Welcome to Friday Fiascos...

A weekly look back at some of the f**k-ups and misdemeanors I've experienced and witnessed during my career...        

How a transport Union destroyed a time-saving environmentally-friendly service...

Some background to the story...

Sydney is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world thanks to the harbour and beaches.

But none of that matters when you're a courier trying to navigate the horrendously designed roads from the city to the geographic heart of Sydney in the western suburbs - Parramatta.

Sydney traffic in shocking - mainly as a result of a city that grew up without any urban planning. Sydney just expanded as the penal colony developed. Many roads are narrow as they follow the ridges above the valleys leading to the waterways.

The Parramatta River is the main water tributary into Sydney Harbour. There are two main roads from the Sydney CBD to Parramatta and it takes ages to drive the roughly 25 kilometres in traffic. Victoria Road runs the north side of the river, while Parramatta Road runs the south side.

Now to the story...

I was a National Marketing Manager at TNT and while I didn't work on this project, I witnessed it and was involved in the marketing discussions about how to promote it.

TNT had a number of courier divisions that competed with each other: Comet, Kiwkasair, TNT Couriers, but all worked for the collective good of TNT.

There was big business to be had delivering documents and parcels from the Sydney CBD to Parramatta. But it was a nightmare run and a courier could spend up to 3 hours just to make a single delivery to Parramatta then return to the city.

To solve this problem, the TNT team came up with a fabulous idea to reduce the time to get to Parramatta and to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

A TNT Speedboat

The plan was simple. Darling Harbour was the working port on the western edge of the CBD on Sydney Harbour. The city-based couriers would collect their parcels destined for Parramatta and deliver them to a base at Darling Harbour.

The parcels would be loaded onto the speedboat and head up the Parramatta River to the TNT couriers waiting at Parramatta. They couriers would then deliver the parcels, and drop off any destined for the CBD to the speedboat depot.

The advertisement for the service stated something like "TNT guarantees 20 minute faster delivery than any other courier service from the city to Parramatta"

And we delivered on the promise.

Each day dozens of parcels would depart from the city and be delivered to Parramatta in record time. The competitors had no idea how we were doing it.

Clients loved it. The couriers loved it. But the union hated it.

They had no control over the speedboat crew as they weren't union members.

The union claimed loss of jobs as multiple deliveries were being made by one boat. Despite couriers working in both the city and Parramatta to drop off then deliver the parcels at their destination. The only part of the job the couriers missed was the part they hated - driving on Victoria or Parramatta Roads.

Eventually strike action was threatened and the union lodged workplace safety and environmental complaints.

Firstly, they wanted a medical officer and a union pilot on the speedboat - a completely ludicrous option. Secondly they claimed the wash from the speedboat was causing environmental damage through erosion of the river bank. (BTW hundred of boats used the waterway for recreation without concern)

The union made is so difficult for TNT to run the service, it was eventually cancelled.

A brilliant initiative, on a city surrounded by waterways, destroyed because of union greed and politics.

Decades later, and there is still no commercial courier service on Sydney's waterways. Though there is a ferry service from the CBD to Parramatta.

Given the rise in parcel deliveries from online sales, you'd think Australia Post would consider launching one.

See what I did there - added humour into the story - imagine Australia Post being innovative....