The captive transport industry - A gold mine for Roadhouses

Over to youBIRDS EYE VIEW by Carol Messenger

THE CAPTIVE TRANSPORT SECTOR -

A gold mine for Roadhouses

The torrential rains and subsequent

flooding following recent cyclone

Veronica that hit between Karratha and Port Hedland late March caused massive damage to our road system and saw many vehicles in the North West of Western Australia stranded.

The Pilbara region and beyond, ground to a stop with no vehicles, light or heavy - able to get in or out or through.

At one stage, Police and Main Roads vehicles escorted trucks into Port Hedland and Broome, but these were only what was deemed to be 'essential services' i.e.; food trucks for the communities that were running low. For the rest of the poor buggers caught out on the road, it was just sit and wait and wait and wait.

Magnet, Meekatharra, Kumarina, Cappy and Auski were all packed to the rafters and all parking areas were full to capacity.

An absolute goldmine for roadhouses that had a captive audience that had no choice but to buy their meals from them whilst waiting for the roads to reopen.

Whilst I understand that ‘business is business’, surely in times like this roadhouses could be a little more understanding and look after the truckies

instead of charging like wounded bulls.

Being charged $10 - $15 for breakfast, similar for lunch and $25 - $30 for dinner makes for an expensive day when you are sitting around not being paid. And by the time you are stuck there for a week, with nothing to do but eat, smoke and chat, you tend to spend even more... maybe a few coldies after dinner.

Truckies are the backbone of this country and without us the place comes to a standstill very quickly. People tend to forget that when they have a chance to reap a benefit.

Wouldn't it have been nice if a few of these communities decided to offer a bit of

Whilst I understand that ‘business is business’, surely in times like this roadhouses could be a little more understanding and look after the truckies instead of charging like wounded bulls

hospitality - offer to take in a truckie for a few days, or the scouts or local community group put on a free or cheap sausage sizzle of hamburgers to help look after these ladies and gents that have been stranded whilst they are just doing their jobs.

Or maybe roadhouses could put aside their 'gold counting' for a few days and provide fair cost meals to truck drivers.

Many of these drivers are paid by the kilometre or straight trip money so if you aren't making the miles, you aren't making the dollars.

Same with Owner Drivers. No-one wants to be parked up for ‘any’ reason because without the wheels turning there is no money coming in. But sometimes there just is no choice and it is just a waiting game.

When the roads finally opened up on April 1st you might have thought at first it was an April fool’s joke, until the drivers witnessed the massive amount of damage to the roads.

Damage that will take months and months of disruptions and many billions of dollars to fix and that will affect driver’s schedules for months on end.

Aaaah, I guess that all part of a Transport Operator’s life - the fun, the games, the delays, the costs.

10 WATM • May 2019