G’DAY from… Mal Whiley

G’Day From…

23 Sept

“More often than not, the world outside the trucking industry looks at us as though we are nothing more than a bunch of cowboys, driving monsters of steel, intent on running them off the road. It’s a perception propagated by mainstream media in pursuit of a headline to sell their paper or gain ratings for their news.”

So says Mal Whiley, who works out of Brisbane for Detour Logistics. At 51, Mal has been behind the wheel since he was 18. Rather than just whinge about it, Mal has tried to be proactive in putting his views forward.

“I was interviewed by Channels 9’s 60 Minutes for a story on trucking accidents. Most of what I had to say was left on the cutting room floor as it didn’t sit with the sensationalism they wanted to televise. What is the old saying? Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I wrote them a scathing email when the story came out, but never got a reply. They didn’t want the truth.

“I have a friend who works at the NHVR in Brisbane. I’ve done two papers for him on industry issues and problems, right down to the nuts and bolts. In his words, he admitted to me that they don’t have anyone with industry experience who works there. How can a body give advice on, and implement laws when they don’t know the job? To his credit, that’s why he asked me to put forward my views.”

Mal, perhaps contrary to some, is a fan of the logbook. “Blokes complain about logbooks and I say, ‘Give me two!’ Logbooks have forced me to go to bed. I reckon there was 15 years in my early days where I didn’t.

“Don’t get me wrong mate,” said Mal. “There was a time when I was a cowboy. I guess I was lucky in that I never had an insurance claim on a truck or a car. I never hurt anyone in a vehicle. Then one day I woke up and thought that luck won’t last, and I changed my ways.

“I look back on my youth sometimes and wonder how I survived it. We don’t get to Brisbane from Sydney any quicker now than we did when I first started - going through every town in inferior equipment on inferior roads. We have bigger horsepower, bigger trucks and shorter roads but we don’t do it any quicker now. That’s because we used to do 100 miles per hour back in the day. Today we go slower and that’s a good thing.

“If only government would recognise the industry as a trade. It’s about time the industry formalised some sort of a plan to get younger people into it. As it stands – mainly due to insurance requirements, you can’t have people in the cab, you can’t have them in the depot. So they go and do a three day course and hope for the best.

“I admire Rod Hannifey and what he has done for the industry. I try to emulate him by doing my bit.”

There was a time when Mal’s family had their own trucks. “Dad started at 16 and drove until he was 74. At the end he was doing twice weekly Brisbane to Mackay. One day he walked in, dropped his keys on the desk and said, ‘That’s it son, I’m finished. Just out of the blue. He handed his licence in and he’s been a pain in my arse ever since. LOL.”

Mal has high praise for Detour Logistics and its owner, Colin Beer. “I’ve known Colin for a long time and worked for him on and off for around five years all up. He’s the best bloke I’ve ever worked for. Yes, we’ve had our ding-dongs, but they’ve always been resolved.”

Colin Beer founded Detour Logistics in 2004 after buying a truck and subbing for Wettenhall’s. In 2005 he purchased his second truck and by the end of that year had grown the fleet to four. Today the business has 31 prime movers servicing the eastern Seaboard.

“Colin believes in a life outside the truck and encourages his drivers in that direction. He really cares about them. He also respects them and gives them the best of gear. I’m currently in a Kenworth K200 big cab and it’s fully loaded. Custom work has been done by Kaiser Kustoms of Shepparton. There’s a 140litre stand-up fridge/freezer, microwave, TV, DVD player, coffee machine – you name it, it’s there. It makes being away from home a lot more bearable.”