18th August 2017.

Goodaye all. Finding oil in the radiator is not the best way to start the week, so back home Sunday night. Into work Monday morning, workshop pulled it apart, EGR cooler failure, wait for parts for Tuesday morning, some then missing but luckily only locally, got them and back on the road Tuesday afternoon. Had Channel 7 and the paper arranged as I was going to Toowoomba for Monday unload, missed Channel 7 but met up with the journalist on Wednesday morning. Both were following up on my raising of the issue of rest areas on the new Toowoomba bypass.

Tom the journalist did have a responce from TMR, saying there was a rest area being built on the west side of the Warrego overpass, but it is a roadtrain hook up pad. I will follow up and seek the plans and will pursue. All well and good for them to say it is a rest area, I can just imagine getting good sleep while blokes hook up roadtrains with lights and reversing buzzers etc. Owner Driver will follow up with me next week as well.

I do have a caravan story for 2 weeks time and plan to start doing a plug for each of the TRUCKRIGHT Industry Vehicle (TIV) supporters monthly from next week, but for now will stick with media and specifically videos. How many of you saw the Volvo video with Jean-Claude Van Damme? I would like to recommend a few more for your interest and comments. “I am a Volvo trucker” won a number of awards and shows a completely different, though American side to those of us who live on the road and I would love to do something like that here. It will happen one day. The video I did with the NRMA “We hitch a 10 hour ride” on the NRMA Facebook page was my first viral event and I have since done 5 videos on Youtube, TRUCKRIGHT Industry Vehicle Video 1 etc, with the aim to explain to people what the TIV is all about.

A mate has a hobby, OZTRUCKINGTV and has spent years trying to get a better image for the industry and now in the USA, there is a campaign Trucking Moves America Forward run by the American Trucking Association which has a number of streams, videos and now over 100 trailers wrapped with their messages. We have never had a such a campaign here in Australia and granted their population, number of drivers and market are so much bigger, but we do need to get the average motorist to recognise what we contribute to their way of life.

Is video the way to do it? Let me know what you like of those mentioned and what you suggest? Happy to have a major supporter for same in the future. Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.