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Daniel
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 2729
Location: Gold Coast


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1 - Heading up the Warrego Highway going past Ipswich I could see a truck pulling out onto the highway so I pulled over into the right hand lane to go around it and allow it to merge. As I went past he started blowing his horn and then cut into the right hand lane barely missing the back of my car. I then pulled back into the left hand lane and he accelerated past me and then cut into the left hand lane, also just missing me. There wasn't any other traffic for 100m ahead or behind us. I stayed well behind him after that until he turned off at Gatton. Just seemed he didn't like any little cars passing him.

2 - Coming back down the range where the road works close off one lane. I saw the sign that my lane was ending and there were 4 trucks beside me. I indicated that I wanted to merge for what seemed like a minute but no truck would let me merge in front of them. The traffic was going about 20 - 30km/h at that stage. Connie could see the drivers looking at us but they acted like we weren't there and keeping less then a cars length between each other. We waited for all the trucks to go past and the following cars let us in. The trucks let the 4WD in front of us merge.

I'll be driving up to Toowoomba a few more times in the next few weeks and I want to know if I'm doing anything wrong. Apart from having a purple mirage.

Post Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:47 pm 
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Philip
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Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 3842
Location: Queensland near Brisbane


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The first guy is a tool and should lose his licence. Ring his boss if you got his company name.

Some drivers don't like to have cars in between a row of trucks. I let cars in. When in my car, I tend not to get in between trucks. They will crush a car in an accident.

You could try getting a UHF and talk to the drivers on 40.

Edit. Was 2 at the top of the range or further down?
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Post Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:08 pm 
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Daniel
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2 was top of the range. I thought it might have been something like that. But I also thought that since they could see Connie and a purple car they might have thought the driver was also a little asian girl and probably going to get in thier way and do silly things.

BTW, I'm actually moving to Toowoomba. Sad Hence the lots of driving up there.

Post Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:23 pm 
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Philip
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How close were you to the merge point? Normally, everyone goes one from each lane in turn.

Why are you moving to Toowoomba?
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Post Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:03 pm 
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Daniel
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I couldn't see the merge point around the bend, just the signs telling everyone to merge.

Xstrata are down sizing and reducing the drafting department from 30 drafters down to 5 and I was one of the unlucky. Connie got a graduate position in Toowoomba at the same time, so I'll follow her up the hill. Maybe I'll go back to designing farm machinery.

Post Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:34 pm 
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Philip
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You are an exceptional drafter. You will land on your feet. Was Xstrata servicing the mining industry? Good news about Connie though.
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Post Fri Aug 09, 2013 4:05 am 
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Valen
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Joined: 07 Jul 2004
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Location: Sydney


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you should in theory merge at the end of the merge lane, IE finish your merge as the lane runs out, when people merge early it causes people to undertake and do all sorts of other weird things.
You should line your self up for the merge well beforehand but wait to execute it till the end.
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Post Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:59 am 
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Daniel
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Location: Gold Coast


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quote:
Originally posted by Valen:
You should line your self up for the merge well beforehand but wait to execute it till the end.

I was lining myself up to merge and the trucks weren't opening up to let me in, hence my questions.

Philip - Yeah, Xstrata is mining. But I'm fully expecting them to call me back when things pick up because I left them with a half finished project that no other drafter I know can finish.

Post Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:20 pm 
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Glen
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Oh truck Rolling Eyes
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Post Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:54 pm 
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Philip
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Joined: 18 Jun 2004
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Location: Queensland near Brisbane


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That must have been scary for the rider. The truck driver must not have known where he was going. He should have kept going and found a different exit further up the road rather than a last second swerve.

Bikes are very hard to see. Especially on the blind side. I avoid driving my car on the blind side of a truck. Cars are less than 10 mm in a blind spot mirror.

Bikes can appear like one of a car's headlights in a mirror. If the truck's mirror vibrates while driving, the bike may be impossible to see. It is safer just to stay away from the side of trucks.
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Post Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:38 pm 
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Philip
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Location: Queensland near Brisbane


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https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/30344427/truck-drives-swerves-into-car/#page1 Saw this on the news last night. When two similar vehicles are going around you, it can be confused as one especially while looking between the long and blind spot mirrors. The car driver sounds his horn. You cannot hear car horns in a truck.

The truck driver would not have felt something as small as a one tonne vehicle. About a month ago, a car changed lanes into a truck travelling at 100 kph. The rear of the car clipped the front of the truck causing the car to spin sideways against the front of the truck. The truck driver could not see or feel the car and continued driving up the highway pushing the car.

Imagine you are driving your car surrounded by tiny go karts that are 1/40th - 1/60th of your weight. This includes the weight of the driver. These tiny go karts are shorter than your side windows and your bonnet so you cannot see them while they are beside or in front of you. Now imagine what would happen if your 1 tonne car collided with a 20 kg go kart.

It is far better to put your foot down and get past a truck than to sit beside a truck.
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So even the rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems

Post Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:02 pm 
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Philip
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Location: Queensland near Brisbane


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You could be fined $10800 for hiring transporting goods if you pay "unsafe" rates.


quote:
Responding to questions from The Australian, the ombudsman confirmed the tribunal’s order “could cover an individual hiring a contractor driver to transport personal household furniture” if it involved a trip of more than 200km across a state border.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said there were “many complexities to the issue” but he warned those moving interstate could be punished if they failed to pay the higher rates to removalists covered by the order.

“The fact is that homeowners relocating interstate who engage an owner driver to move their furniture and belongings will need to be very careful that they do not breach the order,” Mr Willox said. “The penalties are very hefty.”

Under the 2012 legislation passed by Labor, an individual breach of the act would incur a penalty of $10,800 while a corporation would face of penalty of $54,000.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/removalists-hit-as-malcolm-turnbull-moves-to-axe-roads-body/news-story/1681e3818f30337849da30c098bfc168

Imagine you ship your robot to an interstate event. You get three quotes and they are about the same but you pick an owner driver. You are liable for the fine if you pay less than the "safe" rate. If the owner driver charges you less than the "safe" rate but hires an employee to drive his truck, the rate becomes safe again.

Mr Shorten probably did not understand the full impact of this legislation when it was introduced, but I cannot understand why he doesn't want to fix it now.
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So even the rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems

Post Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:53 am 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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That story is behind a pay wall. The stories I read all assumed the truck was carrying one consignment form a single customer; what happens if that robot I just shipped is one of many consignments, possibly going to multiple destinations? How would anyone possibly know if the driver is charging a safe rate?
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Post Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:06 am 
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Valen
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Joined: 07 Jul 2004
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Location: Sydney


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tip to bypass the paywall
search the googles for the url

https://www.google.com.au/#safe=off&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Findustrial-relations%2Fremovalists-hit-as-malcolm-turnbull-moves-to-axe-roads-body%2Fnews-story%2F1681e3818f30337849da30c098bfc168

then click on the result in the search
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Post Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:38 am 
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Philip
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Joined: 18 Jun 2004
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Location: Queensland near Brisbane


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There is a site to calculate the safe rate. http://paymentscalculator.rsrt.gov.au/

I entered a single semi trailer and got this result;

$17.74 per hour and $1.32 per km (excluding GST)

How do you know the amount of hours? What if the truck is stuck in a traffic jam?
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So even the rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems

Post Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:53 pm 
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