Five things we take for granted in trucking today

There are plenty of things that have recently come along to make life on the road easier, here are a few…

Driving trucks is still a tough job, but there are many things that have become the norm that make it easier than it was in days gone by. Many of these have been designed to improve efficiency, but the fact is that they also make life easier on a driver. The trouble is, most of them are things we take for granted – until they stop performing as they should.

We’ve all had the occasional whinge about how tough the job is, only to have one of our older colleagues tell us we’re soft. This is usually followed by a story that starts with the words: “Back when I started out…”

1. Road conditions

Let’s be honest, we’ve all complained about the state of our roads at some time or another.

Whether it’s the potholes, the drop-off on the shoulder or even the delays caused by those who are attempting to repair the damage. There are even those who complain about the state of the surface on the Hume Freeway! Truth be known, our road network, even in the country, is not too bad. Sure, it might need a little maintenance to bring it back to billiard table smoothness, but we should be grateful it’s not just dirt.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Nullarbor was a dirt track, and now it’s an easy drive from coast to coast. The same can be said for the Stuart Highway between Adelaide and Darwin. The goat tracks of the past are gone, and while there are still some unpaved, corrugated roads that run through the centre and across the country, these are the domain of the true old-school truckies, with most operators choosing to take the long way around on the black top. The Hume Freeway is another good example, with all the towns bypassed with dual lane freeway, and an uninterrupted run all the way from Melbourne to Sydney. The trip between these two cities now takes around nine hours, where it used to be a full-on tw- day adventure.

2. Sleepers

The humble sleeper is almost a standard feature on any heavy duty truck these days. While we might moan about the size of the mattress and how “difficult” it is to get to sleep, spare a though for those who used to run interstate in day-cab prime movers.

Even into the late 80s, some operators were sleeping across the seats, or outside in a swag beneath the trailer. Sure, things were different back then (sleep was for the dreamers) but there comes a time when the body needs some rest. Some blokes out in the bush still prefer the swag, but most drivers now would refuse to spend a night sleeping in a truck without a good bunk – and with good reason.

Even for those who were lucky enough to have a sleeper cab in the 70s, climbing in and out through the letterbox window must have been a challenge at times. The 80s saw the introduction of walk-through sleepers on bonneted trucks, and eventually the more common integrated units we see today.

For the cab-over drivers though, it was still a case of climbing over the engine tunnel, and more than likely the fridge, to get into bed at the end of the day. When your bladder woke you up in the morning, it was the same struggle in reverse to get out, often with a greater sense of urgency.

3. Modern engines

While it may not be that obvious, modern engines have made a big difference to a driver’s workload in a number of ways. The days of running interstate with a ‘big’ 300hp engine are long gone (unless you drive a rigid carting light freight), and for that we should all be thankful.

The introduction of the turbo charger and computerised engine has saved us all a lot of gear changes, and a lot of time.

The ability to extract more power from a similar sized engine has reduced the stress on a driver dramatically, in ways a lot of us modern day drivers wouldn’t understand. It has also allowed us to put bigger loads on (well, legal ones anyway) while still running better trip times.

The extra pulling power makes for fewer gear changes in the hills, and the improved engine braking means the brake pedal doesn’t get so much of a workout.

Another component to benefit from the computerised engine is the transmission. While there are still some who staunchly defend the manual transmission, the automated manual has won over a lot of drivers. With the truck taking care of the gear changes, a driver is a lot more relaxed behind the wheel and has more time to focus on the surrounding traffic.

The great thing about an AMT is that a driver can still take control of the gear changes if so desired, but without the risk of missing a gear. As good as we might think we are, anyone who tells you they have never missed a gear on a Road Ranger box is pulling your leg, and should consider a career as a politician.

4. Tyres

Yep, even those big black doughnuts have improved over the years. These days, it’s not uncommon to get over 200,000km out of a set of drive tyres, or even steer tyres if you look after them right.

A lot of money goes into developing tyres that perform well on different terrain, and even different positions on the vehicle. The days of the old “rag tyres” are long gone, and with them the chances of having to make a roadside tyre change. Sure, there will still be the odd failure, but the majority of these can be put down to poor maintenance or debris on the road. Very few tyre failures today (though it does still happen occasionally) can be put down to the tyre itself.

Even the retreads of today are better than they were in days gone by, as is evident from the minimal amount of rubber sitting at the side of the road. It is also interesting to consider the fuel economy benefits provided by modern tyres, and with this in mind we wouldn’t be surprised to see super-singles make a comeback, even on the drive axles.

5. The forklift

The change which would likely have the most effect on a driver, is the rise and rise of the forklift (pardon the pun).

Forkies, in a lot of cases, are the arch enemy of the truck driver. They are the people who bend the coaming rail, hit the roof of your tautliner, scratch the walls on your fridge van, and make you run to get your boards in place before they arrive with the next pallet.

What we don’t often consider is the alternative – loading and unloading by hand. The forklift, and the pallet of course, have changed the way we do things in all areas of transport. When you think of how long it would take, and how hard it would be, to unload a B-double by hand, the benefits of the forklift become more obvious. In the past everything was hand loaded, including fresh produce, bagged cement or grain and hay bales.

Rain, hail or shine, drivers would work all day to get loaded before hitting the road to make a mile. And when we say work, we mean lugging 30t of 40kg bags, stacking it so it wouldn’t move, tying it down and then tarping it to keep it dry.

These days it takes less than an hour to load a B-double, tie it all down and close the curtains. We might whinge about how long it takes, or if we have to wait in line, but we should be grateful we don’t have to manhandle the freight off the truck.

Better remembered than lived

These are just a few of the reasons the old timers will tell that those days are better remembered than lived.

At the time, they didn’t have an option – it was the job that had to be done, and they did it. There are still a few tough old schoolers out there, and if you ask them they will tell you how spoilt we all are today – and they’re right. We have all the latest equipment and technology to get the job done easier and more efficiently, yet there are still a lot of complaints about how hard the job is.

It is a tough job, but keep in mind what our predecessors went through to get us where we are today.

But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since the 80s… The rates!

Five things we take for granted in trucking today

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