Interstate truckie Simon Thomson didn’t think he was asking for too much when he pulled into the busy BP Eastern Creek truck parking area in Sydney at the weekend in his B-double.
All he wanted to do was unhook so he could go and visit his son and grandchildren and do a bit of shopping for a few hours, before returning later that same day to carry on his way.
But the management there had other ideas, said Thomson, telling him flatly that anything he left on site – trailers and/or his prime mover – would be towed at his expense.
Thomson isn’t opposed to tighter parking controls at servos – he’s been a vocal supporter of measures to crack down on those using these sites as makeshift depots.
“But there’s got to be some give somewhere,” an exasperated Thomson told Big Rigs.
“I went into the BP and told them I just wanted to go see my grandkids. I’ve only seen them twice in their little lives, and I don’t want to be sitting in the truck all day in the heat – and they didn’t give a shit.
“If BP want us to use their fuel and buy their expensive food, then we should be entitled to drop our trailers off and go shopping so we can go away for the next trip.
After a few hours rest at the BP, and with nowhere else to turn, Thomson took the risk of parking both trailers in a Mount Druitt industrial area while he visited his family and had a rest break out of his truck.
He later relocated the back trailer to Peter Brock Drive in Eastern Creek, but when he did return, a car owner had removed the witches hats he’d placed as a deterrent and blocked him in.
It was only through the generous help of road workers in the area who acted as impromptu traffic management that he was able to deftly manoeuvre the prime mover in to get the trailer back on so he could carry on his way.
When he did eventually arrive in Brisbane, he encountered a totally different attitude from staff at the BP Archerfeld.
Thomson said he was told that as long as truckies leave their phone number and rego in the book on the counter, they can leave trailers on site for up to 24 hours.
“Where are we supposed to split our trailers in Sydney? There is still a fair bit of land in the industrial areas. Why can’t they do an area like they have out at Gatton where you split up your road trains?
“If I couldn’t get a spot at the BP, I would have been driving around out of hours to try and get a parking spot where I can park my truck, use the toilets and get food.”
BP announced last December that it will begin towing unhitched trailers and illegally parked vehicles at Eastern Creek.
In a statement shared with BP Plus customers, the company said: “We understand the frustrations around parking availability and want to assure you that we’re committed to resolving this issue.
“We are actively working to ensure that our valued BP Plus customers have reliable parking options.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued support.”
Big Rigs has approached BP for further comment and Transport for NSW for a progress report on the long-awaited new rest area for truckies in West Sydney.
Correction:
An earlier version of this story featured a picture of an Alpha Heavy Towing vehicle, incorrectly depicting it as being on site to tow equipment from BP Eastern Creek. The driver of that vehicle was in fact at the location for a mandatory rest break, not for towing vehicles out of the premises. Big Rigs apologises for any distress this may have caused.
If the federal government stopped giving away hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars to other countries, much of which is used in the wars of some countries, and instead improved the roads and driver facilities throughout the city and country, life on the roads who be a pleasure, not a chore. In any other industry work cover would close the unsafe workplace down . The roads are the truckies workplace. Vehicles must be roadworthy, but its obvious that roads don’t have to be vehicle worthy.