Australian truck drivers are continuing to blockade the New South Wales-Victoria border town of Albury-Wodonga in a protest over low freight rates, late payments, and rising crude oil prices, despite appeals from a leading union official to stop.

AAP Newsfeed reports that Transport Minister John Anderson has sent an open letter to truck drivers pleading with them to halt the protest. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has asked government to pass laws setting minimum freight rates, but Anderson said it was unlikely that the government would pass the legislation. He suggested a one-month "cooling off" period, during which he would meet with a delegation of owner-operators to work on the issues.
Earlier this week, TWU state secretary Hughie Williams was quoted by the AAP as saying "freight companies must pay reasonable rates and drivers must be stopped from doing more trips than they should, because they are killing themselves and others while they are doing it."