Venue:                      Damien on Fisher

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

John's applied two guiding principles during his working life, namely:

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  

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.

 

May I commend to members the upcoming Adelaide Youth Orchestra concert on  Saturday evening, 17th September 2022 commencing at 5pm in Elder Hall.  To  book tickets please go to  https://adyo.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/76420
It looks like
being an excellent program.  

Stephen Baker enjoyed the Metropolitan Male Choir in which Trevor sang....and it is Trevor's birthday tomorrow.

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

 

Stephanie A. Urchick is selected to be the 2024-25 president of Rotary International

By Ryan Hyland

Stephanie A. Urchick, of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2024-25, a decision that would make her only the second woman to hold that position. She will be declared the president-nominee on 1 October if no challenging candidates have been suggested.

 

With the world facing incredible challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters driven by climate change, and conflict in many regions, Urchick says Rotary’s leaders can offer a vision and a plan for overcoming these challenges.

“Measures taken by Rotary leadership to survive and end critical challenges often make our organization stronger and more resilient for future events,” Urchick says. “This kind of essential leadership also creates new levels of cooperation, even among rivals, when Rotarians pull together as people of action to serve and solve a crisis.”

 

Making regionalization a priority is crucial, says Urchick.

“Because Rotary operates in more than 200 countries and regions, it is vital to recognize that the organization has the potential to become more efficient and effective by understanding and reacting to how regional differences affect the way Rotarians work together to address providing service, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace,” Urchick says.

Urchick is partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She holds a doctorate in leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is active on numerous community boards and committees, and has been honored by organizations including Zonta International and the Sons of the American Revolution.

 

A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school and to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. She studies several Slavic languages, has mentored new Rotarians in Ukraine, and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant project in Poland.

Urchick has served Rotary in many roles, including as a director, Foundation trustee, and chair of the RI Strategic Planning Committee and the Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee. She currently serves on the Election Review Committee and the Operations Review Committee. She is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and a member of the Bequest Society.

 

Upcoming Meetings

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