Goodaye all, well back in Mackay again, got in last night for a 35 hour break till I can unload Monday. Been a big week from the convoy last week, loading in Melbourne Monday with the wind and the curtains out level with the roof (not good for a perfect shoulder let alone a repaired one) but got to move up and finish loading with less wind. Then the long way round to Dubbo, that road across form the Hume is bad just like many others, the unsigned craters the worst, trying to pull up enough not to do damage, so on the brakes hard regularly in the night.
Grease the back turntable, had to adda couple of pallets and that delay (no good deed goes unpunished) meant when I rang to say an hour from Moree, sorry will be gone so night off and unload in morning. Had planned to be reloaded and out on the farm for Tuesday delivery, first of four loads. We had picked up the loads, but been unable to deliver and rain delayed need as well. However, Tuesday morn unload and reload and away.
Had an offer to follow another fellow in a ute to the farm, he thought there may be a shortcut, but we went all the way round first with about 10 k of dirt to the airstrip and unloading point. Unloaded with the crop dusters flat out up and down and went out the shortcut, all good. Funny that the dirt, yes with a soft spot and a couple of small humps for pipes etc, was still better than much of the first 50 k westbound from Moree and even much better than the hundreds of holes, a couple of serious failures and the myriad of trenches, craters and bumps on the bitumen road?
Two trips done each day, dropped plenty of dust each trip back and then told off to Newcastle to loads for up here. Didn’t quite make it, would love to have asked the yellow and orange truck was there a truck in front when he parked, because where he was you could only ift one truck in the spot just pats the BP at Murrurundi, so went into the next and nearly lost the truck and trailers in the hole. Full of stinking mud etc and been there for awhile, but managed to claw out and park on good ground, but then had to be nearly on the road, any further back and would have been bogged!
Off to the castle and rang the Murrurundi council, but got Singleton, explained the issue ansd the lady said she would be back to me by close of business that day. I was impressed, but a little doubtful. But true to her word, she rang me back about 3.30, telling me it is the responsibility of Tpt for NSW as it is on the highway. She had spoken with them and it was programmed for fixing before Xmas, but with all the gear out west, it may not get done.
She said it had been an ongoing issue, read back and forth for months to get something done, but a reminder to Tpt would not hurt. I did suggest though that a load of fill in there if it was going to be some time, would help and might lessen the severity of the issue. On the phone to Tpt NSW on 131700, round and round for a bit, then lost the call. How many of you have found phone service worse now? So rang again, explained again and had a bloke who said he might know someone who could help. Let’s hope and if you see it fixed, let me know.
No to compare that with the work of the road crew I had ben watching west of Moree may well be unfair. It must be a bugger of a job and fairly daunting at the moment, take a load of cold hotmix (mmm, wonder how well that will work when thrown in a hole?) enough for a days work and when you need about 30 loads, see how far it will go. Now I did this round trip 4 times in two days and yes, some holes were filled, but it looked like fill two miss five, fill two miss a crater, fill two and miss 10 was the plan. No womper stomper or roller, maybe tamp with the foot or roll with the truck, but will they last a week, what value are we getting? Again, not a job I want, but who makes suer we get some value from the effort?
I truly think we need some better oversight of road funding money. It is our lives on the road, yes the odd car might blow a tyre or break a rim, but not only do our trucks cop a flogging, so do we and we will still be blamed for breaking the road when it was not built or fixed properly in the first place. What do you think? Safe Travelling, Rod Hannifey.
TRUCKRIGHT 