Toll costs are becoming prohibitive for operators

double park along the wide main street and still allow access for cars which have parked.

There is also a heavy vehicle inspection station on the outskirts of Campbell Town which was opened in 1832 when bushrangers roamed the area.

WA trucks

Tunnel vision on tolls

There is little doubt that the NorthConnex tunnel into and out of Sydney has eased traffic congestion and cut down travelling time for trucks in particular.

NorthConnex is a 9km twin tunnel that links the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga to the Hills M2 Motorway at West Pennant Hills in Sydney.

During my recent trip to NSW I spoke to scores of truckies who praised the tunnel because it has cut travelling time since it opened on October 31, 2020.

But with every good thing comes a cost and small fleet owners and owner-operators tell me the toll costs are prohibitive.

“The toll is $27.17 for trucks and added to rising fuel prices it is a big hit for us,” one told me.

However truckies who are employed by companies had a different opinion.

“I don’t care as the company pays the tolls. The tunnel is a huge positive for us as it can take 15 to 30 minutes off a trip,” a truckie said.

Toll prices are valid from January 1, 2023 and are adjusted quarterly in line with the concession agreement with the NSW Government, and will continue until 2048.

The government estimates that up to 5000 trucks are taken off Pennant Hills Road each day, saving nearly 15 minutes off travel time during rush hours.

Truckies told me that can be up to 30 minutes.

Drivers can also avoid 40 sets of traffic lights on the Pacific Highway or 21 sets of traffic lights between the M1 and M2.

I was driving through the tunnel in January and had the radio on when a speaker from the control centre cut in and advised there had been a minor accident and there could be delays.

It is all very high tech.

Scalies and delays

It can be a nightmare travelling along the M1 Highway in and out of Sydney especially for truckies.

I had to feel sorry for hundreds of truckies who travelled along the M1 in late December when the speed of all traffic was reduced to a snail’s pace.

That was because of two crashes with one each side of the busy highway on which normally the speed can be brisk.

One was a three-car collision on the Hawkesbury River Bridge and the other a pile up just down the route.

I was also caught up in the delays and it took me 90 minutes to travel 25kms and there were trucks caught in long lines everywhere.

To make matters worse for truckies the scalies had set up checks at inspection stations on both sides of the M1.

Staff shortages

It seems that many roadhouses around this vast country are having trouble finding suitable staff.

Spy has heard this from some roadhouse operators in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, SA, WA and the NT.

Truckies who frequent these vital businesses have also passed on similar information they have gleaned from visits.

I know of one driver who is employed by a company which allows for long haul workers to stay at a motel, who could not get a room at one.

He was told that the boss there had to prepare the rooms for use herself because she could not get staff to do so.

So she could only prepare so many.

No such reports of roadhouse worker shortages have been received from Tasmania.

Tassie parking dilemma

There is controversy in the strategically placed Tasmanian town of Campbell Town about trucks double parking in the main street.

Campbell Town is located 66km from Launceston and 133km from the capital Hobart, along the Midlands or Heritage Highway. With its location between

Tassie’s two biggest towns, it is very busy with truck traffic.

It also is the only major rest area on the Midland Highway, with toilets, a park, a large car park and a range of food outlets.

Some locals it seems have complained about trucks double parking which has resulted in police intervening.

However whilst some drivers have been booked, my contacts there tell me police mostly issue warnings.

I am told that trucks can

An avid reader of Big Rigs was impressed with the driving of safety conscious truckies she saw whilst travelling along the highway near Albany in WA.

She managed to track down Spy and email some pics she took whilst on the road in January.

One who particularly impressed her was the driver of a South Haulage Mack.

She sent in some pics snapped from the passenger side of a vehicle she was in.

Southern Haulage is based at Mount Barker in WA.

Busy Cardwell Seaside Cardwell in North Queensland along the Bruce Highway is a busy place with many truckies stopping there.

Cardwell is 160km north of Townsville and 180km south of Cairns, and the Bruce Highway runs through the main street.

It is right beside the azure Pacific Ocean and every day hundreds of trucks pass through.

Some of the drivers opt to stop at the roadhouse or if they can find a park pop over to one of the eateries.

At the roadhouse you can pick up a copy of Big Rigs and a couple of truckies I saw sitting at a table across the street were reading it.

The day I pulled over there recently I saw more than 50 trucks heading in both directions.

In recent years Cardwell had been hard hit by tropical cyclones, with one half of the main street eroded away.

Even though the waters off Cardwell are enticing for a swim on a hot day, the local pieman Bob Jesse warns against it.

“There are crocodiles there so don’t swim,” he said. Bad luck instead of good

A well known Queensland identity who appeared in Big Rigs recently phoned Spy in a rather agitated state and his first words were “do you want the good news first or the bad news?”

Always one to look on the brighter side of life old Spy opted to hear the good news.

“Well I go to a club regularly which has a mega members draw and last night my name was pulled out advising I had won $30,000 cash,” he said.

Spy pondered for a split second about what could possibly be the bad news after such a windfall.

“I was 20 minutes late getting there as I was doing the mowing and as part of the rules the winner had to be at the club so I didn’t get the cash,” he said.

As this is a family paper I can’t repeat the expletives that followed from his mouth.

Friendly worker l feel Dry is a real asset for the roadhouse.

Orbin Dry is a staff member at the Deepwater Roadhouse in NSW and is one of the friendliest workers you could ever meet.

I stopped off there with my wife on a story run and entered the roadhouse which is between Tamworth and Armidale.

The 33-year-old couldn’t have been more helpful and courteous to us.

“I have worked here for some time and we get lots of truckies stopping off. We always treat people well and many come back,” Dry said.

The roadhouse opens until 9pm nightly and Dry says the main dine-in meals truckies order are mixed grills and steak.

“Others in a hurry get a coffee or a cold drink and then leave depending on their schedule,” he said.

Dry added that the roadhouse is privately owned and that some truckies stopped for a shower and to use the toilets.

They even get to read their latest copy of Big Rigs Newspaper.

Born in Oregon in the USA, Dry has been down under since 2012.

Hidden secret

Several truckies told Spy that there is a place they like to stop at Kearsley in NSW because they can check out his- tory, park their rigs across the road, use a clean toilet and get a snack, cold drink, a tea or a coffee.

It is a café and museum/art gallery called ‘The Crossing’ so Big Rigs stopped there in January and spoke to the owner Tony Moore.

Kearsley is a small hamlet near Cessnock; and Moore said quite a few truckies stop there along with normal motorists and van drivers.

“The truck fellows park across the road and have a look around. They get a bite to eat and use the toilet and then are on their way,” he said.

Moore, 60, used to own a landscaping business and also repaired trucks so he knows what the drivers want.

I enjoyed a cake and cuppa there and looked at the old Elvis Presley records, rail trans- port memorabilia and numerous other historical items.

It may have been a hidden secret but now that it’s hit the pages of Big Rigs, it won’t be a secret anymore.

What would you do?

A report made its way to Spy about an incident which occurred at a pull off area near Glen Innes involving a driver and a motorist.

Apparently the motorist who was on holidays and has a connection with the road transport industry saw a truck parked and the driver’s feet were outside the cabin window.

The motorist thought the driver may have suffered a heart attack or some other ailment and tried to talk to him to see if he was okay.

He was also mindful that the driver who works for a large company may have been asleep.

After a few minutes the driver snapped a pic of the truckie’s feet from the passenger side window of his car.

The flash went off and woke the truckie who was very annoyed and peppered the fellow with a bevy of expletives and a few threats.

“Don’t you post that,” the driver told him.

Now the pic taker understood that he was angry but tried to explain that he should be thankful that somebody cared about his welfare.

Spy understands that the company the truckie works for is one of several that look negatively on any of their employees appearing in the media.

So what would you do if you spotted a driver with his feet out the window. Drive off or try and help?

JAMES GRAHAM james.graham@bigrigs.com.au

TASSIE TRUCKIN’ JON WALLIS contributors@bigrigs.com.au