Homeowners and renters across the country have been left fuming as word spreads of a common curbside hack tradies are using to save on storage.
Online claims appearing across Facebook community groups say that tradies are permanently parking their work trailers on local backstreets as a way to circumvent paying for storage… even if they don’t live in that area.
The cash-saving trick is turning some suburban streets into de facto storage facilities as tradies save thousands of dollars on renting alternative storing facilities.
The trend has infuriated residents in some suburbs who labelled the act “selfish”, saying it hogs up scarce on-street parking spaces.
The secret storage-saving idea has been around for decades but was scarcely spoken of among tradies who used it in order to avoid unwanted attention and complaints.
However, the growth in popularity of Facebook community groups has begun to expose how common the trick is as homeowners and renters vent their frustrations on social media.
One of those is Dee Why resident Chris Tanner, who says his suburb in the Sydney Northern Beaches area has been overrun by tradie trailers which don’t belong to residents.
“(it’s) cheaper than renting a workshop or storage facility,” he said via Facebook.
“Council has pinged one tradie’s trailer with the old orange sticker, so he (the tradie) emptied it, abandoned it and parked a new one a bit further up the road.”
Sydney resident Leah Stewart told users on Facebook she had also encountered the issue claiming tradies’ high wages meant they should be able to afford proper storage facilities.
“I told a tradie the other day to remove his trailer as this is not a dumping street for his sh*t,” she said.
“It’s not being used other than to store his shit in and take up valuable car spots in the area.”
Unfortunately for residents, tradies parking trailers on the street is perfectly legal under the same provisions as a standard motor vehicle.
If the trailer is registered and attended to by the owner, then the council can do nothing to prevent the act.
That news has left some residents calling to take matters into their own hands to make the practice more off-putting.
“Just start using it as a skip bin or as a place for responsible dog owners to drop their little plastic baggies,” one angered resident said.
Meanwhile, another recommended tipping the trailers over if residents need parking or pushing them into unused bicycle lanes.
Not everyone online seems to have such an issue with tradies parking their trailers curbside, with some jumping to the defence of construction workers who they say are just trying to save money in tough times.
“Using a trailer to store anything or a truck or (even) a camel, if it’s road registered, is perfectly legal,” one said.
“I bet you whinge about the price of tradies, too. They are just trying to save money,” another replied.
