10% O/T Truckies Looming Action re Fuel
Submitted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:04
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Member - Doug T (FNQ)
If the Transport industry takes action against fuel prices and has any Blockades I would urge the 4x4 fraternity to get in and support them, I am in no way suggesting anyone break any laws , in support I would mean help in transport to grocery stores, deliver firewood if in the colder parts of Australia,hot coffee, and get things the drivers would need .ie BEER etc,
It's only in the wind yet but if action is taken I will be out there doing my bit to help make it easier for them , Geez I still remember Razorback / Kalkallo blockades in 1979 ,Kalkallo was a good stop, right opposite the Pub
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Razorback Remembered
Its nearly 29 years since Ted “Greendog” Stevens, Spencer Watling, Colin Bird, Harry Grimson and Jack Hibburt instigated the now infamous Razorback Blockade on the Hume Highway.
The action eventually involved more than 2000 trucks and was aimed at obtaining:
Better freight rates
No compulsory union
membership
Backloading at full rates
Increase in gross load limits
Abolition of road tax
Uniform laws across Australia, and
No backdated prosecutions for road maintenance tax.
That was back in the days of Hawke and co but has anything changed?
NUP
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Reply By: On Patrol - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:22
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:22
Doug T
I remember the Razorback blockade
well Doug, but what I don't remember was, did it get them anywhere? did it work? I honestly don't remember.
I'ts a noble thing to protest in a non violent way but it's another thing to p1ss into the wind. I hope it will not become the latter if it goes ahead.
Most drivers are overworked, overstressed, overtaxed & underpaid. That is a dangerous combination for all road users.
Good luck to them, I hope it works, goodness knows they need it.
Colin.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:27
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:27
Colin
We did get rid of the dreaded Road Tax, that was a Tax that put good honest hard working family men in Goulbourn because they couldn't pay the Tax, A real family ruination tax that was.
.
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Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:08
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:08
Doug, i remember the blockade and yes it did get rid of the road tax but the govt of the day just shoved it on the Diesel price at the bowser. I remember when Petrol was 20cents a litre and diesel was 10 cents. The problem then and more relavant today is that there is huge competition to make a decent living out of driving. Also the big companies have it sewn up, they get cheaper trucks and trailers and cheap fuel for the volumes they buy. In fact, that can be said for all industries. The big get bigger and the smaller guys get the crumbs. Michael
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FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:11
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:11
Michael
You got that right...!!!!
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Follow Up By: Member - Chris & Debbie (QLD) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:19
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:19
ah yes they did get rid of the road tax didn't they but what is it now? The Road Users Charge. The Rudd gov't is also trying to increase this for trucks by nearly 1.5cpl, They are also trying to have this charge indexed at a higher rate than cpi. The opposition blocked this increase in the Senate but what will happen when they loose the majority? in June is it?
Chris
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Reply By: Member - Roger B (VIC) - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:30
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 21:30
In the last few weeks they've effectively had their wages severely slashed through no fault of their own.........
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Reply By: Member - Mark G (NSW) - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 22:13
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 22:13
to doug t;as an interstate driver it is encouraging to hear from guys like yourself ready to pitch in and lend a hand.the action you speak of is really inevitable due to the high cost of fuel forcing most owner drivers out of business.imagine the cost of having to put up to 2000 litres of fuel in at a time,times 4 a week.a stoppage of all transport for say a minimum of a week would have to get attention.the transport industry is planning to carry out this action and like you said we dont want to go about it in such a way that anybody breaks the law.keep yourself posted by going to www.ownerdriver.com.au or simply next time your out and about switch on the UHF and have a chat to any of the drivers and they would be more than happy to point you in th e right direction on how to help.thanks for reading,cheers. :-).
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:42
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:42
Mark
Last year in
Perth I was topping up the Troopy for a job at Peak ,Maddington ,if the two 90lt tanks were showing 1/4 and the 180lt was empty it would cost about $110, I added $300 last week and still had room for heaps more.
.
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Reply By: Member - Mfewster(SA) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:33
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:33
Doug, I can understand and sympathize with the truckies and and every business and community that depends on transport. I hear on the wireless that British truckdrivers are looking at similar action. But it will make absolutley no difference. You can force changes in industrial laws with this kind of action, but you can't change fuel prices. Governments still have to pay for defence forces, hospitals, education etc etc. Take off one tax and they have to raise it somewhere else. We will stay pay it. Fuel taxes just get added to the cost of the goods delivered. Take off fuel taxes, up goes GST or something equivalent. NSW is already screaming about what tax will pay for their hospitals if the fuel taxes go.
Only three things can change the fuel price.
1. Increase supply of fuel.
2 Decrease demand for fuel.
3 At an international level, nationalize all world fuel supplies and regulate its use.
Of these, only 1 looks feasible. And as we have a declining supply of oil, using natural gas looks the best way to do this.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:53
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 09:53
Mfewster
You mentioned NSW, that's because the state's being run by an incompetant govt' , actually the whole bloody country is .When Unions, and Religion start dictating to governments that get's up me nose , the latter is the worse, then of course we have some boofhead bloody ex
rock singer got himself into Parliment , the ugliest looking thing yet to sit,
No I'm not running to hide , the bald headed mongrel, and as for Brown,
well he's not worth a mention really, How in hell can you have a Brown in Green, and I can't stand that red headed female.
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Follow Up By: Isuzumu - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:33
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:33
I am with you on that Doug, and yes I'll be putting my hand up if the truchies need a hand as
well.
Cheers Bruce
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Reply By: Member - Mfewster(SA) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:13
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 10:13
Our lack of preparedness for the current fuel prices is the fault of the Howard, Keating and Hawke governments. The Rudd government so far has shown itself to be no better. Their "price watch" response is just pathetic. And then they went to water when
Nelson went populist and said he'd remove the tax!!!
Actually the only government we have had that seemed to have a clue on this issue has been forgotten. Who remembers why the Whitlam government was sacked? Whitlam came in just as the first energy crisis hit and it blew his budget out of the water. They learnt something from it however and wanted long term
infrastructure to future proof Oz from the next crisis. Rex Connors, the energy minister, wanted to link Australia's energy
reserves with piplenes across the continent. The money for this was blocked in the Senate. They then tried a dodgy deal to get the money in what became known as the Khemlaini affair which eventually resulted in Whitlam being chucked out. Yes, that deal was dodgy, but you have to admit, their heart was in the right place and they are the only government we have had that has shown vision and leadership on this.
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Reply By: Member -Signman - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 14:00
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 14:00
I think it's a bit more than "in the wind" down this part of the Hume !!
I drive over Razorback 3 or 4 times a week !!
Some dude got a government grant to 'bury' a truck on Razorback a few years back- with a
plaque commemorating The Blockade !!
Do ya want me to take a
pic and send ya ??
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 14:03
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 14:03
P.S. Just like to add- we had a big night here in Camden last night- you may have seen it on the news??
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Reply By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 15:58
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 15:58
I think a better alternate is to increase to rates right across the board.
A blockade will only do more harm to the general publics veiw of the transport industry and can be broken, the government have the power to hook-up and tow away trucks that are blocking a federal road.
The transport industry is it's own worst enemy with price cutting and dominance by a FEW major players who seam to call the shots, paying very small margins above cost and if (Bob) doesn't want work for this rate, (Joe) will!.
I got sick of fighting for rate increase's just to keep up with fuel so now I'm back on wages, and glad now
THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY MUST CHARGE MORE. Anyone caught undercutting, should be referred to the undertakers.
This crap about paying for schools and Hospitals doesn't wash with me, They slapped GST on top of excise so we pay a tax on a tax, If fuel has gone up 20% the amount gained of GST has also risen 20%,are our Hospitals and Schools 20% better?(yes, my maths are simple).
I got sick of fighting for rate increase just to keep up with fuel so now I'm back on wages
Shane
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Follow Up By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 16:01
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 16:01
I see an echo on my post
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Follow Up By: Gramps (NSW) - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:49
Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:49
LOL don't worry about it. We got the message.
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Reply By: Member - colin M (NSW) - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:34
Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:34
I worked in the transport game 25 years ago and appears nothing has changed - while subbys keep working for low rates and not pushing for true cost recovery, someone will always exploit them, big carriers or big companies. Subbys only hope of survival is to stay in the union and push for full cost recovery, otherwise 25 years on the story will be the same. The blockage sounds heroic but will be useless like the last one.
The
population must accept that higher fuel cost must lead to higher transport cost.
Lets hope the RMIT boys on ABC TV tonight have the alternative fuel answer with Hydrogen as lets face it oil will eventually run out.
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