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Father and son truckies left in wheelchairs after crashes, 20 years apart

Gary Sutton was transporting a load of sugar out of Harwood, NSW, when his left-hand steer tyre blew, causing his truck to roll.

His son Andrew was just eight when the crash left his father a quadriplegic, but it didn’t stop him following his dad into a career behind the wheel.

But tragically, Andrew suffered the same fate 20 years later when his truck veered down an embankment on the way back to the depot.

Andrew was thrown from the wreckage but left with serious physical and mental injuries.

“I was lucky to be found when I was, from what I’ve been told they’ve never seen someone so broken who was still alive,” said Andrew, a father-of-six.

Gary and ‘AJ’ are now sharing their heartbreaking story as part of a WorkSafe Victoria campaign to highlight the health and safety risks involved in work-related driving.

“They’re putting people with so little experience in these [trucks]. They’re not an easy thing to drive and control,” Gary, 58, told The Age.

“You can’t put someone through a program for two months – when you’re just talking to them – and expect them to know what they’re doing.”

In a just-released video to support the campaign, Gary says it was a “massive shock” to learn that AJ would also be confined to a chair.

“I’ve talked to AJ a lot in the last 18 months  and said to him just take it day-by-day and do the best you can. You’ll think you can’t do it but you’ll end up finding out that you can actually do it.”

Road incidents tragically claimed the lives of 17 workers in Victoria last year, more than a quarter of the state’s total workplace fatality toll for 2022.

Most of those killed were workers who spent a majority of their time on the road, such as truck and delivery drivers, but several workers also died in incidents while driving between workplaces or appointments.

WorkSafe’s executive director of health and safety Narelle Beer said legal duties for both employers and workers extended to any vehicles used for work, regardless of the location or industry.
“Whenever a worker is on the road as part of their role, that vehicle is considered to be their workplace, Dr Beer said.
“This applies to any vehicle being used for the purpose of work, including personal vehicles, whether the worker is being paid an allowance or not.”

“This means that employers must ensure that the vehicle being used is safe and without risks to health and that drivers are appropriately licensed and trained, while workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of other road users.”

Also last year, at least 486 workers had a claim for compensation accepted after being injured due to a vehicle incident on the road in the course of their employment.

Dr Beer said it was crucial for employers to have systems in place to ensure that vehicles are adequately maintained, drivers are appropriately trained and risk factors are identified and properly managed.

“Speeding, drugs and alcohol, fatigue, and technology use or other in-vehicle distractions are all things that should be considered,” she said.

“It’s also important to plan ahead to avoid any adverse road conditions which can increase the risk of serious injury or death.

“Employers should consult with workers on appropriate road safety policies, procedures and instructions.”

WorkSafe is taking a targeted, prevention-led approach that focuses on the highest risk sectors and hazards that are causing road transport fatalities and serious injuries.

Activities include strategic workplace visits and joint enforcement activity with WorkSafe’s regulatory partners, and working closely with other road safety stakeholders to enable and motivate employers across all industries to improve safety outcomes.

Duty holders who fail to meet their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act face potential prosecution and significant penalties, including fines and possible jail terms.

In June 2022, transport company Peter Stoitse Transport was convicted and fined $490,000 following the 2018 death of a milk tanker driver in a rollover at Leongatha. A court found the company had failed to ensure their drivers were properly trained and failed to ensure their trucks were maintained in a safe mechanical condition.

Since the start of 2019, 64 workers have died as a result of road transport incidents in Victoria. The deaths of workers commuting to and from work are not included in the toll.

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 Industry News

Showing him the ropes

Shannon McMillan was taking chook feed from Cardiff to Duri in NSW when Big Rigs yarned to him recently.

The 33-year-old was driving a 2016 Western Star for JS Transport which is based at Heatherbrae near Newcastle.

He had pulled up near the Murrurundi Roadhouse along the New England Highway.

With him was a trainee driver who was too shy to have his pic snapped.

“I have been a truckie for seven years and am enjoying the work,” he said.

The first truck McMillan drove was an LTL Ford Louisville which he described as “an old paddock basher”.

Fishing is a favourite recreation for McMillan whose best spot is in the McIntyre River.

“I have caught cod and yellow belly which are good eating,” he said.

His worst road nomination was the Duckett’s Way near Gloucester. “There are a lot of potholes along it,” he said.

His best roadhouse is the Lakeside Hotel on Raymond Terrace.

Scores of trucks cruised down the main street of Murrurundi when I spoke to McMillan.

“It is very busy along here,” he said.

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 Industry News

#PicOfTheDay – Dave Hely

This incredible shot was snapped while loading timber out of Gurnang Forrest, near Black Springs, NSW.

We’ll choose a pic to appear in our Facebook cover slot, and will publish some of the best pics in our upcoming print edition of Big Rigs where you now also have a chance to win a $500 Shell Coles Express gift card, courtesy of Shell Rimula.

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 Industry News

Meet the truckie poet addicted to rhyming

Brisbane based truckie Julie Bell – who also goes by the pseudonym ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ – has been helping to brighten up the days of her fellow truckies through her words.

From inside her office, a 2014 Mack Super-Liner, she has put together numerous (and humorous) poems. If you’re lucky, you might catch her reading one out on the UHF while you’re stuck in peak hour traffic.

Bell, 52, says her penchant for rhyming all started during one boring and monotonous run in June last year. Before she knew it, she had written her first truck inspired poem, which has now grown into a collection of 14 poems, such as this:

I am a lady trucker

I drive a big old Mack

I’m on the road each day with you

Dealing with the same sort of crap

 

I drive through city traffic

I drive the open roads

I drive down small farm tracks

I cart all different sorts of loads

 

I tie down on the flat bed with straps or chains and dogs 

I tip the load, I cart the boxes

I fill out the same logs

 

I drive through rain and heat wave

I drive from Dawn to Dusk

I won’t let anything beat me

Till I’m nothing but a husk 

 

22 wheels and 40 tonnes

Of pure determination

Powering down the road

Across this beautiful 

wide brown nation 

 

I’m proud to be a truckie

I love the job I do

Taking on the challenges 

As all my brothers do

Bell began her truck driving career just five years ago. “I started in baby trucks and worked my way into the bigger stuff. I started driving semis about a year ago. Now I do a mixture of local and interstate work, along the east coast,” she said.

Working for small transport business Wags Transport, she travels across Brisbane and into Sydney and Melbourne, carrying everything from general freight to oversize and steel, as well as pulling tankers and tippers.

Bell says her fascination with trucks was sparked in her teenage years. “I travelled around Australia from the age of 15 to 19, basically hitch-hiking in trucks, from town to town,” she explained.

“Having kids got in the way of driving trucks but now here I am. I had no background in trucking so had to learn everything from scratch.”

But since hitting the road, she hasn’t looked back. What she loves most about the job, she says, is the fellow truckies, as is exemplified by this poem:

 I love listening to this channel

All the things that truckies say

There’s no filter and no censor

The government has no say

 

If you’re sensitive or delicate

You’d better block your ears

Cause political correctness

Just doesn’t happen here

 

Out on the open road

It’s all helpful and polite

And truckies wish each other well as they travel through the night

But round town it’s a circus

With no ringleader in sight

The abuse, the threats, the swearing

It goes on all day and night

Bell added that her poems are about lifting the mood up, making people feel a bit better about themselves and knowing their worth:

I write these little poems

for all you Truckies on the road

To lift your day a little

To lighten up your load

 

For the Truckies job is hard

Doesn’t matter what you cart

It all takes brains and muscle

On the road, and in the yard

 

So to all you drivers out there

In your Kenworths and your Macks

Your Scanias and Western Stars

Your DAFs and CATS and MANs

Freightliners and Ivecos, 

Volvo’s and Mercedes too

You’re all my brothers on the road

And I love every one of you

 

As you listened to my poem

You’ve just done another mile

And it warms my heart to think

That I might have made you smile

So if you happen to see a Mack on the road adorned with cat stickers including one she’s named Luna and a bobble head in the window named Loki, be sure to listen out.

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 Industry News

Trucking drives Australia

They say everything is delivered on the back of a truck, except for a baby. Or that without trucks, Australia stops. 

We got a firsthand lesson of this during the pandemic supply chain crisis and the great toilet paper rush. Trucking is essential to our modern standard of living.

The 200,000 people and 59,000 businesses of Australia’s trucking industry drive our economy.

Almost 80 per cent of non-bulk freight is moved on Australia’s roads, which is 234.6 billion tonne kilometres of goods.

The powerhouse of our road freight industry is NSW, which moves 81.2 billion tonne kilometres. Victoria moves 48.9 billion, Queensland 42.2 billion, and Western Australia moves 40.3 billion. 

Of course, trucking is essential in the other states and territories. That was clear when the supermarkets in Darwin began to empty when highways were cut by flooding.  

Trucks would not be able to move any of this freight without the road network. 

Australia has 877,651 kilometres of roads, including 45,496 of non-urban highways and 6488 kilometres of urban highways. 

Across all levels of government, Australia spends $30.8 billion on the road network each year, but governments collect $35 billion in road related taxes each year.

Spending a little more on freight priorities, rest areas and fixing potholes is not an unreasonable ask.

The ATA has previously identified a $5 billion freight infrastructure gap over 10 years when comparing freight projects to truck charges revenue, although the Albanese government deserves credit for putting more money into rest areas almost immediately upon coming to office. 

Including both hire and reward trucking businesses and other industries which have heavy vehicles in their operations, we get all of this done with 115,481 articulated trucks, 373,426 heavy rigid trucks and 175,041 light rigid trucks. 

Whilst articulated trucks are critical to linehaul and keeping our nation connected, it is worth noting that the majority of the truck fleet are rigid trucks, and two-thirds of rigid trucks operate in urban areas.

We also know that there was a 59 per cent increase in electric heavy rigid trucks in 2022. Electrification is coming, in urban areas, whether we are ready for it or not.

Trucking drives the economy, and impacts on trucking have an impact on the wider economy. In 2019 the ATA commissioned modelling on the economic impacts from improving access for heavy vehicles, which projected an annual saving of $452 for the average consumer from reforms to improve access.

In 2011, the Heavy Vehicle National Law was predicted to deliver up to $12.4 billion in economic benefits, largely from improved access. Unfortunately, the results have fallen far short of this.

Heavy Vehicle Road Reform, to change how trucks are charged for roads and how roads are funded, has been predicted to deliver up to $17.4 billion in economic benefits, again largely linked to better access. These reforms have been spoken about for a long time, but delivery is another matter.

Governments continue to talk up and bank the economic benefits from more productive heavy vehicle access – but then fail to deliver the goods.

The greatest hope we have had for real change on access is the move towards automated access – pioneered by Tasmania. 

Implementing an automated access system is one of the most promising reforms facing the trucking industry, with the potential to finally deliver on the long-cited economic gains from better access.

As trucking drives the Australian economy, this is a vital economic reform for the nation.

That’s why it will be one of the key sessions on the program for Trucking Australia 2023 on the Sunshine Coast. 

The trucking industry understands that a job is not done until it is delivered. Governments must heed this lesson and finally deliver the economic gains from better access. 

David Smith is chair of the Australian Trucking Association

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 Industry News

Toll taps Australian drone tech

Transport and logistics company, Toll Group, acquired a specialist in Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) earlier this year.

Toll completed the acquisition of Air Support Queensland (ASQ) on 17 February.

ASQ has a fleet of sophisticated UAS and runs drone operations and training services in Australia in the civil, commercial, government, defence and agricultural markets.

Toll Group Managing Director, Alan Beacham, said the acquisition strengthens Toll’s capabilities and expands the company’s know-how with proven new technologies.

“The Toll Helicopter business provides life-saving emergency rescue and aeromedical treatment in eastern Australia,” he said.

“The drone technology opens up new ways for Toll to improve outcomes for patients and improve safety for our rescue teams in field.

“The acquisition demonstrates Toll’s commitment to investing in Australia. We are excited about the opportunities the drone technology offers in other parts of our business, such as warehousing and delivery services

“ASQ is a well-respected Australian company with an impeccable safety record. We are pleased to welcome a company the calibre of ASQ to the Toll family.”

In related news, drones are expected to become an integral part of Australia’s transport industry as a result of rapid technological advancements.

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Cementing their trucking path for three generations

The McNeill family’s foray into trucking all started with Kevin McNeill, now aged 91. For this family, the saying ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ rings true, with the third generation now getting her start behind the wheel.

Kevin started out in a Commer Knocker, before progressing to an International ‘Butterbox’, a lot has changed since Kevin first got behind the wheel.

He spent the majority of his career driving concrete trucks with a company that operated out of Sydney called Farley & Lewers, until he retired when he was in his sixties. 

“Back then, the agitator had its own 186 Holden motor, driven by a manual gearbox that drovae the chain to turn the bowl. The chutes were made of steel and were very heavy, with a hand operated hydraulic pump used to raise them. There were no luxuries like air conditioning and power steering,” said Kevin.

For around 17 years, Kevin worked as a company driver. Then he bought his own truck, a Ford Louisville and continued on with the company as a subbie for a further 17 years. 

John loved being around trucks as a kid.

His son John McNeill, 53, has fond memories of growing up around his father’s trucks. “I used to sit on Dad’s lap and drive the International around on building sites. Then I learnt to drive properly in his truck, the Ford Louisville. I was a builder’s labourer, working on construction sites until I could get my licence. I started driving at 21,” he recalled.

John drove concrete trucks alongside Kevin for several years before moving to Queensland around 20 years ago. He now works for Hanson, based at the Rockhampton site, where he does tipper work in a Mack Trident truck and dog, delivering materials to the company’s various concrete plants in Queensland; including to Brisbane and Emerald.

This Ford Louisville was the first truck Kevin owned.

And now his daughter Shannon McNeill, 20, has followed in the family tradition too. She joined Hanson around three months ago, after successfully completing the company’s Women’s Driver Training Program. She obtained her HR licence and is working full-time out of Hanson’s West End concrete plant, driving a concrete agitator.

This training program has seen many new starters come through the doors. Last year alone, Hanson held an intake in Queensland, two intakes in NSW, two in Western Australia and one in Victoria. This has brought in 70 new faces to the business. 

While John’s move into trucking didn’t come as much of a surprise, he says seeing his daughter move into the same field was completely unexpected. 

“I was in the truck with Dad every chance I could get, it was every weekend. And then once I got my truck licence, I started working out of the same yard as him in Alexandria. But these days you can’t bring kids in the trucks anymore, so they don’t get to have that same experience – they’re basically coming in and having to learn everything from scratch,” John said.

“For me, I learnt from hanging around Dad all the time. It was just a matter of learning to drive the truck, I already knew how to do everything else. I was moulded pretty early on. I learnt everything I knew from watching Dad.”

Kevin added: “A lot has changed for the better across the whole industry. The trucks are now mostly automatic, with power steering and all the bells and whistles. Concrete trucks have come a long way and are much more user friendly now.”

John says Shannon enjoyed travelling in the truck with him when she was little.

As Shannon was growing up, John often entered trucks into convoys. “Shannon always wanted to come along to these when she was a kid. But it’s only been in the last two years or so that she’s really become keen on getting into driving them. It’s great that companies like Hanson are now giving out these traineeships to help kids get their foot in the door.”

When Shannon first asked her dad John about getting a job with Hanson, he didn’t think she was that serious – however he was quickly proved wrong. When the traineeship opportunity came up, Shannon jumped at the chance. “She was keen as mustard,” John said. “She’s on a two-year traineeship and Hanson covers the cost of her truck licence and training.”

A few months into the job and Shannon is loving every minute of it. “The conversation has changed in the way we talk – now we’re always talking trucks and everyone else is left out,” laughed John. 

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 Industry News

Truckie shares video of emotional final run for Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics

Veteran truckie Micheal Hogg, 53, was still westbound to Perth when the news came through that Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics was on its last legs.

A contented Brisbane-based driver for the one-time cold storage giant for the last four years, Hogg said he was totally blindsided by the announcement.

“I got back to Adelaide and it looked pretty scary in the yard there with half the equipment gone, but I had to grab a trailer and head home” he said.

“I had time to do a lot of thinking. That was the toughest run I’ve ever done, no question. I was talking to my wife, talking to my mum and dad.

“I had a fair bit of support. Even the linehaul manager was ringing in to check up on me to make sure I was okay.

“I had a whole heap of different emotions. It went from being upset – I shed a few tears too – to like, what do I do now? It’s a pretty big thing when you’re comfortable in your job.”

It was his son-in-law Jayden Jensen who suggested that the former owner of the now defunct Oztruckintv website shoot a video of his final run as a momento for himself and others – at the time Hogg believed he was the last Scott’s driver still on the road.

With his camera mounted to the Kenworth’s windscreen, and Jensen manning the camera roadside outside the Brisbane depot, Hogg later edited together an emotional three-minutes he hopes other Scott’s staff will appreciate.

“I later found out there was a guy still arriving into Sydney after me, but I would have been the last truck back into Brisbane,” said Hogg, who parked up at Scott’s for the last time just after midnight on March 11.

Hogg said he’ll miss his colleagues and is grateful for the opportunities working for Scott’s gave him, like the chance to regularly travel across the Nullarbor, a bucket list goal for as long as he can remember.

“I can’t fault the people that I worked with. It was basically like we lost a family member,” he said.

As for a theory on where it all went so awry at Scott’s, Hogg said that’s “way above my paygrade”.

“Whose fault it was, I don’t know, but unfortunately, again, the guys and gals who turn up every damn day and do the job, they’re the ones who are paying for it.

“And that’s the part that upsets me because without us these places don’t run.

“All I know is it’s very emotional when someone says ‘hey, the company is going to be no longer’, and in two weeks time no one’s even going to be talking about Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics and that’s very sad.”

Hogg said he now plans to take a bit of time off to be with his family.

“I have options, that’s the main thing. I even applied for a couple of mining jobs.

“There’s a lot of choice out there. I don’t think many people are going to be out of work. Obviously the workload from Scott’s has got to go to some people as well.”

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 Industry News

Sludge hospitalised after motorcycle accident

Well known truckie Paul ‘Sludge’ Andrews is currently recovering in hospital after a motorcycle accident left him with serious injuries.

His fiancé Wendy shared news of the crash on Sludge’s Facebook page, revealing, “He is extremely lucky to be alive. He is still hospitalised but will recover but it is going to be a very slow, long recovery and rehab.”

Sludge, who many would know from his regular appearances on popular television series Outback Truckers, together with his 2008 Peterbilt 379 called ‘The Phantom’, was rushed to hospital on Saturday March 4.

“He has sustained head injuries amongst several broken bones, torn ligaments and lots of bruising and abrasions,” wrote Wendy.

“It has been a very stressful time but I thought all of you would like to know where he has been and what has happened.

“Be assured I will be taking very good care of him when he is able to come home.”

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More options to tow heavier caravans in Queensland

The newly released Gross Combination Mass (GCM) modification code and amended existing Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) modification code will allow an increase in mass ratings of light vehicles in Queensland.

The TMR said that the primary reason for these codes was to allow vehicle owners to safely carry out modifications to their vehicles which would enable them to increase the vehicle’s pay load and offer more options when looking to tow a heavier caravan.

The new code addresses modification requirements relating to GCM re-rating, which is the sum of the maximum weight a vehicle can both carry and tow.

TMR’s deputy director general, customer services, safety and regulation, Geoff Magoffin said there have been continued calls from both industry and the wider recreational motoring community to allow for the mass re-ratings of light vehicles.

“I am pleased to announce we have listened to the needs of industry and the towing community and have developed safe and robust modification codes which we believe will be welcomed by those wishing to undertake these type of vehicle modifications,” Magoffin said.

“Transport and Main Roads engineers have worked with their counterparts in New South Wales and Victoria and alongside industry to develop the new GCM code.

“While the codes will be available within Queensland initially, TMR will continue to work closely with their jurisdictional counterparts and the Commonwealth to introduce the codes nationally.

“These changes have been made to assist Queenslanders who want to explore our great state, whilst also ensuring vehicles continue to meet important safety and modification standards.”

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