Venue: Damien on Fisher
Guest Speakers: John Eakins
Guest: Maureen Eakins
Attendance: 25 members 2 guests
Valerie Bonython called the meeting to order and President Ken welcomed the guests. The Presidential report included his happiness at having inducted 2 people, and that BBQs and Thrift Shop are doing well. A Board meeting is to follow.
John Peacham explained that Oleh was still in hospital and cannot come home because Anne has Covid......this could form a script for Australia's own Doctor at Large series.
Guest Speaker: John Eakins - Freighting of Perishables Interstate
Paul Duke introduced John who has been a long term mate. He schooled at PGC, spent 30 years in the wholesale fresh food market where he formed his HL Banana Company. He then operated a transport company for 25 years...Fruit Express and Harris Refrigerated.
Now it must be said the speaker did not stick to his allocated topic and instead provided his version of Keep on Truckin.
John's applied two guiding principles during his working life, namely:
- there must be as sense of urgency
- if a job's worth doing, it is worth doing quickly
He gave a potted version of how the trucking business had changed over the last 60 years with single axle trucks capable of carrying 11 pallets (with dedicated drivers), through the Big Macs of the 1960s with 3 axles and 18 pallets, until today with B doubles with 8 axles and 34 pallets weighing in at 62+ tonnes, and more axles with the road trains up north. John is rather fond of the Volvo trucks pulling 600-700hp.
Truckers used to take rest stops. Now they swap drivers over and can make Sydney and back in 2 days and Melbourne and back in 1 day. Big trucks burn big fuel, with the largest churning through over a litre of diesel per km. On the trip from Adelaide to Perth it was possible to save $300 in fuel by dropping the speed down from 100 to 90km.
Drivers are restricted to working 12 hours a day (sometimes 14 hours for those capable of staying awake), with rest stops after 5 hours. Collins operates with depots in each State. A typical journey would be Adelaide to Goulburn.....driver swap....Goulburn to Sydney,, Sydney to Goulburn....driver swap...and Goulburn to Adelaide. The Melbourne trip drivers swap at Nhill each day.
The economics are compelling. Prime Movers costing $300k are depreciated over 5 years and are the largest contributors to the annual fixed costs of $120k per annum. If a truck travels 200k per annum, the running cost is 48c/km but if it does 600k per annum the cost is 20c/km......a massive difference. And the ability to fill a truck and back-load it for the return trip is vital.
Back in the 'good old days' it was common to overload trucks (eg limit of 22 tonnes loaded up to 30 tonnes) which made a mess of the roads. Now ISO 9000 applies, which limits the load per axle. But the good old boys still take the risk.....backed up by a network of CB radios with the call sign of 'the BBQ is hot' when weighing inspectors are lurking.
One would hope that these inspectors are smart enough to cook most of the offenders.
Trucks get serviced every 60k and engines replaced every 1m k on average. He praised the management of South Australian trucking companies ABC and Gilberts. Back when he started, most of the interstate goods movement was by rail but now it is by road. Two exceptions are Melbourne to Perth and Melbourne to Brisbane where rail is more economic. The editor was lax in not asking John how he enjoyed that classic trucking film 'Smokey and the Bandit' of the 1970s and any juicy parallels in Australia!
John was applauded for his entertaining address
SPOTS/STORIES
Trevor McGuirk shared his misery at having his house flooded. But he was delighted with the Metropolitan Male Choir variety concert on Sunday.
Chris Davis explained that all is on track for the POOTY ceremony at the Showgrounds on Friday 9 September but he is still seeking responses on attendance.
Rhonda Hoare has organised Roger to slice 20kg of onions for Sunday's Bunnings BBQ. This is not a simple task and should be pre-planned with more volunteers.
Graham Beckett extolled the performance of the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and would like members to support this fine group.....details of their next concert below.
Stephen Baker enjoyed the Metropolitan Male Choir in which Trevor sang....and it is Trevor's birthday tomorrow.
Finale
The winners of the McGuirk raffle were Wendy, Heather, Haydn and Ging......Trevor had his ticket chosen but re-raffled.
Valerie told a taxing story.
President Ken announced that Unley Council had approved a grant of $3000 towards the Multiple Births Festival. Bunnings BBQ is on Sunday and 2 more volunteers are needed for the morning shift.
Meeting closed at 7.52 pm
Rotary International News
Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre
10.30 am on the first Friday of the month is good for a chat with Rotary friends and a caffeine fix! Next one is Friday 2 September 2022
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 30 August 2022 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: James Barker International Law
Attendance and welcome: Brendan Kenny & Leonie Kewen
Tuesday 6 September 2022 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Event: Committees night
Attendance and welcome: Brendan Kenny & Leonie Kewen
Apologies and Meeting Enquiries to: Secretary Greg McLeod on 0417 811 838 or email to secretary@unleyrotary.org.au
Venue Set-up Enquiries to: Bulletin Editor Stephen Baker on 0403 687 015
Saturday Thrift Shop Roster
Early Shift: 10.00am to 1.00pm Late Shift: 1.00pm to 4.00pm
Week 1: 3 September 2022
Early: John Peacham (Jerry Casburn) & Haydn Baillie | Late: Robyn Carnachan & Leonie Kewen
Week 2: 10 September 2022
Early: Greg Mcleod & Virginia Cossid | Late: Wendy Andrews & Heather Kilsby
Week 3: 17 September 2022
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Vera Ann Stacy & Vera Holt
Week 4: 27 August 2022
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Rhonda Hoare
Week 5: N/A
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Virginia Cossid & Paul Duke
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Vivienne Wood 0408 819 630; e-mail: vwood#ozemail.com.au
Mitre 10 and Bunnings Barbeques
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month. Morning shift 9.00am - 12 noon; afternoon shift 12.00 - 3.30pm, then clean-up.....next one is Saturday 3 September 2022
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
Morning shift: 8.00am – 12.30pm | Afternoon shift: 12.30 – 5pm
We have been allocated the last Monday of each month.....next one was to be Monday 29 August 2022 BUT is now this Sunday 28 August
The Tale End.....
A special display for would-be teetotallers