1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168 
reight News
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
It's no different down under
i AUSTRALIAN Government has recently announced an inquiry the country's road freight industry. One of the principal terms eference is to look at how rail subsidies may be distorting the lpetitive scene, writes a special correspondent.
te problem is acute. More 1,000 owner-drivers have e bankrupt in the past year. reason is the economic re;ion. Another is the enragement by the big freight ipanies of the owner-driver ngement.
.1cording to John Taplin, conator-general of transport Western Australia, this has n one result of a constitual provision which means there is no intervention of kind in the operation of in;tate trucks. This has led to competition between road rail, and even more between king companies.
r Taplin said: "Those large king firms which have surd have become multi-modal jht forwarders. The basic king function is no longer 'wired by large firms but is ied out by small sub-contrac, the typical operator being the owner-driver of a single truck.
"The forwarders do own some trucks but these are not generally for the ordinery linehaul function, Earnings of subcontractors are low, and in many cases the true return to the operator's own labour is somewhat less than a normal wage."
Transport Minister, Peter Morris said: "Owner-drivers are going bankrupt at a record rate. The state-owned railways are losing large amounts. There's something wrong somewhere — and we hope the inquiry will point the way to a solution."
Certainly, current railway losses — A$73m (£45m1 last year in New South Wales, for instance — suggest that competition may not be entirely fair.
Many private operators are committed to heavy repayments on their rigs. But in 1983 road freight tonnage has fallen by 30 per cent, and rates are dropping under competitive pressures.
An accountant with many owner-driver clients estimates that "as many as half are between three and six payments in arrears".
Not that the truck operators are shrinking violets. There is a long Australian tradition of rough and tumble in politics, and the industry is showing signs of giving as good as it gets.
Trouble is brewing over the new "withholding tax". Under this, anyone who pays an operator for carrying freight must hold back 10 per cent of the payment and send it direct to the tax authorities.
This led to threats in midOctober to blockade the approaches to Australia's major cities with heavy trucks. The last time this happened four years ago (also on a tax issue) the nation practically came to a standstill.