I don't EVER take stock in shows like TodayTonight (TT) because they either 1) are trolls. Or 2) just have no idea of the real world.

Last night though, they raised another troll point (trolls are people who make statements to INCITE reactions) about banning freight trucks in Australian CBD's because of safety. This one stood out for me because ... well ... this is what I do for a living. I move freight in Brisbane's CBD. I move bulk pallets of freight.

If I had to write a report for every near miss we have in the CBD I'd be off the road every day by about 2pm. So, they have a point. What interests me though, is that the blame is being laid solely at the feet of the truckies. But sure, there are bad apples in every basket, but not everyone is.

The weird thing about vehicle licencing in Australia - and elsewhere - is that when you get your car licence there is NO education in courtesy for other vehicles. Not legal requirements, but courtesy.

When you see a truckie going off his head at someone in a loading zone this is because generally the amount of loading zones available are dwindling and private vehicles - and cabbies - taking up these spaces takes money out of a freight worker's pocket. Many work 'per-drop'. Ipods and mobile phones are the major cause of pedestrian 'near misses' as is ignorance of basic laws, and arrogance of people who 'can park and walk anywhere'.

TT forgot to mention how moving freight at night in the CBD would double the cost of items there. You would need to pay me more, and pay staff at businesses to accept freight after hours. This actually wouldn't bother me; it would be nice to get access to anywhere I want at MY convenience.

Brothers, best mate once me, drive drove trucks.
Some true clowns and idiots do/have too.
Not one how ever more uniformed than this story.
Loading zones point to just a millionth of the reasons we need trucks in town.
StG is right to wounder what drives such stupidity.
No trucks equals no shops, a hand trolly would be over worked bringing the thousands of tonnes of just fruit and veg in every night.
Foolishness is praising this mob.
It highlights this, every one has an opinion, but some are so uninformed, so silly and unworkable it is stunning that people get paid for them.
Who bought the matirial that made each building? horse and cart?

WOW! No-brainier. Lets do the maths, shall we.

1..Get rid of trucks = unemployment for all concerned + food disruption on a grand scale + No other viable cost affective measures = Mass strikes by the transport unions.

Again! One idea I thought of, was to tunnel small underground/ on top of ground conveyor systems where trucks can off load outside of city limits. All manner of goods can transported this way. Not all of course, but most.

Just a little infrastructural idea's can make more work......Well, is not that what we want?

Oh, thats right......where billions in debt.

Maybe some other time:)

Imagine........No trucks any-where in city limits.

Well how do we do it?

LEAP

Well firstly, one should clarify what the word 'truck' refers to, as smaller trucks are not the problem.

You see our governments see things often in the reverse of what we see them.

Take the Gateway bridge, for an example.

Now common sense would suggest that if trucks were allowed to use the bridge, either at no cost, or at worst, at the same rate as cars, then this would make a huge difference to the truck congestion in the CBD's.

However, what actually happens is the reverse, whereby they charge trucks 3, 4, even 10 times as much to use this bridge, largely due to the fact that much of our infrastructure is privately owned, or at least partially, so the shareholders need a return.

Reverse this type of thinking and you are on your way to solving a major part of the problem.

Well firstly, one should clarify what the word 'truck' refers to, as smaller trucks are not the problem.....Well, your quite right. The smaller trucks would be used to pick up the goods from the central dispatch station, then be delivered. Thats less congestion, less emissions, and over-all.....a much tidier all,s happy situation.

Well, maybe not all's happy when profits are effected.

I think its a case of PUT UP and SHUT UP:) if its not broken, dont fix it:)

But its nice to put up thoughts though:)

LEAP:)

Try delivering all freight to the major stores - Coles, Woolies, Myers - then include the bulk pallets of things we deliver to the hundreds of businesses in the CBD. You can't do it in the fleet trucks. If you did, you would need to at least triple the amount of trucks that go in there.

What they should do - for a start - is ban private vehicles from George Street, Turbot Street, Wharf Street, and Alice Street and everywhere inside there. That'll open up more loading zones and there would be less 'jostling' for parking. That would equal less movement of traffic.