After an estimated 5 million or so kilometres on the road, this long-time truckie says the dangers he sees on a daily basis have made him rethink his future in the industry.
Wayne Imlay, 62, has spent the past 35 years driving trucks, first in New Zealand and then in Western Australia – which he’s called home for 14 years. And before that, he spent a decade fixing them, working as a diesel mechanic.
“I left school at 15 and started my apprenticeship. Every day I was covered in dirt and grease, and I got sick of it, so one day I decided I wanted to start driving the trucks instead,” Imlay told Big Rigs.
He spent about 20 years as a truck driver in New Zealand before moving across the ditch, and at one point, even owned his own trucks.
Imlay currently carts general freight and dangerous goods from Perth to Esperance, Kalgoorlie and Geraldton, driving road trains and pocket road trains.
For decades, he’s loved the freedom of the road, however like many drivers, Imlay believes it’s no longer how it used to be. “Being a long term driver, it ends up in your blood – and I do enjoy what I’m doing. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m actually looking forward to hanging up the keys in a couple of years,” Imlay said.
“It is quite cool to get paid to travel around the place and see new things each day. I’m lucky because I work for a great company that leaves me alone to do what I have to do, so when I do give it up, that’s what I’ll really miss.
“Over the past five years in particular, the quality, standard and education of drivers – including many coming in from overseas, just isn’t there.
“I don’t know how some of these people are obtaining their truck licences – they’re inexperienced and it’s really dangerous,” he added, pointing to the recent news of 440 truck licences being revoked in New Zealand.
Last month, the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) revealed it made the decision to revoke 440 commercial drivers’ licences after an audit in July found that false or altered documentation had been used to convert overseas licences.
“In other countries, they don’t have these big road trains like we have here. Then people come to Australia and get into the big gear and off they go, without the proper training.
“I’m almost at a point where when I see things happening out on the road, it creates a lot of anxiety, makes you very nervy. I never used to get that feeling before but it’s happening a lot more now. Every truck driver wants to go home safely, that’s what it comes down to,” Imlay said.
“When I’m going to Geraldton, I feel a lot safer – even with all the grain trucks and whatnot – than I do when I’m going on the Great Eastern Highway to Kalgoorlie, where there’s all these guys coming over from the east.”
He added that one of the most dangerous practices he sees on a regular basis is other vehicles overtaking where they shouldn’t be, especially on a crest. “You’ve got these truck drivers who’ll overtake you anywhere they want, without any consideration of what’s going on. And a lot of them are in triples, so you’re forced to brake and let them in.
“My truck is speed limited to 97 kilometres an hour – and yet there are trucks going past so much quicker.”
Imlay believes that improper training, coupled with issues with driver shortages, have only served to further compound the problem.
“Unfortunately I think the horse has already bolted with the way things have been done,” he said.
“If governments were serious about doing something back when driver shortages were first becoming an issue, they should have started proper driver training programs to help plug those gaps.
“With all there is to know, it’s almost at a point for MC drivers, where they need to be formally qualified to do the job. There’s load restraint, knowing your weights and all these other things you need to know to be able to do the job safely – and no one is really educating new drivers on all of that.
“If you want to do a trade, there are all these free TAFE courses on offer but transport isn’t even looked at. And then if you do the wrong thing out there and get caught, the fines are huge.
“Because it’s so hard to get drivers, I think there’s a mentality among some companies, that if you’ve got a licence, you’ll do.”
According to Imlay, offering traineeships could go a long way into getting people skilled up before hitting the road.
“I think the government needs to be more proactive in getting incentivised programs to transport companies, so they can then train drivers up the right way. Training costs money, and then a lot of the time, even if a company gets someone trained up, they can still find another job with more money and move on. There needs to be some sort of incentive for people to stay on with the companies who are making the effort to train them up.”
Interesting story about the increased risks while trying to earn a living driving on our roads.
Wayne Imlay tells it how it really is. I have heard some horror stories as well.
But one common comment I hear is the shortage of operators.
I find this intriguing. The jobs I have applied for operating Road Trains yet no response from the companies. I will be 60 next year so I’m not a young cowboy. Where I currently work the drivers that bring in shipping containers are not great at reversing a single trailer. Then there is the language barrier trying to explain to them simple instructions. So how do they actually get a licence when they find it hard to understand English. Plus the over use of mobile phones and constant breaking when no one is in front of them.
Millions of kilometres under my belt too the last trip I did out of Adelaide to Brisbane. I’ve made a decision that was it. My last trip I nearly got wiped out again and it was that close. I don’t know how I didn’t get out of it and as for the overseas drivers, what I’ve witnessed what they do to be doubles What I’ve seen still is disturbing me. The freedom on the road cannot be brought
it’s in your blood and we hav all these new drivers brake tapping and phones and can’t reverse a single trailer let alone speak English what if there’s an accident on the crest of a hill or a blind corner etc. How do these clowns get their Licenses
They should’ve done something 15 years ago when the shortage started couldn’t predict a population boom couldn’t they? See what was about to explode? No no no they couldn’t and they didn’t want to. I started when I was 15 years old with the old school fellows. I’m now 60. I’ve pulled every combination on every road in Australia more than once and I can pre-empt what’s going to happen at a vehicle coming at me if I get a feeling so yeah,
And it’s such a shame because I do love my job still but I know I’m gonna die. I’ve had so many near Mrs. Mirrors taken out talk line is torn and some of them can’t even reply to you on the way because I can’t speak English.
Point in toe
I’m a driver in New Zealand,I completely agree the standard here is crap, and in light vehicles,these freight companies want to pay next to nothing so they hire these poorly trained drivers and put every one in danger, something needs to be done
been driving nearly 40 years in New Zealand we don’t have drivers anymore we have cowboys or wonna bees theses drivers that took the short cut to get there driver license got what they deserved ,I don’t like doing linehaul anymore the amount of units that f tailgate trying to make love to you trailer
night time the f worst and the damages that theses guys do to freight let alone the gear its unreal I’ve been asked to back units out of factorys because they don’t no how to back and stories very similar to this were a boss had to find a worker that could back a b train cause driver had no idea how to back and for memory I think there was a couple of driving schools got shut down a couple of years ago taking money
big thing for me would be they a very impatient drivers but in saying this there is a hand full of good drivers but whats needed is a police officer that deals with the truck should have testing officer doing the drivers licenses once the driver has done his course he go with the police testing officer .
I’m coming up to 47 years in the industry.
I think it’s disgusting there’s no recognition for guys like myself that put there whole life in it and never have I been approached for my service, not even a acknowledgement or at a minimum a pat on the back.
I started on the old Hume hwy.. I was on Razor Back in the blockades as a young keen fella
Anyway, enough about me.
I moved to WA in the late 90’s and glad I did.
What’s going on over East is criminal re these overseas drivers.
I did 3 trips with a single earlier this year from Perth to QLD, what I saw and the danger I felt crossing the Nullarbor was insane.
I came across local trucks towing B triples from Melb that should never have been allowed on the road.
Drivers that didn’t even know where they were. Main Roads even put up a sign in Coolgardie onto right to Norseman as these guys where going into Kal completely lost. Break down after breakdown, roll over after rollover and the authorities turn a blind eye.
That’s just one of many very dangerous situations they put me in and that was only over 3 trips.
I live in the Wheatbelt in WA, the amount of roll overs we have here is a joke and it’s all these idiots.
No one is monitoring these guys for maintenance and fatigue. Some of the trucks are only a couple year old and they are destroyed.
No idea about keeping a truck safe.
So, who’s responsible? The farmers? CBH? The companies they contract too? Why aren’t they stopping this crap? Of course,$$$$$
I can go on and on about it.
I love what I do, I love going for
my drive..I absolutely despise the industry for what it has become. Haven’t liked the industry for a lot of years now. I ask, who’s the blame?
I regularly tow our caravan from WA to Qld and on the last trip we were heading east and 50km out of Ceduna when a road train heading west overtook cars on a bend, forcing me off the road. It was pure luck that there had been roadworks, the speed was down to 80km/hr and and I had a meter to move sideways. I was amazed how at the very least the truck didn’t hit the caravan. It was a foreign driver.
I’ve noticed between WA and Port Augusta the negative change in the road trains. Normally (and all non foreign drivers) still move slightly over as I do to prevent stones etc but when you can see the head dress of one of our friends you brace for the wind rush and flying rocks. And yes I’m concerned about safety as no matter how good a driver you are, you can’t control this danger coming toward you.
That’s a good article. I agree there needs to be more training and awareness. I’m not a truck driver so can’t comment too much but to hear it straight from an experienced driver like Imlay and what I hear from local drivers, plus what I see myself there needs to be more training and more requirements and training for overseas drivers. I see so many drivers who can’t reverse to save their lives, even tiny refrigerated trucks that are simple to reverse. it’s ridiculous.
I agree but if all these good operators leave the industry then that just opens the door for more inexperienced operators to jump behind the wheel, maybe they should ease up on the rules about having your kids in the truck on school holidays etc like it used to be, get the young ones interested in the industry and start to teach them young like the way I was taught, I got taught how to load and tarp a truck before I learned how to drive one, been driving 37 years and still love it even with the risks out there, some of us have to stay out there and set a standard.
Medically retired through no fault of my own after 34 years behind the wheel.
After what I’ve seen happen to the industry over that time, I don’t miss the dangers and risks involved one little bit.
I don’t miss the over zealous law enforcement for the smallest of things, or the blind attitude taken by the same people to imported drivers without the first clue about SAFE trucking.
The industry has gone to the dogs with the new ABN approach of paying peanuts for monkeys.
What I do miss? My fully functioning knee injured in the accident, the inability to have it replaced, and all the freedoms I’ll miss for the rest of my days as a result.