Good buddy – never travelled in a convoy? Here’s how it’s done and why we do it
WORDS AND PHOTOS ALISON HUTH, EDITOR-AT-LARGE
When you’re travelling with somewhere between two and 32 other caravans, it can very easily become a convoy. Two vans usually isn’t a problem but large numbers travelling together has its challenges. We spent about six weeks of our recent trip travelling in a group of 25 to 32 vans as some joined in and others left. The question is, how to do this without making life pure hell for any other road user?
Firstly, on good roads, usually sealed but not always, you travel independently. You leave when you want in the morning and arrive at the next destination before 4pm. It’s always great to be off the road, any road, by 4pm as skippy likes to skip in front of you.
Then there are the bad roads, and these days that could include sealed roads due to the horrific damage they suffered through years of bad weather.
On this adventure, we convoyed from Noccundra to Birdsville via Cameron Corner and Innamink. But it was organised so that the convoy could spread out over about 20 to 30 km, to enable other road users to overtake without feeling crammed in the middle of our group, and we could cope with the dirt roads.
We all had UHF communications. Here’s how we managed it.
Lead Van
We had a Lead Van–someone who knew how to travel on dirt roads, what speed was reasonable and had a good voice on the radio. This van was followed by four or five others.
Relay One
Then came Relay One. Because the convoy was going to be spread out, Relay One had to pass on any information from Lead Van so everyone could get the info. This van was followed by four or five others.
Relay 2, 3 + more
Just as Relay One had to do, it was the job of any other Relays to pass on information. Each Relay needed a good clear voice on the radio. There were always four or five other vans between the Relays.
TC
That’s Tail End Charlie or Top Cat – depends how you felt! No matter what anyone else did, TC was always the sweeper at the end of the convoy. When they acknowledged a message, the Relays knew everyone else heard it.
Hazards a guess?
Common things we passed on were washouts, bad corrugations, and a road train (or any vehicle) coming in the opposite direction. So, when you set off in the morning you set your Kms to 00, and the message would say something like this: “Washout at 51.7km, take right-hand side.”
Now, as we all found out, not everyone found that washout at 51.7km. After a lot of “you have to be joking” comments it was drilled into us that the size of your wheels can affect the distance you register! So 51.7km was a rough estimate, within a couple of clicks.
Why convoy?
Well, after all the free travel, it became obvious very quickly that convoy travel on back roads was a very good idea. A flat tyre is a lot easier to sort out with help from your friends. If a van had to stop, all vans behind pulled over too, even if the stop was for a comfort break. The convoy order had to be kept for travel safety. If you all drove past a stopped van, they would become isolated.
Water everywhere
One van lost a tap on one of their water tanks. Well, it was a bit sad but not too bad until they lost a tap on the second one. This time the van behind could see a water trail on the road, so called the van in front to stop. It didn’t take too long for some bush mechanics to sort out a temporary fix to save some of the precious water.
Travelling Sparkies
Imagine setting up at the end of the day, totally off-grid, only to discover that you had no 12V at all. Nothing. Nada. As luck would have it there were three electricians in our group who combined their skills and equipment to find the source of the problem and fix it.
Was Good Buddy right?
Yes, having a convoy on bad roads is a very good idea. It did solve some issues as we travelled. All the vans on this trip were off-roaders, we all knew to let our tyres down, we all knew to drive to conditions, but you cannot factor in loose rocks. Nor can you factor in previous drivers who take a bad road as a personal challenge to go as fast as possible regardless of any damage they cause to their own rigs and anyone else’s.