Truckies prepare for caravan road blocks

Truck drivers have had the highways and roadside rest stops almost all to themselves the past few months, with domestic travel put on hold, but with the borders now opening up, clashes between disrespectful or uneducated caravanners and impatient truckies are set to resume.

However, a couple of new educational videos from the 'Share the Road' campaign have just been released, designed to help caravanners keep out of the way of truckies at rest stops and along highways to help keep the peace and ensure truckies make their deliveries on time.

Co-presented by truckie and road safety campaigner Rod Hannifey, the 'Holiday travellers and road trains share the Outback' video outlines the safest way for a caravan rig to overtake a 50m-plus long roadrain, including using UHF radio to communicate with the truck driver before attempting to pass and keeping headlights on for visibility.

The timely video also provides tips on how to behave when a truck wants to pass a caravan rig on a straight highway. Caravanners are told to maintain a consistent speed and position, and ease off the accelerator rather than brake or speed up as the truck prepares to pass, and communicate to the driver when it's safe to return to the left lane.

The 'Caravans and truckies sharing facilities' video encourages caravanners to have 'facility awareness' at truck stops and roadhouses, avoiding truck-only areas where possible like fast flow bowsers, and avoiding stopping in truck bays.

Caravanners are also encouraged to park overnight in general roadside rest areas rather than designated truck stops; to 'leave no trace', and allow enough room in the rest area for truck drivers arriving later on in the day.

The Share the Road videos are the latest in a number of 'share the road' campaigns designed to avoid clashes between holiday travellers and truck drivers.

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