Introduction.
I first became involved in road safety in 1999 following one of those days on the road, when you really wonder where people get their licenses, out of Weet Bix packets or do they simply not care about their lives or those of anyone else? After sleeping for the night at Narrabri and only being on the road 15 minutes and not even up to highway speed, I and the car behind me, were overtaken by another car with two unrestrained children in the back with an approaching b-double heading towards us less than 200 metres away. I was in a b-double fuel tanker and both b-doubles went off the road onto the shoulder to allow the stupid motorist to safely get through.

Later that same day being fully loaded and coming down off a hill onto a narrow bridge, I flashed the oncoming F250 Ford as if to say, “Back off just a bit and I will be off the bridge before you come on”. No way. This bloke kept coming and we met before I came off the bridge and to this day, I believe I missed that vehicle and the bridge posts by millimetres. Had he just lifted his foot off the accelerator for less than 20 seconds, I would have been clear and the possibility of a crash would have been completely avoided. So I pulled up for my break and thought, “What can I do to lessen these problems?” and have been involved since.

All drivers and truckies particularly, can regale you with horror stories of crashes and near misses, most of which need not have happened, nor the risk have even occurred, had the motorist simply respected the size and weight of the larger truck. This is not about might is right, it is simple physics. As a pedestrian, you would not step out in front of a bus and simply expect it to stop because you are there. And yet everyday, car drivers who have perhaps not been taught to share the road with trucks, will pull directly out in front of a fully loaded semi or b-double and expect them to stop dead.

If through the information on these pages, one of these crashes or lives lost can be prevented, then my efforts will have been worthwhile. I make no claims to be perfect, we are all (at least supposedly) human, but not all drivers are equal and some have simply been taught to pass a test, not to spend the rest of their lives on the road, let alone to share those roads with large trucks. Fatal crashes between cars and trucks are over 70% the fault of the car driver according to crash statistics. This only confirms to me that we do need better education of car drivers about sharing the road with trucks. There is no doubt that truckies have to earn the respect their vehicles deserve and do their part to improve road safety as well.

I have now travelled in excess of 6 million kilometres on the road in vehicles from cars up to triple roadtrains and still see such foolhardy acts on the highway that risk my life and that of others. If all drivers treated people in other vehicles as if they were a member of their own family, do you think that would change some of the impatience and risky behaviours? Perhaps not a bad way to look at your time on the road. Is it your children as learners, your wife or partner in the next car, or your ageing parents going a bit steady? Either way, would you risk their lives to save yourself two minutes? I hope not, but it is up to you!

Having returned Ken’s truck, I then went back to RPT truck 7 for another year, then in 2011 Rod Pilon Transport bought a new K200 bigcab, the first in the fleet and I designed a new set of curtains that Rod never saw till I turned up with them fitted. There are few companies that would allow a driver to do this and I thank Rod Pilon for his support since the start and through now to his son Ben.

I had that white K200 for just short of ten years, did over 2 million k in it and it is still on the road with yet another Rod, driving it. The original curtains from the first TIV are on another set of RPT trailers, so they too are still putting out a good view and industry promotion as they travel the highways. TIV 2 served me very well, but now there is TIV 3 and likely the last, we will see.

June 2017 Audiobooks For The Road
I have started a facebook page to provide reviews of books I read, sometimes up to 3 a week and to seek your comments and reviews as well. I was recently invited to be a judge for audiobook of the year and want to let people know of the entertainment you can get on long trips from audiobooks. Click Here to read more.
Links to the ABC interview and Sydney Morning Herald article.

February 2026 Latest Blog Post. Listen on Spotify
Goodaye all, did manage to get some work done on the truck Friday and Tuesday, but whilst still some bits to do, someone forgot to mention it was done, so later out than planned and a long night to get into Brissie, then a trip down the Gold Coast Wednesday morning. Back to the yard to unload the balance and load some bulk DG from there for a big trip down to Moree. But when someone woke me Thursday morning and asked for a loading time to go to Sydney for Friday, I thought MMMM, will ring the Sydney depot to hope they have a load out.

Well that went from bad to worse when they said, yes, you are loading for Brisbane before 2PM Friday. What about the 2PM timeslot on the load I haven’t even picked up yet, well we don’t know why they gave you that load, but you will have to bring it to the yard, unload, then go and reload and that meant of course getting to Brisbane late Friday night and not unloading till Monday morning. Did have a nice meal at Moorlands on the way up and in late, so parked up for a wash. Oh the joy of trucking!!

Had a driver at Moorlands comment on the Copy Southbound podcast I did awhile ago and thanked me for the green reflectors. TMR have recently done some more on the Cunningham Highway and I thank them for that, now just the rest of Qld that I haven’t done yet, to do. Then had a long discussion with another driver about industry issues and possible solutions as we travelled north later that night, but as you all know, we know the problems and solutions, it is just getting those who can make a difference to do so.

I have noted of late, many US social media posts about the life of Truckies there. None seem to show anything good. They too are having problems with licensing and whilst many here would like to see drivers able to speak English for the safety of all, it seems drivers whether they have a good record or not, can be tested for the ability to read and write English and if they fail, can have their CDL rescinded. Whilst they have some nice trucks and those in some of the truck shows are out of this world, it seems many are walking away from living in trucks, struggling to survive on the road for weeks or months and so what is the industry doing, throwing even less skilled people into those trucks. DOES THAT SOUND FAMILAIER TO YOU?

I welcome the news that Ron Crouch Transport has found a buyer, the employees certainly didn’t get the company to where it ended up, so good to see all will still have a job. The TV coverage that included Geoff and others showed we have some problems, but will the government act before we have more deaths or can’t supply enough drivers to do the job, I wonder. Is it all their fault, of course not, the majority of the industry did nothing about training drivers for so many years and now we find ourselves with many problems.

So, is there a driver shortage, or, as has been the argument in the states for many years, is it a shortage of those who want to do the job anymore? And having heard of some who have raised issues here with authorities about bad practices, not getting listened to or suffering for voicing their concerns, where does that leave the rest of us?

Again, we cannot simply give out licenses, that will and has thus far at times, led to more crashes and then the industry is seen badly by the public. Yes the press has some responsibility here, but who is holding them to account, no one I can see. When I first got involved in road safety and advocacy more than 25 years ago, in some ways it was easier to get heard. Many I spoke with in the early days, said we don’t hear from or talk to truck drivers that much and so they were sometimes interested in fixing things etc.

But the extent of the road issues and then industry problems, means it is getting harder to see the end of the tunnel without thinking there is a train coming at you. But I will keep trying. Safe Travelling, Rod.

To Support the TRUCKRIGHT initiative please purchase a Trucks Deliver Australia bumper sticker by clicking the PayPal button below to have a sticker posted to you. Stickers $20.00 each.

Mudflaps also available. Contact me for more infomation, sizes and prices.