Don’t squeeze truckies out!

One of the most important pieces of equipment for any caravanner is a UHF radio. And one of the most annoying, at least for truck drivers, are fog lights turned on unnecessarily at night that blind oncoming motorists.

That’s the view of long-time truckie and outspoken road safety advocate, Rod Hannifey, who was a guest speaker at this year’s Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow.

Being able to communicate with truckies as well as other road users on UHF radio, especially when over-taking or being over-taken, is crucial to preventing accidents, says Hannifey, who has been educating caravanners about sharing the road with truckies for close to 20 years.

He says truckies are often unfairly targeted in the mainstream media, when it’s other road users that are mostly to blame for serious accidents.

“The only press we ever get as an industry is truck kills somebody (but) 70 per cent of accidents between cars and trucks are the fault of the car driver,” he claims.

Through public speaking and online platforms like the Truckright website Hannifey says, "we want to show people that (truckies) do care and we can improve things on the road by making an effort".

He says vanners need to understand that truckies face pressures not experienced by other road users, including having to get to their destination by a certain time, take forced breaks, and park only in designated rest areas.

“As a truck driver I’ve driven nearly five million kilometres and certainly I don’t say all truckies are perfect, I can guarantee they’re not,” he says.

“I’ve driven smaller vehicles but a lot of people with smaller vehicles haven’t driven a truck and don’t understand things from our point of view.

“I really hope that truckies do the right thing on the road by you, and I apologise for any that do the wrong thing.”

He urges caravanners to tune in to UHF Channel 40 or the UHF 18 ‘caravanners’ channel, and put large, legible signage including name and channel on the front and back of the caravan, so truckies can communicate especially when trying to overtake.

“Using UHF can save people’s lives. I’ve had accidents, I’ve had cattle, all sorts of things occur and which I’ve been warned about by someone calling me on the UHF,” he says.

“Having a clearly visible sign is the most important part of it… If you work with us, and we can talk to you, it’s good.”

He says vanners also to need to consider the limitations imposed by an extra-long truck weighing many tonnes, which require a lot more time to accelerate up to speed while also being limited to 100km/h.

“We don’t want to sit on your tail, but I guarantee if I’m sitting 150m behind you I’ll get one chance to pass every two or three days! That’s because by the time I catch up that 150m a car will be coming the other way or something else.”

He urges caravanners not to accelerate, particularly in an overtaking lane, if a truck wants to pass.

“Maintain your speed and position until I pull out beside you, and once I’m beside you can either activate the trailer brakes or slow down a bit… but for goodness sake don’t accelerate,” he says.

With more vanners driving at night, they need to consider the dazzling effect of bright fog lights or LED daytime driving lights shining directly in the eyes of oncoming drivers.

“They are an issue for truck drivers and I’d ask you to consider not having them on unless you absolutely need to,” he says.

The other big issue is caravanners hogging rest areas designated for truckies.

“I live in the truck for six days (at a time), in a 2m x 1m box -- now if you’re out in caravan or motorhome you have a lot more room than I have,” he explains.

“You have the capacity to go to a motel or caravan park if you wish, but if I’m in a truck like that and I pull up in an urban area, I’m not allowed to park there for more than one hour, regardless of how tired I am.

“I am mandated by law to have certain breaks. You are not allowed to leave your dog in the car without facilities, yet I am required to sleep in that truck where there is no shade, no facilities, no toilet, and sometimes I’m lucky if I’ve got a bit of dirt and a rubbish bin...

“There has been a lot of complaint from truckies where caravanners pull in and use a truck bay. The truck bays are there for us, we are more than happy to share them with you, but you have to consider our needs.“

Citing a recent survey that suggested Australia requires 12,000 more truck bays to accommodate its trucking fleet, he’s come up with a new design for roadside rest areas that takes into account the needs of all road users.

“We do need sufficient areas. We’re happy to share them with you but as long as you move to the extremities and understand if you pull up at 6 o’clock at night they’re is likely to be a whole lot of trucks pulling up later that night.

“We understand that you are going out to spend your money in country towns and to have a good time, and we want you to do it. But if you can use a carpark or a caravan bay that’s fine; if you’re going to use a truck bay we welcome you there as long as you consider us, that’s all we ask.”

The father of seven lives and breathes the road safety message, driving a B-double truck in his day job emblazoned with the Truckright message.

“I would really like to see some sort of driver education (in relation to trucks) put into the (standard) car licence tests,” he says.