25th June 2022 Away again, naturally.

Goodaye all, back to normal it seems, in Brisbane now having a 24 hour break before heading off to Mackay in the morning. Thought I was getting two days home before off to Isa again, planned to go to the movies with my eldest son, started work on my extra steps on the truck, then told, no sorry, plans changed and off to work that night.

Into Newcastle for a couple of drops, pick ups and then load, again to find some changes, leave a bit off and now have to go to Brisbane to add in an urgent tank, even had to put a boat on, so good for floods, but the little 4hp won’t pull the b-double out of too much water.

Up the Pacific in the daylight, something I haven’t done in a while and again, welcome the Stopping Bays, but after a good feed at Moorelands and then trying to get into Brissie to get my 24 hour break in and by dark and into Queensland, the lack of anywhere to stop on the Gold Coast motorway into Brissie, not a stopping bay or even a shoulder for nearly the whole length is a concern and is on the list to TMR.

So have had some time today to catch up, complain to Transport for NSW about losing some more truck bays, TMR about some sideroads on the Landsborough Highway to see if we can have them left there for trucks and emails, friend requests etc.

Much work on the phone with setting up stuff for our conference coming up in Toowoomba, looking good and with many saying they will come.

Having missed an important meeting re the HVNL review on Friday, where I had to work, funny that, I have just spent an hour reading, another doing a survey and another responding to the suggestions. I have added a comment that we as drivers are the ones most affected, both now and into the future, yet how can I be involved when I have to work? This must change.

So into the shower, then bed and on the road in the morning. Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.

19th June 2022 A weekend at home (or half at least)

Goodaye all, well half a week-end at home, the first for a while. Many drivers seem to be flat out, there are not enough people to do the work, whether it be mechanics, packers, drivers and even barristas. Heard there are currently 13,000 adds for them, I did not think we had that many!

So another trip north, this time as an ab-triple to a mine, then home to load cotton, unload cotton at another gin, then reload at yet another and back to Dubbo, a short visit home while the truck got a service (missed an “A” but back on track now) then Brisbane as a b-triple and home as a b-double. A fairly big week, nearly 5,500 ks, but some loading and unloading in there as well.

Many calls and time on the phone during the week with details and discussions re the NRFA Conference in Toowoomba on the 9^th July at the Toowoomba Golf Club, a dinner that night with speaker and auction, then a Truckies Breakfast at the BP Charlton on Sunday 10^th. BP will offer a free coffee with breakfast and Haultech Engineering, who you may know as the makers of the excellent ICEPACK, have agreed to sponsor the breakfast, so you should get a cheap brekkie, full details yet to be confirmed.

We will have a couple of speakers in the Saturday morning session, then a panel discussion with a wide group seeking to not only discuss issues, but to come up with some solutions to a few industry problems. We won’t solve them on the day, but we hope to be genuine and if all invited do attend, have those there who can make some decisions and hopefully then some headway.

So outside of a couple of jobs on the truck, I did look at “The Ice Road” movie as was fairly disappointed, stopped watching when it got too ridiculous, but will finish one day when nothing better to do. There have been few trucking movies that show us well, most want to highlight the bad, even Smokey and the Bandit, for the incredible success it was, showed a less than legal side. When “Prime Mover” was due to be filmed, they had an info session at the Dubbo Tourist building and I dropped in and offered my view and of course, wanted a spot for a truck promoting the industry and road safety. I was told that I would be the only one who watched it and they needed more.

For those of you who have seen it (and I did mange to be home to attend the premiere in Dubbo) it did not do the industry many favours. Yes it had a love story and a sort of truck love story too with the young bloke following his Dad, but it had a bad side and was a bit too contrived, for me at least.

So with Slim long gone, no good movies or much trucking music, we need someone new or if Jimmy Barnes will do another trucking song for us, maybe we will get heard somewhere else. Come on Jimmy, come for a trip and sing us a new song. Till next week, Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.

16th May 2022 from 11th now on TIK Tok too.

Goodaye all, I have a mate who calls me a media tart (or something like that depending on company at the time) and he has been in the media and music industry for years. So to keep up the good work, I put up my first TikTok video on my way to Darwin two weeks ago. Since then I have done two more and most comments have been good, a couple not so, but you can’t please all the people all the time. So if keen, check out “safetravelling” and let me know what you think.

Made a call to NT Dept of Infrastructure from Augathella on the way home from Darwin and I was very impressed when someone rang me back within 15 minutes. I have detailed some concerns, sent him some plans and details and will see where that goes. Had a phone hook up with Transport for NSW on some rest area work north of and hopefully eventually in Dubbo as well, there were four industry people invited and Tpt for NSW have listened to our concerns and made some changes to planning for each, but even more specifically the Tycannah Creek Rest Areas south of Moree. I was told of plans to “improve” these sites nearly 12 months ago, spent ages and many calls asking to see their plans and when finally got a copy, was not impressed.

I said that if they planned to remove any of the trees, we would have a big and public brawl. They have now changed their first plans to remove some of the trees, so I thank them for listening and hope this is a new and ongoing communication that will see us far more likely to have more input well before such things are done, because then it is too late to fix. The money is hard to come by and once built, you can’t fix it to work for us, no matter how good the original intent was.

Off to hook up a b-triple, then to Bourke to re-configure into an AB Triple and away north again. So only a short visit home and back into the frey. Till next week, Safe Travellling, Rod Hannifey.  

5th June 2011 Darwin Ho!

Goodaye all, back into Mt Isa yesterday from Darwin, where it was nice and warm and muggy for all you southerners freezing your bits off. A bit of a drive with three trailers, lots of photos and some realisations. I stopped at some roadhouses and some truck bays and some new green reflector bays, but was talking with a driver at Truck Central, the big new roadtrain site at Wishart and he said his wife had come up for a trip and made a comment.

A moment aside here, what a good site, plenty of room for parking up to triples, a loading ramp, (which I used to double up trailers) and when I suggested it was good BP had built it, some one said (and I tried to ring, but will confirm) that yes BP built the fueling site, but NT Dept of Infrastructure supplied the funds/land for the parking. This has been done in Queensland before at Miriam Vale, but then the servo burnt down and some truckies complained the vanners took it over. It is a better way to get what we need and will be pursued much further.

His wife had said, “How come all the truck bays have bins and nothing else and all the car/caravan bays have toilets and shade and tables?” I had looked at some truck bays, stopped in one to make a phone call and thought they looked big enough, were paved and mostly (a few were missing some signage and the skidmarks confirm others miss them too) well signed. I looked at the many bays for caravans, mostly with NO TRUCK signs and thought they looked OK too.

But once this subject was raised, I looked a lot closer on the way back south. Many years ago, I did a trip up with Simons National Carriers and recall then, the one place with a toilet sign, you could not even park a semi on the shoulder to go and use the loo, let alone a triple and it seems, little has changed. There may have been one southbound caravan bay, where you could park safely on the shoulder, but most not.

So where do truckies go to the loo????????? How can they build some for them and not for us? Yes we can go to truckstops, but so can all the others, caravans have their own showers and toilets in some, but I am yet to see a truck with a toilet, but is that how far removed the road managers are from reality, that they think trucks have toilets?????

So I will be contacting NT Transport and Infrastructure with a list tomorrow on my way south. There are some big gaps. Next truck bay 75K etc, there were only two green reflector bays, but by magic a few more appeared over the last couple of days, and toilets. From Mt Isa to the border, signed stopping bays at least filled the gaps between truck bays, but north from Augathella on the way up I had a strap come loose and was looking for a spot to stop for kilometres. Asked another driver to be told of a spot completely unmarked, but you can turn a triple roadtrain in there, yet wouldn’t even know. That too now has some green reflectors.

So TMR Qld will also be getting a call, but I did try that last week and spent over 30 minutes on the phone till it dropped out.

But then there is the far bigger subject and problem, why are we going backwards with truckstops? I think the blame lies with Woolies and Caltex when they started to build in shopping centres, that became their focus, then Coles/Shell tried to compete and then shut every one of their truckstops, including in Mt Isa which now has bugger all. So now Caltexs such as Yamba, Nebo, Longreach, Wyong, Yarroweah and others have over the last few years, closed their kitchens and we are left with take away crap. But who delivers every single thing they sell, including their fuel and yes, in the suburbs there is one on every corner, but Mt Isa, Longreach and other towns that we supply, now don’t care about us!

It must be said, BP has grown their sites, but even at Ballina they only have takeaway, no kitchen and I can only hope, that is a single change, not their future plans and yes, I have already had that discussion with them. I rang and complained to Shell before, I have had many discussions with Caltex re Longreach and other sites, but where is it all going? Like in covid, how the hell are we supposed to stay fit healthy and not get fatigued, when we can’t get good food, and don’t have suitable places to get good sleep? Is it simply cost cutting, we can get rid of staff and bugger the truckies, they can eat what we dish up? What do you think and have you made your views known to any of the trucking associations or the fuel sellers. Who does it best now, is anyone filling the gaps? Till next week, Safe travelling, Rod Hannifey.

1st May 2022

Goodaye all, I have cut back on my wordpress account, so cannot put up videos or photos for now. But I have put a video up on my Facebook page Rod Hannifey seeking some common sense and positivity on social media, instead of negativity. Please have a look and I would welcome your comments. I am in Darwin and on Facebook, will have some photos for next week. Till then, Safe Travelling, Rod.