Truckies stood down as supermarkets cap buying in WA Michael BennetWA Reporter
Feb 3, 2022 – 6.26pm
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National transport operator SCT Group has been forced to sideline 600 staff and contractors after the closure of the nation’s east-west rail freight line, as the worsening supply chain crisis in Western Australia jolted the big supermarkets into imposing buying caps on everything from pasta and eggs to toilet paper and chicken breasts.
More than a week after floods in South Australia damaged the rail line, SCT truck drivers in Perth told The Australian Financial Review they had been stood down – along with local management – because no freight was being brought in from the east by the company’s locomotives for them to move to Perth distribution centres.
The company confirmed 600 employees and contractors nationally have been “impacted” until the rail line reopens, potentially on February 18, of which 300 management staff, employees and contractors are based in Perth.
SCT, one of the nation’s biggest transport operators, has stood down truck drivers due to a lack of work following the shutdown of the nation’s key east-west rail line. Trevor Collens
Permanent staff have been encouraged to take paid leave and can overdraw leave entitlements by up to five days if no paid leave is available, while contractors and subcontractors are out of work given there is nothing to do.
“This is an emerging crisis in WA,” said Geoff Smith, the managing director of SCT, one of just two interstate rail freight operators, alongside Pacific National, that connects WA with the eastern states but has had 80 per cent of its business shut down.
