Frank Black is back on the road after two weeks out of work when he spots a sign, a little too far from where he\u2019s standing to make out clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that $2.08 for diesel?\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve gotta check that price out. If that\u2019s right I\u2019m gonna fill up!\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not. Diesel hasn\u2019t been that close to $2 since before the war in Iran. Black won\u2019t be filling up here. He climbs back into his truck, rumbles it to life and continues on his journey.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old trucking veteran has been caught up in the global fuel crisis triggered by the war. Like other truck drivers, he relies on diesel \u2013 and lots of it. Prices rose from about $1.80 a litre to a peak of about $3.20 in April.<\/p>\n
As an owner-driver, Black goes by the rule of thumb that one-third of a job\u2019s pay should go to fuel, one-third to truck maintenance and the remaining third to wages.<\/p>\n
But when diesel prices surged, the numbers stopped adding up, forcing him to \u201cpark\u2019 his truck for more than two weeks \u2013 it just wasn\u2019t worth going to work.<\/p>\n
Even without a fuel crisis, \u201cwe work on slim margins anyway\u201d, Black says, \u201cso the slightest volatility in fuel or any costs is going to put pressure on small operators\u201d.<\/p>\n
The war in Iran has been \u201cthe final nail in the coffin for a lot of people\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018The house is on the line\u2019<\/p>\n
Black is on his third week on the road. After carting mining equipment through the outback from South Australia to Queensland, he made his way down the east coast, picking up jobs as he went. I join him as he drives north again from Sydney to Brisbane, a truckload of stage equipment in tow.<\/p>\n
Filling up with diesel on the road to Brisbane. Photograph: Sarah Smaje\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, I\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Black says. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the deal being an owner-driver like I am \u2026 I go everywhere and anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sun fades and the lights of passing cars and trucks rush by as we tumble down the two-lane highway towards Narrabri in northern New South Wales<\/a>. The radio crackles as we pass out of range of a local station.<\/p>\n Black says for long-haul owner-drivers the baseline cost of keeping a truck on the road is staggeringly high, reaching between $100,000 and $200,000 a year before fuel costs.<\/p>\n Once fuel is added, the costs climb even further. He says long-haul drivers average up to 200,000km a year, pushing total operating costs well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n The outgoings can consume much of drivers\u2019 gross income before they pay themselves a wage. Delayed payment terms of 30, 90 or 120 days compound financial pressures.<\/p>\n Black makes his way along the Kamilaroi Highway in north-western NSW. Photograph: Sarah Smaje\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cThe road freight transport industry is characterised by low profits and growing rates of insolvency,\u201d says David Peetz, a professor at Griffith University who researches work and labour markets.<\/p>\n If a driver is \u201cnot able to recoup [their costs] \u2026 then they\u2019ll either go bankrupt or they\u2019ll just stop driving\u201d.<\/p>\n Black says he\u2019s worried about young drivers getting caught up in the system: \u201cThe house is on the line because you\u2019ve put it up against the truck, so if you default payments on the truck you could end up losing the house \u2026 it\u2019s a trap.\u201d<\/p>\n Richard Olsen, the NSW state secretary of the Transport<\/a> Workers\u2019 Union, says drivers have little bargaining power against prices set by large clients \u2013 citing \u201coil companies\u201d and the supermarkets Aldi, Coles and Woolworths.<\/p>\n \u201cHow does an owner-driver living in Wagga stand up and negotiate with the companies at the big end of town?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n The union secured a temporary Fair Work order<\/a> in April forcing clients to pay fuel surcharges while prices exceed $2 a litre, with the deal to be reviewed in late July. Olsen says more permanent regulations are needed to stop drivers from cutting corners to stay afloat.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a nice cosy little spot\u2019 \u2026 the driver settles in for the night at a Narrabri roadhouse. Photograph: Sarah Smaje\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been inquiry after inquiry in the transport industry \u2026 about the relationship between wages earned and safety on our roads,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cTruck drivers have to make a decision on the money they earn. Do you pay your bills? Do you feed your families? Or do you do your maintenance on the vehicle? And the first thing to go is maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n Black pulls into a small roadhouse where he will park for the night, with showers, a laundry and a simple restaurant where two men sit quietly, eating dinner beneath a glowing television mounted on the wall.<\/p>\n \u2018It puts pressure on the family system\u2019<\/p>\n Long-haul drivers spend long periods away from home, bouncing around the country and sleeping in their trucks, parked at roadhouses like this one or on the roadside if they\u2019re tired or have reached their maximum driving hours for the day. Most vehicles are kitted out with a cabin behind the seats that has a small bed and can be modified to include a microwave, fridge and even a television.<\/p>\n \u201cIt almost feels like a little campervan in here, you know, when I pull up and draw the curtains,\u201d Black says. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice cosy little spot.\u201d<\/p>\n But being away from home can take its toll and family breakdown is common. He blames his work for the breakdown of his marriage. \u201cIt\u2019s just the fact that you\u2019re always away,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n A lot of younger people see trucking as a way to \u201cget ahead\u201d, he says. \u201cWhen they come home and they haven\u2019t made what they thought they were going to make, eventually it puts pressure on the family system.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, divorce rates and actually suicide rates in our industry are very high.\u201d<\/p>\n Olsen highlights the prevalence of mental health struggles among drivers, something the industry is making efforts to address.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re powerless to do anything about what\u2019s going on at home,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re powerless to negotiate your rates of pay. You\u2019ve got another 1,500km to go and you\u2019re alone.\u201d<\/p>\n First light at the truckstop. Photograph: Sarah Smaje\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Olsen says the industry needs a cost-recovery model that comes from the top of the chain and takes into account all outgoings, as well as a permanent fuel levy regulated into law.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to create a system that allows [the driver] to have bargaining power,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd have set into stone \u2026 formulas that allow for \u2026 a margin for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n At first light, the roadhouse is peaceful: rows of trucks sit idling, their drivers asleep inside, as small birds dart between the fuel pumps. I catch up with Black for a morning coffee before the drive into Brisbane.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople forget that during the life of most products they get carted by road,\u201d he says. \u201cIt didn\u2019t magically just appear \u2026 people work through the night and work long hours to get them products there.\u201d<\/p>\n Morning coffee before the final drive to Brisbane. Photograph: Sarah Smaje\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Black says he enjoys the work \u2013 the travel, seeing new places, the freedom. But he worries that, without permanent solutions, many drivers will be forced out of business.<\/p>\n \u201cI started trucking with the hope of giving myself and my family a better life but I soon found out that it wasn\u2019t that easy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had my time again, I wouldn\u2019t have done it \u2026 It was too big an expense as far as personal life goes. And even dollar value \u2026 It\u2019s just not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline<\/a> is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank Black is back on the road after two weeks out of work when he spots a sign,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-705184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}