Operators shared their frustrations and challenges at an industry summit in Sydney, highlighting the increased costs and narrowing margins sending record numbers of transport companies to the wall.
Speaking on the Voice of the Operator panel at the Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) Conference on Friday, Sydney-based Scott Hannah, boss of national carrier Hannah’s Haulage, said established long-distance operators are especially feeling the pinch due to wide-spread undercutting.
“People are losing money on long-distance trips, particularly, and that comes through other companies undercutting,” Hannah told the packed room.
“Whether they’re desperate, or can’t work their figures out, I don’t know, but as we heard [RFNSW CEO] Simon [O’Hara] say earlier, people are working for $800 less than what they need.
“You don’t have to be a genius to work it out that you’re going to go broke in a couple of months doing that.”
Hannah said the issue is compounded by some operators using drivers working under their own Australian Business Numbers (ABNs) to avoid paying the usual employee entitlements.
“I also know a few companies who have cut their AdBlue off now to save costs.”
“Maintenance is also lacking. Some are dialling them up, running over speed, running over hours; it’s gone back to the 80s in certain areas.
“They’re working 20 hours a day – doing 12 hours around Sydney then going to Brisbane, like we used to, and that can’t happen, yet it still is.
“We all know that it’s quiet [in the industry] and a lot of people are walking away because of the cost.”
Hannah warned the losses flow right through the supply chain.
“They are experienced people and that experience trains the new people. If you lose them, we can’t train new people quick enough.”
Hannah’s Haulage runs across a large chunk of the transport industry, from general freight to dangerous goods and recycling, but Hannah is still not immune to the many challenges facing operators today.
“A lot of my blokes are on $65 per hour and that’s the only way you can retain them.
“The customers have to pay the right money to get the right people. They’re on notice now because when it gets busy, they’re not going to get enough drivers.
“They might be getting it cheap now, but next year, if it picks up again, they’re going to be paying double.”
Hannah also lamented the lack of recognition the industry gets in schools as a viable, long-term career option.
Panel host Ann Lopez, a former school teacher who now runs Lopez Brothers Transport alongside husband Phil, agreed with Hannah on the need to do more on the education front.
“It’s important to bring along our kids, but we can’t rely on family businesses sustaining the industry,” Lopez said.
“The task is too great. The choices are too broad, and we need to in some way, enhance this industry’s reputation, because at the moment, the stereotype of what a truck driver is is not what the industry is actually about.”
Jeff Fenech, Operations Manager at Plant Haul Heavy Haulage, said the biggest pinch-point for his sector was all around permit delays and lack of consultation with authorities and governments before they make rule changes.
He cited the example of a permit renewal his company had in with the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), an Australian Government-owned infrastructure manager covering railways in five states, for Fairfield to Cessnock.
The day before the RFNSW Conference, some 76 days later, Fenech said he received an email advising him that because he wasn’t crossing any infrastructure, he did not actually need a permit.
“So my permit renewal with the NHVR sat stagnant for that time. After multiple extension of time requests, they’ve cancelled it and it never got renewed. I didn’t need a ARTC permit in the first place.
“There’s no connection between all the different independent bodies, or no maps in place, or anything at all where that issue just brought our industry to a halt.”
Lopez said that created “a significant challenge” for those doing the right thing, while others ignored compliance.
Debbie Joyce, speaking from the training sector, highlighted a fragmented system.
The Executive Officer at the Automotive Training Board, NSW, whose primary function is to provide information and advice on the training needs of the automotive industry, described the current system as “very clumpy”.
She urged operators to demand what they needed: “You are the industry. You know what you want. If there’s something that you need in training and you’re looking at something that is nationally accredited under the Australian Qualifications Framework, which means recognized anywhere in Australia, when you talk to that person who’s offering you the training, please don’t just let them tell you what it is that you can do. You tell them what you want.”
Joyce said school-based traineeships were one way to bring young people in.
“So they’re in years 11 and 12, so they’ve got some understanding of the world. They still continue on at school. They do training, and they also come out to an industry placement, 20 days over two years. Not a huge ask, but they get a feel for what the industry can bring that’s really important to remember. So if you get the opportunity, give a school-based trainee a go.
“The Department of Education has specialised people who work between industry and schools and they solve all the problems. It doesn’t cost you anything to train them and the Department of Education pay for any insurance costs.
“You give a young person a chance, and you help promote the industry.”
When later asked in the session what his one wish for the industry would be, Hannah responded by saying he’d like to see the industry get the respect it deserves and finally be heard.
“We need a level playing field, really, because, like I said before, with the issues we’ve got, for the people doing the right thing, it costs a lot of money, and then the ones that don’t, well, they get the work, to a certain point.”
Lopez agreed in her closing statements: “It’s overlooked how integral we are to every other industry, whether it’s mining, whether it’s import-export, whether it’s manufacturing, whether it is fast-moving consumer goods, whatever sector you talk about, whatever product you talk about, at some stage it came on a truck, and I firmly believe that while rail may be part of the solution going forward in terms of handling that, expanding the volume of our industry, we still need trucks to do that last bit.
“The trains are not going to back up to Woolworths. The trains are not going to back up to the warehouse so that someone can unpack their container of imported goods, or oversize, overmass things are not going to fit on the train and can’t even let the truck cross the track, let alone carry the words.
“So, it needs to be supported and sustained in a way that’s not going to discourage new entrants, but also to be able to keep the entrants that are here.”
Until the government steps in and sets minimum rates, this is going to keep happening. Follow through with COR regulations, introduce massive fines for individuals and 10 fold on bigger companies breaching the rates. doesnt help the likes of truckit who allow low ball quotes to be set, take their 10-20% then the guy doing the job gets the crumbs, and then companies like tolls, linfox and other major’s allowing jobs to be booked at such little rates then screw the owner drivers into below cost rates. if the laws don’t change, then the government better start building more rail lines because there is already a driver shortage, smaller companies are shutting their doors at alarming rates, won’t be long till we are back to horse and cart days with railway as the main freight option in Australia, there goes your fresh food options.
I had to chuckle at “gone back to the 80’s”. Try the 70’s. With one mob I drove for, in Adelaide, after delivering and picking-up around town for 11 hours (7:00am > 6:00pm), I was told: “Oh, you’re taking that rig to Melbourne tonight”. So, add on another 11 hours, and I worked 22 hours. And, I didn’t get paid over-time; just the basic hourly rate. Talk about getting screwed! Adding to the risk, my log-book was full, and I didn’t get a chance to pick-up a new one; so, I was driving without a log-book. I was told: “Oh, don’t worry about that, you’ll be alright”. There were also many times I did 42 hours without sleep (try Adelaide to Perth non-stop). I know that’s dangerous; but, I’ve never had trouble staying awake (and I never used ‘speed’). But, I had a wife and young child to support; so, I did what they asked of me. Good job there was no sat-nav and tracking devices back-then. The Good Old Days, eh??!
I’ve been driving for nearly 30 years, in the UK, NZ and now Australia. I can tell you for a fact that nothing will ever change. There is a reason that young people don’t want to drive a truck and that’s because it’s a shite job. Long hours, constantly getting screwed. drivers are treated as expendable even though there is a shortage. The company’s we work for simply don’t have the capacity to join the dots and will argue with you over cents whilst blowing $$$$$$$ inducting and training new starts, buying equipment not fit for purpose, make piss poor scheduling decisions etc etc. if you think the government is going to step in and make things better then you’re deluded. The only thing that people care about is the cost of getting their stuff delivered, nobody cares about how much your getting paid to do it , if its done safely or how many hours you’ve done in a day. unfortunately this is human nature. I’ve tried to get out of the industry but being slightly North of middle age and male means I’m stuck.