Goodaye all. A truckie has started a Facebook page with the intent of getting our rest areas cleaner and I have been invited to join and just posted the following comment on “The stinkin places transport operators park lets clean up our work place” page.
Goodaye Mark, thanks for the invite. I fully support your intent, both to get all who use rest areas to treat them better and to have those responsible for those sites do the same, though would like to make an initial suggestion and that is the sites name might well gain more involvement and support if it was simply, “Lets Keep our rest areas clean” or similar. Some might not recognise your aim and stop reading before they recognise your intent.
I have often written suggesting blokes can pick up a few bits of rubbish while building up air in the morning, but you are right in saying there should be no need for anyone to pick up someone else’s rubbish.
Lack of rest areas, those in any group who abuse them and those in offices who have every facility on every floor, certainly do not really understand or care about our needs on the road. Most truckies, most caravanners and most travellers, we would all hope, carry their rubbish in a bag in the car or truck and dispose of it properly. However the world is changing and less and less seem to care or think of others. In walking along roadsides scoping for green reflector bays, the rubbish that flows from about half hour out of most towns, after people have eaten etc, is truly disgraceful. Keep trying and let us hope we will get an improvement. Cheers Rod Hannifey.
What are your thoughts? I know a few years ago, RMS at one stage threatened to close the Muldoons Rest Areas on the Hume Highway, saying the maintenance cost was too high and we did not design them, nor were we invited to participate, so who’s fault is that cost. In the USA, Virginia closed 18 rest bays, again citing the cost of up keep, yet we are required to comply with fatigue laws and told by people who live in their own bed and if not, live in a damn site more luxury when away from home, than we do on the road.
And now the taxation office wants to halve our meal allowance for living on the road. We are copping it on all sides. What is the solution? Some say advertising in rest areas, some say we just want more, but the money is not there to build one for cars, one for trucks and another for caravanners to free camp in, so where do we turn. My belief is that we need more, that are better designed and built with input from the users and I have asked the National Transport Commission to pursue this with a National Guideline for Truck Rest Areas. They have made a start and soon there will be a call for industry participation towards those guidelines. Will you take part and contribute, do you have a solution or will you sit and whinge? Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.
TRUCKRIGHT 
2 replies on “29th July 2018 Clean Rest Areas?”
Gday Rod Hannifey first of all my name is Matty not Mark thanks for you input Mate l am not changing the name of this group
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Goodaye Matty, I must have been invited to look at your site by a Mark, sorry for that and I have only offered a suggestion. I wish you well in getting our rest areas improved. Cheers Rod.
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