Goodaye all, nearly a standard week, start and load Monday for a round trip Dubbo to Albury/ Melbourne to Dubbo/Brisbane then Coonamble and home in five days, near four actual. Off a day early this week as preloaded Friday and soon back to Albury again for an early unload Monday morn. Two small wins this week and every one worth the effort, though most don’t get real results as quick.
There is a hole on the Olympic Way between west Wyalong and Barmedman. There have been traffic lights there for months with one lane closed and so without sensor lights, not a busy road, so most traffic has to stop. It does not look like a million dollar hole, so I rang the fellow I have dealt with about this road for some years and suggested it would be costing them more to have the lights there for that long, than it would to fix the road. He has moved on from that role but still works in the area.
He replied quoting it as a sink hole, so maybe it was worse than it looked, but within two days, there was a work crew there and I hope it will have been fixed by the time I get there tonight. In the scheme of things, just another waste of fuel, brakes and time from our point of view, but three months or more does not seem reasonable to me.
There is a number you can ring about issues with the current work on Cunninghams Gap. I had noted there was a consultation meeting, but I could not get there and had kept the number. I had months of calls and discussions with the local area council, Scenic Rim has responsibility to the top of the Gap, about the “TRUCKS MUST USE LEFT LANE” sign at the start of the westbound climb which initially they said weren’t there and I was mistaking them for KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING which of course, I was not. They simply would not listen to my concerns and sorry, I gave up.
Now at the helipad there is a “NO TRUCKS” in right hand lane sign and I suggested that was both unreasonable and prejudiced. I had heard and there is now a large Variable Message board asking cars to give trucks a fair go, as many cars had refused to let trucks out where the works now go back to one lane. I explained it was completely unreasonable for an empty truck to have to sit behind others all the way from the top to the bottom, whether another loaded truck or a ute with a horse float etc. Of course the local police would not act on the sign, would they and fine us simply because they can, never. But I don’t want that option there as just another revenue raising opportunity as there are plenty of others about.
I got a call back to say both signs will be replaced with “Slow moving vehicles must use left lane” which is fair and better for all, but more so for trucks. Yes tiny and not ground breaking, but the fellow has two other questions to pursue and has agreed to keep in touch and follow up more, a good outcome then.
Now the NTC is calling for responses to its Regulatory Impact Statement on the HVNL review. When you first look at it and start to read, I believe it is daunting, but in discussions with the NTC, they have said you do not have to respond to every question and all who contribute, whether fully or in part, will be heard.
We have waited a long time for this review and it seems, we have waited even longer to see it through. Will there be sufficient and suitable change to make it all worthwhile, well that is up to you. You can sit back and say, nothing will change anyway, or you can contribute and hopefully be a part of the solution, instead of part of the problem.
Will we get perfection and all the things we have wished for, no, that is perhaps too much to hope for. But we could get enough useful changes to see things improve enough to justify the time and effort and to make the job fairer and better by removing or at least reducing the onerous and often unreasonable penalties given for things that have little to do with actual road safety. But I can’t preempt the outcome, I can only hope they listened to all who have submitted.
I certainly spent many hours writing replies to the original 7 documents they released, each 70 pages or more of reading before you answered a single question. I also complained the process, which I had asked be simple and straightforward to encourage many to respond and contribute, was anything but! Then I spent another hour on the side of the road on the way to Perth, to speak to the reviewer of the review, so he did get to speak to one of the few actual drivers who submitted. One of the comments he made during that conversation was, “All this stuff about bullshit fines for clerical and minor errors isn’t true is it? The police say it doesn’t happen.” Funny that when they are now the biggest problem with the NHVR saying and at least in the states they control, now promoting the ‘education before enforcement’ mantra.
Now I am asking you all to at least have a look and respond. It may be as simple as one thing you really see needed or improved, it may be much more and take you a couple of hours, but this process has taken a long time, will probably never be repeated in our lifetimes and you have a chance to have a say and make a difference. Please don’t ignore or miss this last chance for real reform in the HVNL. The other catch of course, is that you have to have it in by the 24th November, so not a real amount of time to do so.
Like all these things, if only one driver contributes, they will say, “so no one cares and we can do what we want” whereas if a thousand drivers contributed, they would certainly listen a damn site more. Even if you did not contribute initially, you now have the chance to look at the proposed outcomes from those that did. Of course, the other side, who have many staff and plenty of time did contribute and do you think they said we are all good drivers and should be respected for the job we do? If you do, Santa will be bringing your presents down the chimney very soon.
I hope you can use this link to a better review piece, but if not, go to the NTC website and look for HVNL Review RIS. Please have a go. Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey. Link won’t paste, sorry.
TRUCKRIGHT 