THANK YOU TO OUR NATIONAL SPONSOR
bp
“BP is a proud long standing National Sponsor of the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Associations. We are pleased to share that we have recently extended our commitment as a National Sponsor, and with that has also come a new and improved fuel offer.”
As an ALRTA member you have access to our exclusive fuel offer with BP. BP Plus Fuel Cards offer significant benefits for your business that can save you time and money.
BP can now offer your business more value through their partnerships with market leading brands including:
- Qantas Business Rewards members earn Qantas Points when you use your BP Plus Fuel Card.#
- Integrate your BP Plus account with Xero and all of your fuel expenses and tax invoices will be automatically processed directly into your Xero account. Helping you save time, by simplifying your tax requirements and reducing business admin.*
- 0% card service fees when you pay your BP Plus account with American Express, as well as up to 55 days to pay for purchases with American Express and up to 51 days further with BP Plus.^
For more information please click here
To apply for a BP Plus card please click here
- Please ensure you use the code ‘ALRTA’ to receive the discount
If you have any questions on the offer, please contact commercialfuels@se1.bp.com
Offer limited to one BP Plus account per business, excludes Autogas and AdBlue, and is subject to the BP Plus Terms and Conditions.
DRIVERS DENIED AMENITIES AT FEEDLOTS
ALRTA has written to the Australian Lot Feeders Association (ALFA) to request removal of the guideline ‘Do not permit drivers to use amenities or facilities’ from the document ‘COVID-19 – A Guide for Feedlots’.
ALRTA National President Stephen Marley said that truck drivers provide an essential service for feedlot operations and must not be denied access to basic amenities such as toilets.
“Feedlots are reliant on deliveries of livestock, grain, fodder and fuel. Practically every animal spending time in a feedlot will have been on a truck at least twice,” said President Marley.
“Feedlots are often located some distance from other amenity options. Inbound/outbound truck drivers may have been on the road for many hours with many hours still to travel. Providing reasonable access to amenities and facilities is one of the most basic ways to manage fatigue risk.
“ALRTA has asked ALFA to reconsider the obligation of feedlots to manage fatigue risk under heavy vehicle laws. We have recommended that the restriction on allowing drivers to access amenities be replaced with information about how to provide amenities safety. Information on how to do so has been published in the Australian Government protocols released in conjunction with the exemption for businesses operating truck driver facilities.
“It is important for the rural supply chain to work together to deal with increased meat demand while continuing to operate in a manner that best protects the safety of all workers,” said President Marley.
INSTANT ASSET WRITE OFF EXTENDED
The Australian Government has announced that the $150,000 instant asset write off will be extended until 31 December 2020. The concession was due to expire on 31 June 2020.
The Australian Trucking Association and Heavy Vehicle Industry Association had made representations to the Australian Treasurer seeking an extension. The additional six months will provide more time for equipment purchases to be finalised and tailored if needed.
ALRTA recognises the role of the Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, the Hon Scott Buchholz MP, in keenly listening to industry and championing the extension proposal within the Australian Government.
Q FEVER NOTIFICATIONS
ALRTA has written to the Australian Q Fever Register to request an improvement to the Q Fever notification process to assist transport businesses verify the Q Fever status of truck drivers.
The current Q Fever vaccination process requires patients to first undergo a screening process to check their Q Fever status. Under previous arrangements, the medical practitioner would send a driver’s screening paperwork to the Q Fever Register, and the Q Fever Register would automatically advise the driver about the screening results.
ALRTA understands that a recent process change now requires the driver to first contact the Q Fever Register before results are provided. ALRTA member transport businesses report that it has become significantly more difficult and time consuming to establish a driver’s Q Fever Status since this change was implemented. Drivers often require several reminders to undertake this critical new process step.
It is important to quickly establish a driver’s Q Fever status to ensure that the maximum protection can be afforded to the driver and to the Australian community.
BUILDING BETTER REGIONS
The Australian Government has announced funding for 163 local infrastructure and community projects under Round 4 of the Building Better Regions Fund. Some notable rural transport projects include:
- $923,100 – to upgrade five sections of distressed regional roads from single to dual lane in Buloke Shire Council (VIC).
- $777,058 – to upgrade Glencoe Road to create a new freight route for B-double vehicles from North Burnett Council’s northern boundary to the Banana Shire boundary (QLD).
- $719,548 – to construct eight drought-resistant paddocks and infrastructure to facilitate the safe transit and accommodation of cattle at the WQLX Transit and Spelling Facility in Longreach (QLD).
- $111,957 – to upgrade the Ouyen Livestock Exchange facility (VIC).
VIRUS PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Do you need help to develop a COVID-Safe Plan?
Soul Safe™ is Australia’s first member-based certification in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), designed to certify businesses and the workforce in virucidal management.
It is delivered under a train-certify-comply model that equips businesses across all sectors with the skills and resources they need to meet the challenges of operating in a new COVID world.
Individuals, students, and staff who complete the online training will receive a micro-credential in IPC, while businesses nominate a representative to complete a comprehensive course to receive a Statement of Attainment* in IPC to manage their operations, workforce, and customers.
For more information click here.
NHVR FREEZES FEE INCREASES
The NHVR has announced it will freeze fee increases on all NHVR-provided services until January 2021, this will help provide relief to industry.
NHVR Chair Duncan Gay said helping the industry through this difficult period had been a priority for the regulator, with the fee freeze the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at assisting operators through the pandemic.
“We recognise this has been a tough period for many operators and now more than ever we want to encourage heavy vehicle businesses to focus on their safety and that of other road users,” Mr Gay said.
“This fee freeze is a small way the NHVR can help in providing financial relief to more than 20,000 heavy vehicle businesses using NHVR’s services.”
The freeze will apply to all National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) module and nominated vehicle fees. The NHVAS provides flexibility in managing fatigue and concessions for mass and maintenance for operators that have robust and compliant management systems.
There are currently around 7,500 heavy vehicle operators accredited across 12,300 modules. The Maintenance module applies to more than 115,000 heavy vehicle units, while the Mass module applies to more than 43,000 heavy vehicles.
The fee freeze will also apply to permit applications where the NHVR coordinates more than 70,000 heavy vehicle access permits a year, liaising with state, territory and local governments.
Fees for Victorian escort services will also be frozen until January 2021, while the cost of a new Written Work Diary will remain at $25 for 2020-21.
For the list of NHVR fees visit www.nhvr.gov.au/law-policies/fee-schedule
$8M PILOT TO REDUCE PERMIT DELAYS
Australian Trucking Association CEO Ben Maguire congratulated the Australian Government and NHVR on the project. He said the project would make easier and faster for trucking operators to get permits to operate high productivity freight vehicles on key local government roads.
“Our members want to be able to operate high productivity freight vehicles such as B-doubles on key local government roads to boost their productivity. Allowing trucks that can carry more freight reduces the number of trucks on the road and improves safety for everyone,” Mr Maguire said.
“These trucks often need permits to operate over defined routes, but trucking businesses don’t have enough information to apply for routes that take their trucks over bridges and culverts that are established as being able to take their weight.
“The result can be long delays as trucking businesses, the NHVR and local governments look at different routes to try to find one that works.
“Potentially, local governments may need to undertake engineering assessments. This is expensive and adds even more delay. Sometimes, more than one trucking operator ends up paying for assessments of the same bridge.
“The pilot program will identify key truck routes on local government roads, help local governments manage their road asset data, provide a central database and carry out engineering assessments on a hundred bridges and culverts.
“I want to congratulate the Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, Scott Buchholz, and NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto for their leadership in developing this program. It’s a great step forward,” he said.
Mr Maguire urged trucking businesses to contact the NHVR if they have access issues with bridges or culverts on local government routes.
“We need to make sure that the local councils and the NHVR know the bridges and culverts that are problematic for the industry, so they can be checked out as part of the full project,” he said.
“Now is our chance to raise problems by emailing roadassetproject@nhvr.gov.au.”
The pilot phase of the project will cover the following local government areas:
NSW: Bega Valley, Cessnock, Muswellbrook
Queensland: Central Highlands, Isaac, Mackay, Toowoomba
South Australia: Barossa
Victoria: Glenelg, Greater Dandenong, Pyrenees
Western Australia: Port Hedland.
The ATA and its member associations collectively represent the 50,000 businesses and 200,000 people in the Australian trucking industry. Together, the ATA and its members are committed to safety, professionalism and viability.
NHVR fact sheet
CHARGING REFORM RECOMMENCES
The Australian Government has recommenced public consultation on heavy vehicle charging reform. Consultation will focus on four proposed changes to the way that road services are provided by governments:
- The Transport and Infrastructure Council will determine service level standards for different types of roads. These standards will be developed in consultation with users.
- State and territory road expenditure plans would be assessed against those standards by an independent body, to determine the expenditure that can be recovered from heavy vehicle operators.
- An independent regulator would then determine the rate of the Commonwealth heavy vehicle Road User Charge and state heavy vehicle registration fees, to recover the agreed expenditure from industry.
- Revenue collected from these heavy vehicle charges would be dedicated to road infrastructure.
A consultation paper is available here.
ALRTA will consider the proposals and prepare a response on behalf of members. If you would like to discuss the proposals please contact mathew@alrta.org.au or 0421 082 489.
MEN’S HEALTH WEEK 15-21 JUNE 2020
For so long, health has been regarded in terms of medical, clinical or behavioural factors that make a person ‘healthy’ or ‘sick’. The popular view of health tends towards medical aspects such heart or reproductive health, or ‘lifestyle’ health such as eating well or exercising regularly, or a behaviourist approach that aims to reduce violence, drinking or lack of exercise.
In Australia, the Men’s Health Information and Research Centre (MHIRC) and many others in the men’s health sector have championed a view of health as being about a man’s engagement with his environment and life context, so that health becomes a bit like a roadmap that considers the many factors that come into play throughout life. MHIRC focuses on the positive aspects of men and boys and what makes them healthy, to support and strengthen the ability of men to be resilient in good times and bad.
For more information click here.
NTI – THANK YOU CAMPAIGN
“The sacred smell of diesel, tarmac grease and pumped-up tyres No virus gonna stop this fleet! They drove through summer fires Destination: frontline. We demand ‘n’ they supply To the trucks that keeps us moving… we say thanks… from nti.”
The poems by Rupert McGall are aired on radio across the country, with billboards appearing nationally. More information on the campaign and to see the video with this poem (video 5) can be viewed here.
This has been the final poem in the NTI thank you campaign.
FRIDAY FUNNY
Bob: “Holy crap, I just fell off a 50 ft ladder.”
Jim: “Oh my God, are you okay?”
Bob: “Yeah it’s a good thing I fell off the first step.”
ALRTA STAFF AVAILABILITY AMIDST COVID19
From 24 March 2020 the ALRTA staff – Mathew, Sue, Colleen and Jack are working from home amidst COVID-19.
Please email office@alrta.org.au or call Colleen on the ALRTA mobile 0490 515 681 or Mathew (ED) on 0421 082 489.
UPDATE ON EVENTS FOR 2020
LRTAQ (QLD) on 19-21 March 2020 at Roma QLD. – POSTPONED
LTAT (TAS) on 2 May 2020 in Hobart TAS. – POSTPONED
LRTASA (SA)on 12-13 June 2020 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre SA. – CANCELLED
LRTAWA/ALRTA (WA & National) on 24-25 July 2020. Perth WA.- POSTPONED until further notice
LRTAV (VIC) on 14-15 August 2020 at All Seasons Resort Bendigo VIC – POSTPONED