Truckies urged to help instead of pressing record button

Sunshine Coast truckie Niell Graham says the industry needs to take a hard look at itself, with too many drivers now reaching for the record button on their phones instead of stepping in to help when a fellow truckie is in trouble.

Graham was speaking to Big Rigs after a recent incident at a Mackay servo, where he came across a young driver stuck in a tight parking spot, unsure how to get the B-double out safely.

“I was pulling in to go to the toilet and I saw him park like that,” said Graham of the incident he first posted about on the Facebook page, The Drivers Advocate.

“I went to the toilet, came back five minutes later and he was still in the same spot.”

Rather than driving past or filming the truckie in a jam, Graham approached the driver and offered help.

“He was only a young fella,” he said. “I said, ‘Do you want me to help you get out?’ He said he needed to go forward, and I told him, ‘You cannot go forward. You need to back it up’.”

Graham talked the driver through the manoeuvre, guiding him back along the same line he had entered on and keeping him on the correct steering lock until he had room to swing around and exit safely.

“He was very reluctant to go backwards. He didn’t want to,” Graham said. “But once I got him straight, there was enough room for him to come around and go forward.”

What frustrated Graham most was not the inexperienced driver, but the response from others nearby.

“That’s when I noticed the other trucks and the drivers just sitting there watching,” he said. “They were from the same company, and they just sat there and watched.”

Graham said the driver had stopped short of hitting anything and was clearly too nervous to ask for help.

“He was more than happy to just sit there and wait until those other guys moved,” he said. “He was obviously too scared to go and ask them for help.”

For Graham, the incident highlights a growing problem within the industry, particularly as social media encourages people to record mistakes rather than prevent them.

“Basically, we have to help them, as much as we may not like it,” he said. “We’re the ones at the coal face of it, and we’re the ones that have to change it at ground level.”

Graham believes overseas drivers and young drivers are here to stay, and that refusing to help only increases risk.

“They have to be willing to learn to do it our way,” he said. “But at the same time, if we just stand back and film it, nothing improves.

“We can either sit back and watch the carnage or try our best to stop it.”

He also pointed to broader issues around driver training and licensing pathways, saying many drivers are moving into high-level licences without learning fundamental skills such as reversing.

“You can get your licence to drive one of these big trucks and not have a clue how to back it,” he said. “Something’s missing.”

In the same Facebook post highlighting the issue, experienced truckie Simon Dewar said he’s been driving long enough to see how much road courtesy between truckies had dropped.

“And honestly, it’s getting out of hand,” Dewar wrote.

“If a driver pulls out to overtake me, I’ll always lift off a bit and give them the clean run. That used to be standard. Now it feels like everyone is hell-bent on holding their speed no matter what, sitting in the right lane forever, flogging it downhill, and not even glancing at their mirrors. It’s dangerous and it’s selfish.

“And no, it’s not just internationals. Some of the old hands who should know better are just as bad. The “me me me” attitude has taken over, and it’s making the roads a worse place for all of us.”

Dewar concedes the language barrier between drivers is another frustration that isn’t helping foster closer ties.

“I’ve got no issue with anyone’s culture, but when you’re on the radio, in the tea room, or dealing with shared depots, and it’s all in another language, it shuts people out.

“It makes communication harder, and it creates that ‘us vs them’ vibe. It’s not rude to say it, it’s a safety issue. If we can’t understand each other on the road, things go wrong fast.”

When they do go wrong, Dewar said a lot of drivers don’t own up to their mistakes anymore.

“They hide it, or blame someone else, or expect another driver to fix it for them. That’s why people don’t help. Why would you risk stepping in, only to get thrown under the truck if something goes sideways? No thanks.

“At the end of the day, this job only works when drivers actually work together. Courtesy isn’t complicated. Look in your mirrors, communicate, back off when someone’s overtaking, and speak English on the radio so everyone knows what’s going on.

“We’re all trying to get home in one piece.”