Let me see if I understand this correctly. (Some) Truckies cannot operate profitably with increased diesel prices, and they blame their clients (they are clients if the truckies operate as contractors), specifically Woolworths and Coles, for the predicament they are in, and more importantly and worryingly, seem to be claiming that they, the truckies, are justified in operating vehicles which may be unsafe due to lack of service and maintenance, which, they claim, is due to not being paid on a cost-plus basis for their services.

A number of points and questions:

# under no circumstances are you justified in operating vehicles that are not being properly maintained. You can and probably will kill people that way (as we saw in the case a few years ago where one of your brethren, who blatantly and repeatedly ignored vehicle safety requirements, killed a motorist on the same F3 Freeway you so nonchalantly disrupted this morning).

# if you cannot afford to maintain your vehicles properly, you cannot afford to be in the industry. Incidentally, does this perceived right to cut corners include operating vehicles which are without insurance, both comprehensive and/or third party?

# no one owes you a living. If you cannot survive financially, you should look to find something else to do. This may sound unsympathetic, but it is the harsh reality that we all must face.

# is there anything to stop you operating collectively, by declining to deal with your perceived oppressors, until more satisfactory arrangements (for you) are negotiated? If you do perform an essential service (and there is some justification for this belief), why are you unable to act collectively and convince your clients of the errors of their ways?

# why do you not protest outside Woolworths and Coles Head Offices, selected supermarkets or other key sites to make your point directly?

# how do you expect to improve your position with your clients by inconveniencing the motoring public, rather than those whom you claim are directly responsible? Your protest has had zero impact on your targetted villains.

# why do you expect the government to solve your problems? Your expectation of government (i.e. you owe me a living) is very similar to that of the agrarian socialist wheat exporters, who so rightly recently lost their right to hide behind the protection of the single desk. They, also, perceived themselves to be business operators, but were not prepared to take the hard decisions required to operate successful businesses.

It's not just about the fuel prices it is about there unfair rules and regulations that were passed by the government which is why they're not targeting coles and woolworths. By doing this they are also making a stand for producers. I thank the truck drivers for their efforts.

If the protest has been about unfair rules and regulations, the truckies, and their union, have been spectacularly incompetent and unsuccessful in making their point to the general public. There is no mention of their concerns about rules and regulations in the article above, and this issue also was not mentioned in the various radio news reports and interviews I listened to on the day of the protest.