Truckies protest unsafe conditions as deaths soar

Hundreds of truck drivers and their supporters protested around Australia on 18 April to demand safer working conditions. With almost 40 percent of all workplace deaths last year involving a transport worker, trucking is one of the deadliest industries in the country.

The protests, organised by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) as part of an ongoing campaign, highlighted the relationship between the frequency of accidents involving trucks and the pressure placed on drivers by low wages, longer working hours and shortening deadlines.

Low cost contracts from major companies create a race to the bottom, forcing fleet operators to engage in cost-cutting measures like neglecting vehicle maintenance, skimping on training and cutting drivers’ wages.

Drivers are often faced with a choice between taking all the necessary safety precautions or doing what is required to fulfil their employers’ demands. Quite simply, the union says, transport workers need to break the rules to make ends meet.

Since the federal government scrapped a road safety watchdog two years ago, there is little stopping companies from putting profits over safety in this way. As a result, the number of people killed in truck crashes has significantly increased. In NSW there has been a staggering 92 percent increase in deaths from truck crashes in the past 12 months.

The TWU has been highly critical of the government’s approach to the crisis. “The only response from the federal government to the spike in deaths has been to increase the number of speed cameras to catch drivers and to have police fine them over breaches”, TWU acting national secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement to media. “This will not solve the problems in the industry and it will not cut the number of crashes.”