Three other drivers admitted taking stimulants but said they obtained them from outside the company. A wider pattern While the inquest only dealt with a single case, a broader examination reveals that the problems are not limited to one single company but are intrinsic to the industry as a whole and are driven by economic considerations and cutthroat competition. The road transport industry in Australia and particularly the long distance sector is commonly thought to be mainly the province of large firms such as TNT, Linfox, Finemores and Tolls. While these companies do have a high profile, in particular in areas such as express freight and large logistics contracts, they operate only a minority of the trucks on the roads. Most trucks are operated by either owner-drivers or small businesses.
Many drivers mortgage their homes.
Under continuous pressure to meet their loan repayments, they load themselves with greater amounts of work and take ever-greater risks to meet work schedules. The 1991 survey found that 97 percent of loans taken out by drivers had a term of less than five years and that most loans were obtained on a low deposit. These arrangements result in extremely high monthly repayments. In addition, intense competition forces drivers to cut their rates to obtain contracts, reducing their income and trapping them in a vicious cycle that often leads to bankruptcy. How owner-drivers and employee drivers are paid also places them under enormous pressure to cut corners.