A truck driver of nearly two decades has lashed out at the heavy-handed fines truckies are receiving for honest work diary mistakes – without being given any opportunity to explain.
Seeing two of his mates – both veteran truckies in the game for decades – receive work diary fines of $12,500 and $18,500, was enough to make Garry May, 53, rethink his career choices.
The Toowoomba based truck driver started out as a diesel mechanic. He says his passion for trucks began at around the age of 13.
Garry then spent about 10 years driving buses before taking the plunge and switching to driving trucks full time in 2006, moving into long distance interstate work soon after in 2008.
“I don’t know why the interest started as I didn’t have any family in trucks or anything like that. Being a diesel mechanic, I had a truck licence so eventually moved into driving,” explained Garry.
He did everything from general and refrigerated produce to FIFO and oversize freight, and even spent time doing outback work with Neil Mansell Transport.
At times, the work saw his away from home for two to three weeks at a time.
“Being away was hard. You have your family missing you being at home and stuff like that – and I have a 15 year old daughter too. She was missing having me at home,” said Garry.
So, fed up with the heavy-handed enforcement he’s witnessed, Garry recently moved into work that’s much closer to home.
He started with MakTrans Fuel Distributors around three months ago, doing B-double work from behind the wheel of a Kenworth T610.
It’s five days on and four or five days off, and though he’s usually away for five days at a time, the work is much closer to home, seeing him travel across south-east Queensland and into northern New South Wales.
“I had an interest in carting fuel for a long time. With my views of what’s happening in the industry at the moment, I thought I would bite the bullet. I load out of Brisbane and usually pass through my hometown once or twice a day,” explained Garry.
“I do miss the long-distance work – just being out on your own. But I’m home with my family for four or five days at a time now.
“Before when I was doing produce, you had to manage your hours, which was hard sometimes because you’ve only got 14 hours to do all the work but you don’t know how long you’re going to be at each delivery.
“Sometimes you’d get to the markets and they could hold you up anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. Then at the supermarkets, you get there and it could take 20 minutes for anyone to even come out and open the doors. But then it’s all on the truck driver to work within their logbook hours.”
He says both drivers he knows who were stung with the huge fines will now front court.
While Garry understands the need for enforcement, he believes it’s just gotten out of hand.
“There are so many crashes occurring every day so I can understand the need for authorities to come down on those doing the wrong thing. But to be handing out such large fines, what does that do for mental health when we’re also in the middle of a cost of living crisis?
“I haven’t had a lot of fines myself, I had one eight years ago in Sydney but it was nowhere near the sort of money these two other blokes are expected to pay,” he said.
“Sydney is a really hard place to find a park sometimes. I was out of hours but decided to move two suburbs over to find a decent place to park up for the night. That cost me $680 and that was on me, it was my mistake.
“But now you’ve got drivers being fined these ridiculous amounts. I can’t comprehend how the authorities can be allowed to fine people that much. Then those who do the wrong thing in a car are fined nowhere near as much for dangerous behaviour on the roads.
“The situation with the friend who got the $12,500 fine was that he had accidentally written the wrong time in his logbook which put him over his hours. He got the fine two weeks later and wasn’t given any opportunity to explain himself.
“It was an honest mistake but the authorities don’t look at it like an honest mistake.
“I also wonder how many people outside of the industry actually realise what’s going on. I think the wider public are oblivious to it all because the only ones this affects are the ones driving the trucks.
“These mates who got these fines are in their 50s and 60s and they had always lectured me about being careful to avoid these same mistakes they’ve been done for. It seems like no one cares about us truckies but they all want their goods on time!”
This is absolutely disgusting,these guys work bloody hard and give up a big part of their lives so we can eat and receive goods that we order.
When we are travelling around Australia in our motorhome,I always show respect to the truckies,they are the lifeblood of Australia and its time authorities give them some leeway and let them get on with the thankless job they do,or have the authorities forgot how to give a warning,I have certainly lost all respect for authorities,just money grabbing grubs.
I have driven interstates I know the rejection and disrespect that you guys deal with I actually wrote and article on interstate and intrastate drivers it was published in Adelaide papers people don’t care you are right they want their goods but don’t care about the poor drivers who put up with a heap of issues to get their goods delivered and they abuse you on the road being inconsiderate and then you have to deal with police the rta and every other legal department I know there are some bad drivers who are to doped up so they can get a load through against company time frames I also know most drivers just want to make a living while enjoying the job because the pay isn’t that good especially for owner drivers my heart goes out to you guys you are always there to help people in need ie farmers etc WAKE UP AUSTRALIANS and respect the people who deliver food etc so you can eat and every other thing you want
What do people expect we are just a cash cow for nhvr and also illegal for them to hand out any fines as a private corporation it states it in the constitution. But mostly they want to fine us minions into submission or off the road
The authorities aren’t annual authorities. Government is there to serve and obey and not to impose laws on us that no one wants.
I used to drive and there is no way I would do it again. It’s not about safety but rather control. Compliance by penalisation. The government is the enemy not your friend.
All drivers should stop work for a few days in protest but I know not have the balls to do this.
Download the Work Diary Mate and just pay $7/Month.You never go over the hrs .
I’ve commented before as a former driver, who gave it away because of things like this. There’s a belief that I have: “Give someone a clip-board, and a badge of authority, and watch the power go to their head”. I think it applies pretty well to the NHVR; the creation of which was supposed to make things more efficient and ‘better’ for we truckies. Yeah, right! We need another national blockade; and see how people feel when they can’t buy their toilet-paper again. ‘Green Dog’, we need you!
I saw a comment during the week where the discussion was why Qld has the highest fine in Australia for mobile phone “use while driving”. The fee was chosen by the former minister (Mark Bailey) because he had blown his budget & the high fine would reinstate the amount needed. Could this be the reason why the truckies are being robbed too?
There was a case in the media where a young apprentice had his phone touching his thigh but the camera took the picture & like these truckies, there was no appeal permitted from the fine.
Road safety? No – money grabbing governments that cannot keep to budgets!