Goodaye all, well half a week-end at home, the first for a while. Many drivers seem to be flat out, there are not enough people to do the work, whether it be mechanics, packers, drivers and even barristas. Heard there are currently 13,000 adds for them, I did not think we had that many!
So another trip north, this time as an ab-triple to a mine, then home to load cotton, unload cotton at another gin, then reload at yet another and back to Dubbo, a short visit home while the truck got a service (missed an “A” but back on track now) then Brisbane as a b-triple and home as a b-double. A fairly big week, nearly 5,500 ks, but some loading and unloading in there as well.
Many calls and time on the phone during the week with details and discussions re the NRFA Conference in Toowoomba on the 9th July at the Toowoomba Golf Club, a dinner that night with speaker and auction, then a Truckies Breakfast at the BP Charlton on Sunday 10th. BP will offer a free coffee with breakfast and Haultech Engineering, who you may know as the makers of the excellent ICEPACK, have agreed to sponsor the breakfast, so you should get a cheap brekkie, full details yet to be confirmed.
We will have a couple of speakers in the Saturday morning session, then a panel discussion with a wide group seeking to not only discuss issues, but to come up with some solutions to a few industry problems. We won’t solve them on the day, but we hope to be genuine and if all invited do attend, have those there who can make some decisions and hopefully then some headway.
So outside of a couple of jobs on the truck, I did look at “The Ice Road” movie as was fairly disappointed, stopped watching when it got too ridiculous, but will finish one day when nothing better to do. There have been few trucking movies that show us well, most want to highlight the bad, even Smokey and the Bandit, for the incredible success it was, showed a less than legal side. When “Prime Mover” was due to be filmed, they had an info session at the Dubbo Tourist building and I dropped in and offered my view and of course, wanted a spot for a truck promoting the industry and road safety. I was told that I would be the only one who watched it and they needed more.
For those of you who have seen it (and I did mange to be home to attend the premiere in Dubbo) it did not do the industry many favours. Yes it had a love story and a sort of truck love story too with the young bloke following his Dad, but it had a bad side and was a bit too contrived, for me at least.
So with Slim long gone, no good movies or much trucking music, we need someone new or if Jimmy Barnes will do another trucking song for us, maybe we will get heard somewhere else. Come on Jimmy, come for a trip and sing us a new song. Till next week, Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.
TRUCKRIGHT 