i dont take drugs terry, and im only a local driver so i dont run into the long haul tiredness trap,i think you owe all truck drivers an appology,tying all truck drivers into a type is typical of the average cage driver.
Geez Dave, you're a bit sensitive tonight, aren't you? But you're right, when you're only driving "9 to 5" you don't need drugs, but a sense of humour would probably help?
But just to put things in perspective, I drove trucks all over Australia for 24 years when I was in the army, so I've had plenty of experience driving things other than cars, and not just on nice sealed roads, either.
I then worked for Kingston Plant Hire here in Melbourne for another 2 years and I worked with "Truck and Trailer" and "Semi Tipper" drivers who carted dirt, but were mostly ex-Interstate truckers, and many of them admitted that they still took speed when doing local "Contract Rate" work, where they were paid by the load, not the hour, so I know it's going on with local drivers too.
Interstate truck drivers and amphetimines go together like Toast and vegemite. The cops and Vicroads conducted random drug tests on truck drivers here in Victoria just before Christmas, and were shocked at how many tested positive, I can't find a link to the story I read then in the Herald Sun, but here's one from NSW that showed similar results, and brought up something I wasn't aware of, that truckies are now using "Ice" to stay awake, and marijuana to help them sleep. Bloody hell............
Truck drivers fined for using the drug 'ice'
Ainslie Drewitt-Smith
Updated Fri 13 Dec 2013, 5:04pm AEDT
Photo: Sydney Police (ABC TV)
Map: Wollongong 2500
Dozens of truck drivers have been fined across the state this week for drug use, vehicle defects and adjusted speed limiters.
Operation Shield performed road-side tests on over six hundred drivers across New South Wales, including in Kiama and Marulan.
The tests detected cannabis and the drug 'ice' on 14 drivers.
Police also discovered nearly 40 trucks had faulty speed limiters, allowing drivers to travel over the legal 100 kilometre limit.
NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Inspector Phil Brooks said the results are alarming.
"It's certainly a concern for police, not only the wider community generally that we are detecting truck drivers that have had drugs in their system."
"We know anecdotally that the truck driving community do use drugs such as amphetamines - speed - to stay awake and marijuana to go to sleep," he said.
"So certainly it is a concern for us."
Inspector Brooks said truck drivers need to take more responsibility on the road.
"We conduct these operations regularly to make sure that drivers are aware that we're out there doing random drug testing operations."
"But when you combine that with other factors, such as speed and trucks that have been tampered to go over 100 kilometres an hour, this is potentially a deadly combination with someone that's under the influence of drugs."
Topics:wollongong-2500
First posted Fri 13 Dec 2013, 4:50pm AEDT
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