As we all know in the trucking industry that we are now in the maddest time of the year, with the ramp up to Christmas inflating the freight task in order for all of those customers with extra money in their pocket to buy more stuff they don’t need before Christmas.
Of course, the industry has learned to expect and developed way to cope over the years, but this year looks like it’s going to be a special one. As if the industry didn’t already have enough troubles, there are a few extra this year.
Border restrictions are still fraught with problems and the situation is not going to clear until sometime next year. The constant round of testing and entry passes to states will continue to add an unnecessary burden on both the drivers and the operators.
Dealing with collection and delivery customers at this time of year is never easy. They are under pressure to deliver whatever they need to transport, well in time, before Christmas. They are pressured by their customers and bosses to get the stuff out of the door, and this stress is simply passed onto the transport company to get the task done.
Add to this an overall driver shortage and driver quality shortage. This simply puts extra pressure on those actually doing the job even more than usual. This is often cited by those leaving the industry as their reason for getting out, impossible deadlines and inadequate support.
At the same time those who are only just learning the ropes do not react well to this kind of pressure. That is when mistakes occur, some of these errors will be minor, but some will be fatal, and this is what we are seeking to avoid.
Just to add a cherry on the top, the Bureau of Meteorology inform us we are going into a period of La Niña. This means a lot more rain than we have become used to and that means flooded roads and trucks stranded on highways all over rural Australia.
Once we start to get major interstate highways closed by flooding the whole situation becomes chaotic. Once the roads are open again, it can take weeks to return to some form of normal.
I don’t want to get everyone depressed in the lead up to the festive season, but this one looks like it could be a doozy. Mind you, those right at the front line will probably be too busy to have time to read my ranting.
