My wish list for 2026 for the road freight transport industry is quite simple.
No.1: More appreciation from the general public for what the transport industry does for this country. Australia is a wide and vast continent and truck drivers keep this country moving forward more than any other industry.
No.2: Over regulation needs to stop, we are the only industry in the country where you can go to work and get fined for making a clinical error, being in the wrong place and working to hard.
No.3: The media. Every time the is an accident involving the truck. Normally the headline is ‘Accident involving a truck causes chaos or death’. A majority of the time it’s not even the driver’s fault.
No.4: Licensing for foreign drivers need a major overhaul. Road conditions are already bad on most highways we don’t need uneducated drivers been put in the drivers seat without the correct and proper education/experience on our roads.
- Adam Craig is the owner-operator of Mata Haulage based in the Riverina region of NSW.
Respect and appreciation is only understood and given when it is earned. I drove trucks for 54 years and retired recently. Today’s drivers are an absolute disgrace with their antics and disrespect for other road users and residents of country towns. So like I said, it is earned. Regards Phillip
your spot on,driver with 40 yrs experience has a serious accident ,says it want his fault ,the causation of the accident wasnt his fault ,but rolling his truck was his ,but says well i dont need to learn what i idid wrong ,ive still got a job ,so he will make the same mistakes again, if you don’t learn from mistakes in your life how will young drivers survive .