Frustrated truck drivers are leaving the freight industry in droves, saying they're tired of COVID rules and 'being treated almost like lepers' while trying to meet soaring demand in the lead-up to Christmas.
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A shortage of drivers forced Mt Noorat Freighters manager Scott Guthrie to sell some of his trucks which cost up to $5000 a month to maintain.
"It's not just us, it's everyone in the industry - it's pretty bad," he said.
"Drivers are tired of being treated almost like lepers and not being allowed into toilet facilities and showers. On-site they had to be in a designated area which is pretty confronting when they've been doing it for so long and I think it's come to tip a lot of people who want to try something else.
"People just said 'with the way the transport industry is right now, we'll go and do something easier and get a job anywhere else'."
He said employees had left for a variety of reasons concerning the industry, with additional COVID restrictions creating a "perfect storm".
"We've got some older people who just want to leave because they're over the COVID compliance stuff and being away from their families," he said.
"The regulations mean drivers are also getting fined for 'not doing the right thing' - there aren't many jobs out there where you can lose a week's wages just through something petty.
"Then you have the state of our roads which is horrendous. There's also a big, big shortage of mechanics in not only Warrnambool but also the region - it's a big problem.
"I think everyone's mindset changed during COVID and there's that much shortage in so many industries they figured they could nearly get a job doing anything else."
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Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson likened reasons for the shortage to the "moons aligning".
"What we've got in the road freight industry is a shortage of drivers and there's a culmination of events occurring that's sort of like the moons aligning," he said.
"The mandatory vaccinations meant we lost five to seven per cent of our cohort of drivers who were not going to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons who walked away from their jobs.
"Then you've got systemic COVID testing twice a week and of course the quarantine system which has seen businesses shut down for two weeks.
"We've got no immigration which usually brings in new drivers, no working students, no six-month visa people and no short term labour coming into the country. So there's no capacity in the system and there's no fallback, no insurance or additional resources for us to use to catch up.
"What that means later on is that the ability to gain labour resources and drivers will diminish further. Then, when COVID restrictions are lifted, we'll be faced with people who've accrued holidays who want to take them at the same time and we'll be short of resources again.
"We need drivers - we want the system to allow drivers to come into our industry. We can't do that at the moment because the system which lets them in is antiquated and isn't up to today's expectations."
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Jessica Greenan
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
