kms to wind up to cruising speed please note that some simple rule are needed channel 40 uhf is highway channel leave on while on roads will help you for any problems up the road back down when you see the truck in your drivers mirror trying to over take hell thank you we are not all picks dont slow down if hes behind you maintain speed for above coment i drove adelaide to darwin and to yulara 2x week in that time had seen 4 x rollovers with vans came across 2 fatals first on scene one that haunts me today the copper at kulgera calls the lasserter highway to alice the reading of the will highway high speeds and falling asleep is the killer as a professional driver i take regular breaks by law the fatal that haunts me is the one i tried to keep a 25 year old woman alive her head went thru the windscreen she bleed out SO PLEASE DRIVE CARFULLY wear seat belts As for having a special license for driving with a van i believe a caravan driving shool should be set ip as it would help everyone who got a van to know how to set up for weight and safety on roads and how to do control fish tailing and how to correct it how many people have bought a van and have no idea how to reverse but training is best if someone would set up they could make it a 2 day course and a tax deduction after all it a 30million dollar industry in hoildaying ok yes i just got my first van and sending the kids inheritance take care

Bryan · Guru

Don't watch the project. There's on there I don't like.