Dead Men
Page 5
While in Sydney, Tony had been asked by two other owner drivers if he would consider joining them in forming a company. With three rigs they’d be able to get work direct from customers instead of sub-contract loads from transport companies. They calculated they would earn nearly thirty per cent more than they were getting as sub-contractors, and if they pooled this extra profit into a joint company they owned they would be able to add another rig inside eighteen months. The only drawback Tony saw was the fact that this new company would be Sydney based. This was logical though, as he’d known for some time that it was difficult to get loads from Perth. Consignments out of Perth were called backloads because the trucks had to get back to the east coast, and were charged at a very cheap rate. Little more than fuel cost. There was an abundance of work out of Sydney, and the Sydney to Melbourne run was the busiest in the country. He would have to move his family, and leave his extended family behind in Perth. He laid out the whole plan to his wife. She wasn’t business minded but could see the benefits, and also clearly foresaw the upheaval it would cause the children. They decided to think on it a little longer. ‘Surely they’ll wait a couple of weeks for your answer Tony,’ she authoritatively said. Tony agreed. He also discussed the idea with his father before leaving on his next haul. He trusted his father’s business sense. His father’s only advice after discussing all the financial pros and cons was to say, ‘Antonio, take your opportunities when you see them. Take risks when you can manage them, and don’t be afraid of your own judgement. It’s served you well so far.’
Tony left for a haul to Port Headland, over one thousand miles north of Perth. He used the long hours to consider his decision from every point of view that he could think of. During his absence his wife did the same. Her thoughts were more of family and the children than Tony but by the time he’d returned they both knew, before he opened the back door of the house, that the decision had been made. There were some minor matters Tony had yet to work out, but on the basic points they agreed. The family would move. Tony called his prospective partners the next morning to arrange a meeting with them on his next haul to Sydney in a fortnight. He would stay a few extra days to clarify any outstanding issues.
Tony met his prospective partners at a Joe’s Truck Stop near the Crossroads intersection of the Hume Highway, just outside Sydney. It was a favourite stop for all the Sydney-Melbourne drivers as it was ideally located to wait for peak hour traffic to subside, which in Sydney is more like hours and hours. Six to ten in the mornings and three to seven in the evenings is bumper to bumper crawling chaos on Sydney’s narrow winding matrix of ill designed roads. Not a fun drive for a fully loaded seventeen ton semi. Joe’s Truck Stop also served what was agreed by the majority of truckies, to be the best mixed grill on the Hume Highway. It was an ideal breakfast or dinner. Two lamb chops, steak, three pork sausages, liver, two lamb's kidneys, a pork chop, bacon, chips, tomatoes, gravy and all garnished with three fried eggs. Joe’s price for diesel fuel was also the cheapest on the highway.
They discussed the few remaining issues over their mixed grill and black tea. Agreement was reached easily. They would engage a solicitor and accountant in Camden, which was a hamlet just outside Sydney, to form their partnership and prepare the legal necessities. Each partner would put up ten thousand dollars to give the new business some working capital, and their trucks would be transferred into the partnership. They would lease a small industrial unit in Narrellan, near Camden, to base their operation. Tony’s partners, Trevor and Tom would attend to these matters as Tony would be busy moving his family. They would get everything ready for him to sign when he returned. They also agreed on a name for their new enterprise. Triple T Transport. As his two partners only knew Tony as Tony, and not as Antonio, they didn’t realise their mistake. But Tony didn’t mind at all. He loved the name. With the shaking of hands the deal was done. To these three truckies the handshake sealed the arrangement. It was far more binding than any signature on a piece of paper.
As he drove back to Perth, the long hours gave him time to let the events of the past few weeks gel in his mind. He was now committed, but the normal fear of such a change in his family and business life chewed in his gut. He was worried and only naturally. He would worry for some time yet. At least until the family had settled in their new home, and until the new business showed signs of success. Or failure. The thought of that chilled him.
The Pilletto’s were loaded. All the family’s belongings were secured and tarped on Tony’s truck. It was a tight squeeze in the cab, but the two kids made the best of the small bed behind the two seats as their berth for the long trip to Sydney. Normally Tony would do the run in under forty hours, but with kids and a wife, and food stops, and toilet emergencies and the cramped cab, he knew it would be better to take his time. He planned to stop at a motel each night to let the kids and his wife have a good sleep and be fresh for each day. Knowing this move would be a difficult time for his family, he was mindful to make them his first priority. He would do all he could to get them settled in Sydney before he started working flat out with his new business. It would take five days to arrive in Sydney.
The first few days were hectic. Finding a house to rent is difficult enough at any time in Sydney, but having only a truck for transport would make it an impossibility to get around. Luckily Tony’s new partners and their families proved to be friends in the making. He was lent a car by Tom, and Trevor’s wife offered to mind the kids while they looked for a house. He parked his truck in a shopping centre car park opposite their motel and hoped he didn’t get booked for illegal parking, and that their precious belongings, still loaded on the truck, were not stolen.
Within three days they had found a small three bedroom house in Minto. Not a trendy address by any means, but it would be comfortable. The house would be ready for them in a week. Tony and his wife swallowed deeply as they signed the lease and committed themselves to twice the amount of rent per week, for half the size house that they had in Perth. Money was going to be tight for a while, but Tony decided to take his family out to a Chinese restaurant that night to celebrate.
Within two weeks, some normality had returned to the family life. They had moved in to the house, had their eldest, a boy, enrolled to attend his first year of school at the nearby state school. Tony had signed all the papers for the new business and had started work. His wife made a few friends at the school gate while she waited to collect her son in the afternoons. She was invited for a morning coffee by another mother within a few days of her boy starting school. After a few weeks she found she had made a handful of new friends and settled into her new life without complaint. This had been one of Tony’s major concerns, that his family would be able to settle in their new home. It was a relief to hear his wife and children’s excited news about new friends and activities in such a short time. Triple T Transport had just signed up its first contract with a local company in Narrellan to carry concrete mouldings, so Tony started to breathe easier.
There is a saying; the harder you work, the luckier you get. This applied very aptly to Tony. With his major concern of his family’s ability to settle into a new city and life without the extended families they had left behind, now resting easier on his mind, he could concentrate on his new business. His wife had made friends easily, and with the help of his business partner’s wives who lived nearby, she was enjoying her new life. Tony had stretched his budget to afford the hire purchase payments on a small used mini van for his wife so she could get around with the kids. He knew he’d be away from home a lot as the business was going to need every hour possible of his driving to have any chance of success. His wife was used to this in Perth, but he worried for her. New friends are not the same as the reliability of family. He decided he’d done all he could though, so it was now time to put his energies fully into the business.
The first year of Triple T was tough. All three partners knew it would be, but had not been fully prepared for the competitive nature of the trans
port business. All had known of, and heard stories of backhanders, bribes and slings, but until they were actually involved day to day, they couldn’t have realised how widespread it was. The large national and international transport companies had a monopoly on contracts with customers at the big end of town, so Triple T was competing for contracts and individual loads for small to medium companies. There were far more small transport companies than they’d imagined. Hindsight is something everyone has, and for Tony he realised with his own twenty twenty hindsight that he should’ve done a little more research before starting Triple T. It was too late now though, he was committed, and along with his partners they learned how to compete in the market. Some means of winning contracts didn’t sit easily with Tony. He was an honest, simple, hard working man. He knew that his two partners were similarly minded. He discussed at length with his partners about ethics, but all three had reality staring them in the face. Either they won contracts or lost their trucks. It was as simple as that. For Tony it didn’t come easy to pay a bribe to a purchasing officer or a warehouse manager. But in the end, he found he didn’t have to offer, it was asked for. For some clients it was as simple as a bottle of scotch or a carton of beer. For some larger contracts Triple T found itself with regular cash payments being made to a few clients. And it was a necessity.
Before the first anniversary of Triple T, all three partners were working beyond the allowable hours a driver is able to work. Log books that are checked by police, were altered as a matter of course to get as many possible driving hours from the three trucks to secure as much business as possible for Triple T. All knew this had to be done to survive. They had hired a lady to answer their phone and do the bookkeeping. This was a necessity, and although they had wanted to wait a little longer before employing anyone, they had little choice but to add this additional cost. Luckily for them the lady they hired, in her mid fifties, had worked for transport companies for twenty years or more. She’d moved up from Melbourne to be with her daughter who had recently lost her husband in a car accident. She ran the office with ease. Her knowledge of the industry was extremely useful and her bookkeeping was creative as well. Creative in the sense that the bribes and slings were hidden. Some as legitimate expenses and others more difficult to hide had to be treated as wages for the three partners of Triple T.
With her contribution, and with a few contacts she had, that bought a few new customers, Triple T settled into business. It was hard work, but it was surviving, and showed a very small profit for its first year of trading. In discussions with their accountant the three partners decided that it would be beneficial for tax reasons to form a company. It would allow the wives of the three partners to become directors and shareholders and therefore be able to income-split thus reducing the amount of tax payable. It would also allow their business to accumulate profit at the company tax rate, which was far lower than the personal tax they were paying. It was also decided that their plan for a fourth truck should wait a little longer than they’d planned, to give the company a firmer footing before taking on what would be a very large commitment.
Tony told his wife about the plans that had been discussed for the formation of a company even though he had limited understanding of what a company was, he explained as best he could. In particular the income-splitting, which she understood to some degree. She knew Tony was a hard worker and was putting all of himself into the business, so if Tony thought this was a good idea, who was she to disagree. And anyway, it all sounded perfectly logical. Within a month, Triple T was Triple T Transport Pty. Ltd. The company now had six directors and six shareholders. The first purchase order written by the new company was to a local sign writer to produce a big sign for the front of their small factory unit.
In less than a year from the formation of the company, and a little under two years since the Pilletto’s moved from Perth, Tony and his five other directors signed a contract for a new Kenworth prime mover and rig. It was to be delivered in January 1986. The second employee was hired in the same month to drive one of the old semis. The three T’s drew straws to see who drove the new Kenworth, but in keeping with their good working relationship, they decided to have it month about. Tony won month three. He didn’t mind at all. He was just pleased the business was growing, but also mindful that they all had a lot of hard work in front of them. This business would always be that way. As long as they were in transport, they were in a tough business. Tony planned on being tough for a long time. And, even though it was tough work, and was full of risks, not only in the long hours of driving which claimed a number of drivers each year, but also in business risks, he was enjoying it. What little time he had away from Triple T, he spent with his family who were his pride and joy.
In January 1986, just prior to the delivery of the new Kenworth, the Pilletto’s moved into their new house. Tony had a shrewd head on his shoulders. He had asked a real estate agent in Camden to keep an eye out for him for a property to buy. He was looking for a four bedroom house with enough room, maybe an acre or so, to park his truck. He felt if he could afford to buy a property, even on a large mortgage, at least he would not be wasting his money on rent. In time the equity would build and it would secure his business and future. Late in November the agent called Tony to tell him of a property that was on the market. It was perfect. The house was only two years old and was built on two acres, just outside Camden, only a short drive from his company’s office. After seeing the property, he made a few enquires with a few people he knew in the area. He discovered that the couple who owned the house had separated. He also found out that the couple had considerable debts and were still working together in a local restaurant they owned so they could meet the mortgage repayments on the house until it sold. He deduced quite quickly that these would be vendors keen to sell. He met with his bank manager who by now, he knew well from dealings regarding the business, and made an application for a home loan. Within three days he had his loan approval and the knowledge of the purchase price he could afford to pay.
After taking his wife and children to see the property, and watching the look of delight on all their faces he decided to make an offer.
The real estate agent baulked at Tony’s offer. For two reasons probably. One, he wasn’t as aware of the vendor’s circumstances as Tony, and two, his commission would be reduced. But Tony was unmoved. ‘I want you to submit my offer.’ After half an hour of trying to talk Tony up, the agent relented. He said to Tony, ‘This’ll be a waste of time. The owners won’t accept this price. But I’ll submit your offer, and let you know what their counter offer is.’
It was a surprised estate agent that rang Tony that afternoon with the news that the vendors had accepted his offer. It was not a surprised Tony that answered the telephone. He knew he had the house before the agent had even rung the vendors. ‘Call by my office in the morning, there will be a deposit cheque there for you,’ was all Tony said.
The proudest day of Tony’s life came in late January 1986. After having to endure his son attending state schools for the last two years, Tony took the morning off work to see his son and his daughter attend their first day at the private Catholic school in Camden. It was his daughter’s first day at school. This was not a prestigious city school, but for Tony, St Luke’s Junior School was at least going to teach his children to be good Catholics and instill a discipline that was non-existent in state schools. He sat in the passenger seat of the old mini van next to his wife as she drove him and the children, dressed in their brand new school uniforms, to St Luke’s. He kissed both and wished them luck in their new school. He held his arm around his pregnant wife’s waist as they watched with their two year old son, their precious children disappearing from view into the school building.
Tony’s life was all and more than he had hoped for. He was a very happy and satisfied man as he arrived at his office at 10.00am. He could want for nothing more. Except not to hear the news that waited for him when he walked into Triple T’s office door.
Luck
By 1984, Steven Peter Sharp was a name well known to the Guildford police. It was also recorded in many locations on the Western Australian police force’s computers. He had twenty-four appearances before the Children’s Court before he faced his first charge as an adult. He had spent three months in detention in three separate stints before he turned eighteen. One week, three weeks and two months. He had deduced that they were getting longer each time. Luckily he thought, his first appearance in a court as an adult was only for driving without a licence, speeding, careless driving and having a blood alcohol level of zero point one five. At least he hadn’t been caught for the house he had cleaned out with a couple of mates earlier in the day.
‘What can they do?’ he told his mate the day before he was due to appear in court, in the tone of a statement more than a question. ‘I haven’t got a licence for ‘em to take off me,’ he chuckled. Steve had ridden his luck since he was ten. He had faith that it hadn’t run out yet. It hadn’t.
Steven had a duty solicitor appointed to defend him in court. He’d had one meeting with him two weeks before and answered all the solicitors' questions about his family, previous record as a minor and the offences he was charged with. He met his solicitor in the waiting area of the Court House, outside court number three. His solicitor had a couple of questions to ask Steven, but before he’d finished, the court attendant announced Steven’s case and he entered the court room with his solicitor who was quickly jotting down Steven’s answers. Steven took his place. He knew from experience in the Children’s Court that there would be a lot of waffle that he didn’t understand to start with. He wasn’t wrong. The only difference was it took longer. He focused his attention on the legs of the court stenographer. He could see them underneath the table at which she was seated. She was a young and attractive brunette with a bobbed haircut. Her short skirt gave Steven a good view of her legs, and every now and then her legs would relax and her knees would part slightly. He smiled to himself when he caught a glance of the little white triangle of her crutch. His attention was only drawn from her legs by the sound of his name being read out in a tone that seemed to indicate his attention might be required. It was.