Australian-born Indian truck drivers have recently been subjected to a tide of racist abuse, adding to the many hardships faced by an often dangerous profession. When Indian national Jaswinder Boparai was knocked unconscious at a South Australian truck stop, the incident was both horrific and pretty scary. He was even spat at, just for the crime of speaking Punjabi to his wife on the phone. The event is not a one off occurrence. Perhaps more ominous is that it seems to reflect a growing wave of hate against Indian truck drivers nationwide.
Indian-born truckup Sukhpal Singh expressed complaints at length over the CB radio. He fears it’s turned into a racist echo chamber more insidious than social media, fueling hate between truckers. He noted that CB radios provided a sense of anonymity. That anonymity encourages an impunity among those who commit acts of abuse. This is a deeply troubling and dangerous precedent. Harassment compounds the physical and psychological burdens already weighing down long-haul truck drivers.
For too many drivers, like Boparai, experiences exploitation that fundamentally destroys their quality of life. This ongoing mistreatment further complicates their already challenging work, making it increasingly difficult to succeed. Yet the systematic and internalized nature of racism in the industry serves to compound this challenging job, creating a more difficult task.
A Growing Problem
What Indian-born truck drivers have been subjected to goes beyond terrifying acts of bigotry to a place that is simultaneously abhorrent and scary. Instances of being targeted with phrases like “We’re going to kill all the f***ing male Indians,” have been reported. For some drivers this is the worst form of abuse they’ve experienced in their years and careers. A recent immigrant from India, Sukhpal Singh has more than 10 years experience hauling freight across the U.S. and Canada and knows how scary things have gotten out there.
Jaswinder Boparai, who runs a small fleet of trucks, recalls one particularly humiliating experience: “That is one incident, which I will never forget because it’s humiliating.” He stresses that the silence in response to these abuses is just as disturbing and calls on his fellow drivers to condemn racism. If you’re people who truly care about Indian drivers, hold your leaders accountable. The racists are a small group, despite being quite vocal.
The rampant nature of these incidences indicates a systemic, widespread problem in the trucking industry, not just isolated cases. It’s research that shows an impending and already present acute driver shortage across Australia. The International Road Transport Union predicts that by 2024, the country will require some 28,000 additional heavy vehicle drivers. Retiring, veteran drivers exacerbate this shortage. On top of all that, an alarming number of young Australians are disinterested in entering the profession.
The Call for Action
Glyn Castanelli, president of the National Road Freighters Association, says we need a national licensing regime for heavy vehicle operators. He contends that this system is especially needed right now. Many businesses fail to properly train their drivers or ensure they have the necessary experience to maneuver heavy vehicles safely. This neglect can result in costly errors that unfairly cast a negative shadow on every person of Indian heritage in the field.
Professor Sarah Anderson, an expert in workplace issues, emphasizes the need for better understanding and data collection regarding racism faced by overseas-born truck drivers in Australia. Camille makes the case that the patchwork framework of licensure and workplace authorities fails to address racism as a systemic whole. “Often, we have a pie with lots of fingers. This is a case where we have a pie where no one’s really cutting the pie or eating it,” she remarked.
Anderson shines a bright light on the damaging effect of this practice on public health and safety. Moreover, he stresses the critical dangers it creates in the industry. This type of behavior is creating significant public health crisis, it’s creating significant worker safety crisis and roadway safety crisis, so it absolutely needs to be regulated,” she proclaimed.
A Need for Change
The hopes and dreams voiced by these Indian-born truck drivers illustrate a deeper, urgent yearning for transformation bubbling up from within the industry to the surface. We must call for immediate action by local drivers to stand up against this racist behavior. They need to engage fully in solving the damage that this practice has perpetuated. The chronic harassment and discrimination creates increased risks for their mental health. This threatens the safety of our roads as a whole.
These troubling trends require urgent action. Employers in the road freight sector, together with their industry associations and unions, need to work together to tackle racism. An Australian Human Rights Commission spokesperson noted, “The commission would encourage road freight employers, their representative organisations, and the unions to urgently consider these allegations of racism and take a collaborative approach to identifying the size and shape of the alleged issue and work in partnership, including with affected employees, to identify priorities and solutions.”
