Bird’s Eye View

BIRDS EYE VIEW by Carol Messenger

Parking Bays – Safety in numbers

We all know the saying life wasn’t meant to be easy but surely it wasn’t meant to be that hard either.

Life as a truck driver ‘is’ hard. You work long and often lonely hours, you are away from your friends and family, you miss out on all those special events - friends weddings, babies - your own child's first steps or first days at school. I know that when we first started our transport business, we only spent one night in three years in our own home - the rest of the time we were gobbling up the miles along the highways and byways in this beautiful country.

But for me - and so many others - this is the life that we choose because we love it. The opportunity to see the country and to have time to think and to spend some time alone - just me and my truck works for me.

But things are changing, the job is getting so much more complicated and dangerous too. You just about need a degree in business these days to operate a truck. There is so many - way too many - rules, regulations, permits, conditions, passes, and inductions. You just about need a filing cabinet in the truck to keep your paperwork in and a lawyer as a codriver to keep you up to date with all the changes that keep occurring. You leave Sydney and by the time you get to Perth the rules have changed and you are supposed to be abreast and up to date with all the new changes- and if you’re not, then be prepared for some heavy fines.

Despite all of this, driving in WA was still a reasonably safe job. The camaraderie on the road was good, drivers looked out for each other and it was great to catch up with some old mates for dinner if you happened to cross paths at a roadhouse or parking bay. But these days, not even parking bays are safe. I was horrified to read of the WA truck driver asleep in his truck alone in a parking bay at Mt Lambie NSW when a group of thugs pulled up, smashed and ransacked his truck, beat him up, and shot him. What the hell is going on?

Personally, even if I am tired, I will never pull up in an empty parking bay. My number plates WOMAN01 advertise the fact that I am female and yes, to be honest, that could put me at risk - and so I trundle on to the next parking bay. I like to park around another truck - safety in numbers I guess. Years ago when I didn't have a sleeper, I would just roll the swag out on the back of the load or the ground but now it is definitely lock the doors before closing my eyes.

But many drivers do ‘not’ have the luxury of choosing their parking bay. When your fatigue management hours are up

that's it. You may have been caught behind a slow-moving wide load, or blown a tyre or whatever but you are behind time so have to pull up where you can or run the risk of a heavy fine.

I know that obviously ‘someone’ has to be the first in the empty parking bay but it’s not going to be me. And then there are the parking bays that we all avoid. Ones that just don't feel right, ones that there are bad vibes around - but try explaining that to a Traffic Inspector – “Well you see officer it was that parking bay - we all know that it’s haunted so I had to keep going to the next one”. You can imagine how that would go down. And yet - I think that is a legitimate excuse - if you don't feel safe, you should be allowed to move on. But sadly the authorities don't see it that way. They would rather that you get no rest, or be forced to pull up on the shoulder and be kept awake all night than allow you to ‘occasionally’ run 30 minutes over your fatigue management regulations.

A good operator doesn’t deliberately try and break the law. They know what is safe and how their body is feeling. If you try and push it, you are putting your own life on the line as well as others. Sometimes there needs to be a little bit of common sense applied - but sadly common sense isn't so common these days. .