ALRTA News – 6 August 2021

THANK YOU TO OUR NATIONAL SPONSOR
NTI

NTI are proud National Sponsors of the ALRTA.

COVID19 BORDER UPDATE

Unfortunately, Australia is heading into another round of multi-state lockdowns. There have been several important changes in the past week including:

  • Extension of lockdowns in NSW to include the Newcastle and Upper Hunter regions until midnight, 12 August.
  • The South East Queensland lockdown has been extended to 4pm, 8 August.
  • State-wide 7 day lockdown in Victoria from 8pm, 5 August.
  • Changes to South Australian Testing rules.
  • Establishment of a temporary testing exemption for livestock and perishable goods entering Queensland that will end at 1am, Monday 9 August.
  • Establishment of new truck only testing sites BP Charlton (QLD) and Longwarry Rest Area (VIC).

 For full details including testing regimes, borders passes and testing site details (including hours of operation) please go to the NHVR website here.

As advised in last week’s newsletter, ALRTA is seeking several changes to the current arrangements. Some of the important matters we are progressing on your behalf include:

  • Nationally consistent 7 day rolling testing cycles for freight workers.
  • More drive-through (or easy parking) testing locations – especially in Northern NSW.
  • Testing sites to be open for extended hours or 24/7 wherever possible (the trucking industry doesn’t stop).  Communications on opening hours must be clear and accurate.
  • Testing sites intended for use by heavy vehicle drivers must be fit for purpose.
  • Prioritisation of heavy vehicle drivers at testing sites (using HV licence as evidence).
  • Prioritisation of processing for heavy vehicle driver tests at labs.
  • Prioritisation of border permit applications for freight workers.
  • Prioritisation of vaccines for freight workers.
  • Up to date advice on expected wait times and notification of results at testing locations.
  • Availability and recognition of rapid saliva based antigen testing kits (for supplementary testing within the 7 day rolling window) with costs subsidised by government.
  • Consistency in terminology relating to hotspots and affected areas.
  • Investigation of lower-risk protocols for drivers visiting farms, feedlots and processors where interpersonal contact can be avoided.
  • Stressing that PPE requirements must be adhered to by both freight workers and inspectors.

Please be aware that essential workers who are determined to be a close contact of an infected person or premises are not exempted from isolation requirements. 
 
We were disappointed by the lack of progress on these matters at last Friday’s National Cabinet meeting. We are hopeful of positive announcements after the National Cabinet meeting today.

ALRTA RESPONDS TO PROPOSED ADD ON INSURANCE LAWS

The ALRTA, ATA and Australian Furniture Removers Association (AFRA) have lodged a joint submission in response to draft legislation proposing to exempt certain add on insurance products from new regulations that would otherwise unreasonably restrict availability.
 
While we have welcomed the proposed exemption, we have called for greater clarity around the application of the exemption to ‘incidental storage’ that may occur while goods are in transit. In the case of livestock, this may occur in the following circumstances:

  1. Livestock transported long distances (especially journeys exceeding 14hrs) must be unloaded and ‘spelled’ in yards during the journey. This occurs to manage driver fatigue and to adhere to legislated land transport standards that limit the total time that livestock can be withheld from water. The animals are offered feed and water before being reloaded on to the same truck to complete the journey.
  2. Export livestock are purchased and transported to assembly yards close to an export vessel. The animals are offered feed rations similar to those onboard the ship to enable them to adjust to the sea journey. Vessel demurrage costs are high and there are inherent uncertainties concerning government inspection and clearance of live export vessels, so there is usually only a short window available to load all livestock from the assembly point onto the ship (which means that livestock must be ‘stored’ at the assembly point for a short, but indefinite, period prior to loading into the vessel).
  3. Livestock delivered to abattoirs are typically ‘stored’ in holding yards for a short period prior to processing.
  4. Larger livestock carriers routinely ‘store’ livestock in their own yards when necessarily changing vehicle combinations due to road access restrictions. For example, livestock may be brought in from remote locations in triple road trains, and then unloaded and reloaded into b-doubles before being transported into populated areas where large abattoirs are typically located.
  5. Livestock must sometimes be ‘stored’ because of unforeseen changes in journey plans due to mechanical breakdown, accidents, road closures, fires, floods, biosecurity restrictions, high traffic volumes, public health directives or customer demands.

To accommodate these circumstances, we have recommended that the definition of ‘add-on transport and delivery insurance product’ is modified to expressly encompass incidental storage.

UNSEALED ROAD TRAVEL SURVEY

On behalf of the National Transport Commission (NTC), ALRTA is conducting a member survey of travel by double road trains, triple road trains (including larger combinations) and b-triples on unsealed roads across each state and territory in Australia.
 
The information will be used to inform cost-allocation modelling within the PAYGO heavy vehicle charging model. The last such survey was undertaken 16 years ago – we need to know if the proportion of travel undertaken on sealed vs unsealed roads has changed.
 
We encourage members who operate road trains and b-triples to click on the link below to provide anonymous information. Please skip any combinations or states and territories not relevant to your business.
 
Take the survey here.
 
This survey will close on 31 August 2021.

LRTAV CONFERENCE 20-21 AUGUST 2021

The Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria (LRTAV)  are busy planning a fun and informative Conference weekend on 20-21 August 2021 at All Seasons Resort in Bendigo.



More information and to register 

NATIONAL SITE SAFETY SURVEY

The ALRTA National Driver and Animal Welfare Committee met this week to consider issues including land transport standards, promotion of the national ramp standard, construction of effluent disposal facilities, site safety surveys and crate inspections.
 
ALRTA members have expressed concern about the safety of facilities and business practices at some livestock loading or unloading sites that they visit regularly. To help ALRTA focus on the sites of most concern we are conducting a national member survey. Please tell us about the sites that you think should be a priority and the particular safety issues that need to be addressed.
 
Take the survey here.

URGENT MALWARE ALERT

Yesterday ALRTA experienced an IT system breach with a dodgy email having been sent out around 10am from our email address: office@alrta.org.au
 
The email proports to be from ‘WeTransfer’ and included a link to a file transfer relating to a cost sharing agreement.   PLEASE DO NOT CLICK THE LINK.  If you have done so, you should run immediately a virus/malware scan and change all of your passwords. ALRTA would also recommend calling in IT experts to make sure your system is clean.

A screenshot of the offending email is below. The version below does not contain active links and cannot infect your system. If you see an email like this from ALRTA (or any other contact) you should delete it immediately.



ALRTA have had the malware removed. We apologise to anyone this may have affected. 

ALRTA AGM 27 AUGUST 2021

Members are advised that the ALRTA National Council meeting and AGM will be held Via ZOOM on Friday 27 August 2021.  If you wish to attend or require more information please contact the ALRTA Secretariat on office@alrta.org.au

FRIDAY FUNNY


Why did the computer sneeze? . It had a virus!

SAVE THE DATES FOR 2021 & 2022

LRTAWA Industry Day – Perth WA – 14 August 2021
LRTAV Conference – Bendigo VIC – 20-21 August 2021
LTAT/National Combined Conference – Hobart TAS – 22-23 October 2021
LBRCA Conference – Wagga Wagga NSW – 10-12 February 2022
LRTAQ Conference – Sunshine Coast – 4-5 March 2022