Probly ben asked but im asking anyways!

Kangaroo and Dingo not allowed to go on roads. Too dangerous.

 

Trucking is a major Pita.

Got 4 major destinations to go to, Melbourne, Sydney Adelaide and Brisbane. its specialised linehaul to go across to perth or up to darwin.
Its not easy to get a job now, cause there is almost NO freight.. and i mean that litteraly. trucks are sitting EVERYWHERE cause there is nothing moving. only the bare necessities.

Pay is between .26 and .28 for a single trailer and .30 and .36 for a B-double las i heard, likley to have gone down now.
Forget large bunks, they do not exist here, you will get by on at best a 36". We do not have a good network of places to stop with facilities, although they are there, just not many.
Parking, well SFA of that.
our DOT ( RTA ) are absolute mongrels, easily worse than the worst of your guys. They all carry mobile scales and quite often make mmistakes that will cost the driver time and money, but flat dont care.

There are cameras that log the vehicle trip times, and issue automatic speeding and driving hours violations should you exceede one or both.
Trucks are suposed to be limited to 62mph...

Logbooks are issued by RTA and are numbered, so you cant edit to make your hours work.. you cannot remove the book copy of the sheet you need to change, you miust void it with a reason and retain in book.
The logs are now requirring klms to be written down as the rta have set limitations on how many klms you can drive in a day.

Fines are massive out here, as we are used as an alternate revenue source.

You would need a few years experience on B-double to even get a look in on road trains, being that they are worth big $ ( can be over a million per combination including prime mover) but you would get paid more. but not enough more to cover the extra work you would do.

Hitting a Roo, thats common. you'd be lucky to go for long with out hitting one. There is roadkill scattered all along the nations hiways.
Dingos arent anywhere near as common as the TV would have you believe. Foxes on the other hand we see heaps of.

I personaly believe that trucking in the USA is by far easier and more enjoyable. I will be making the move when the opportunity arises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXhW6nHf2iY

 

To Agent 86.
Thanks for the informative post mate. I heard it was getting bad down there with the RTA and such. By the way, I am an Aussie and drove a car park for 18 years before coming to the USA in 1991. Even back then the authorities were a pain in the arse as we were always over length. Especially those SOB's in Victoria. I think if I was still driving over there I would do it completely like the book says and then let the #### fight begin when the company tries to fire me.

If you have a half way decent job now I would not recommend giving it up to go driving in the USA. Yes, the driver facilities are good here and most of the trucks have a big condo. The first truck I jumped in in 1991 was a big cab over (They are extinct now) and it had a double bed mattress in back. You are used to the wide open spaces of Australia, I doubt you would enjoy the NE states of the US. It's nice driving out west but not much freight goes that way especially on the big fleets. I think Swift is based out that way but good luck surviving with them. Parking is also a huge problem here. Hot as hell in summer, cold as hell in winter and everywhere you go there is no idle signs and big fines if you do.
For instance, Virginia wont let you camp in a rest area more than 2 hours. They will write you a ticket and send your ### down the road. Yes there are APU's but the big fleets are not fitting them to the trucks. The truck stops are filled with empty trucks waiting for a dispatch.

Right now it's tough here with the economy and stuff. Lucky for me I own my truck so I can be picky about what loads I book. I'd rather park it than run up and down the road like a fool hauling their .50 cent a mile freight. If I had a truck payment I would have gone under by now.

I plan to boogey back across the big pond soon. I sold my house, still looking for a buyer for the large car (05 Volvo 780 vnl) anyone interested. Also a got a couple of little wheels to find a new home for. Then I will be on a one flight back to good old Queensland. Might buy a house on a truck by-pass somewhere and sit on the porch.
Have good one mate....................

 

Wobbles.

Yeah i visited the NE last year and in a few days we are going to be flying back across to NYC for a wedding then doing a road trip to la and flying back out.

I have had enough of being here, the over regulation is absolutley out of control.

Im not giving up what im doing now, but i am looking to relocate.
I enjoy the US way of things much more than here.