ALRTA News – 29 July 2022

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ALRTA NATIONAL PARTNER

Byrne Trailers is a proud Australian Family owned and operated business.
Leading the way into the future in Livestock Transport design and engineering.

Byrne Trailers website.

COME AND HAVE A CHAT TO US AT THE LRTAV/ALRTA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 12-13 AUGUST IN BENDIGO

INNOVATION, ACCESS & PRODUCTIVITY ON THE AGENDA

Join us in Bendigo 12-13 August 2022 to hear from subject matter experts about the current and emerging issues of concern to you and your business, and, of course, take advantage of the opportunity to have your questions answered.

See the full conference program below. 

TWO WEEKS TO GO!  Registration Form – Registrations close on 5 August.

 
This year the national conference, hosted by LRTAV, is a face-to-face meeting once more and we are really looking forward to seeing your face in Bendigo!

LET’S TALK ABOUT BIOSECURITY THREATS

Australian livestock industries and transporters are understandably concerned about the prospect of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and other potentially devastating biosecurity threats.
 
ALRTA and LRTAV are pleased to announce the addition of a new session addressing these concerns at our combined National-State Conference to be held 12-13 August 2022 in Bendigo Victoria.
 
Panel speakers include:

  • Dr Chris Parker: National Animal Disease Preparedness Coordinator
  • Dr Peter Dagg: Head of Program – AUSVETPLAN
  • Victorian biosecurity response representatives

The 90 minute session will commence at 1:30pm, Friday, 12 August. It will cover everything from keeping the diseases out of Australia, the national response plan, to preparedness at the state level, and of course likely impacts on rural transport.
 
To register for the conference just click on the link in the article above. 

NHVR INDUSTRY REFERENCE FORUM

After several years of COVID and other interruptions, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has reconvened the Industry Reference Forum (IRF).  ALRTA Executive Director, Mat Munro, attended an IRF meeting in Brisbane, along with representatives from other industry peak bodies and senior NHVR staff.
 
The IRF was formed to consider ‘bigger picture’, issues such as the NHVR’s safety strategy and compliance and enforcement approach. At the meeting, there were short presentations on matters such as investigations, prosecutions, PBS, fatigue and risk-based targeting, followed by discussions aiming to identify challenges and opportunities for the regulator in each space.
 
The IRF will continue to meet twice annually.

HEAVY VEHICLE CHARGES 2023-24

ALRTA has participated in a new round of consultations with the National Transport Commission (NTC) on potential increases to heavy vehicle charges that would apply from 2023-24. 
 
In the wake of charging freezes applied during COVID and massive infrastructure stimulus spending, the gap between revenue and expenditure is estimated to have ballooned to $745.1m, or 21% of expenditure.
 
The current PAYGO model used to calculate charges is based on cost recovery. It is now possible that heavy vehicle charges would need to increase by more than 9% over successive years just to prevent the gap growing any larger. This is an alarming situation and the very reason why ALRTA has been advocating modest charging increases in recent years rather than freezes. Put simply, the longer we wait to increase charges, the larger that increase needs to be.
 
NTC will release a formal consultation paper in coming weeks. ALRTA will consider and respond to the modelling and proposals.

FUEL TAX CREDIT RATES TO INCREASE

Fuel tax credit rates will increase from 1 August 2022 in line with fuel excise duty indexation.  The new rates are available on the ATO website.
 
The biodiesel rate increased on 1 July 2022 and will also increase on 1 August.
 
The ATO has provided the following information:

  • The temporary reduction in fuel tax credit rates is for 6 months from 30 March to 28 September 2022.
  • Until that time, you won’t be able to claim fuel tax credits for use in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads. This is because the road user charge exceeds the excise duty paid, which reduces the fuel tax credit rate to nil.
  • If you acquired fuel during this period that includes the higher duty rate paid by the manufacturer or distributor before 30 March, then the duty paid may be higher than the fuel tax credit you can claim.
  • If you are experiencing cash flow difficulties and can’t pay your BAS on time, you can contact the ATO on 13 11 42 to request more time to pay the difference.
  • If you are experiencing cash flow difficulties for other reasons, the ATO has support measures available to help you.

The fuel tax credit calculator can help you use the right rates, even when rates change during the BAS period.

GLOVEBOX GUIDE: BIOSECURITY & EAD

The Glovebox Guide: Biosecurity, Emergency Animal Diseases (EAD) and Preparing Livestock for Transport was developed by LBRCA and MINTRAC to give livestock transporters the knowledge and confidence to recognise the signs and behaviours in livestock that could indicate an animal may have an EAD.

The Guide includes important information on Emergency Animal Diseases including FMD and Lumpy Skin as well as instructions on what to do if you’re transporting stock when a livestock standstill is initiated.  


Download a copy of the Glovebox Guide here

INFLATION HITS NEW HIGH

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.8% in the last quarter, taking annual inflation to 6.1%. Automotive fuel is up a further 4.2%.
 
The Australian inflation rate is now the highest in two decades (since 2002 when the GST was introduced).
 
 

On top of this, the Australian Energy Market Operator has reported that wholesale power prices have increased by more than 200% in the last quarter. Prices are now six times higher than the longer-term average.
 
In another worrying sign, the United States economy has contracted for a second quarter in a row, entering what in Australia would be a technical recession. This week the US central bank increased intertest rates by another 0.75%.

LRTAQ TO RECRUIT SECRETARIAT MANAGER

The LRTAQ Secretariat Manager, Laney O’Neil will be finishing up with the Association at the end of the month and moving to another role within the agricultural industry.  ALRTA joins LRTAQ President Gerard Johnson in extending appreciation to Laney for her great work during her time with the LRTAQ and wish her all the best.

LRTAQ are currently recruiting for a new Secretariat Manager and would be grateful if you would share this opportunity in your networks.

View the job advertisement online here.

Any questions about the role can be directed to LRTAQ President Gerard Johnson (M: 0429 890 008) or Laney (M: 0447 349 214).

NHVR MEDIA ADVISOR VISITS ALRTA

On Tuesday this week Claire Rosenberg, Media and Communications Advisor with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator travelled from Brisbane to visit the ALRTA office and meet with staff, ahead of attending a national communications conference in Canberra.

Claire has worked effectively with ALRTA to put together media releases and news articles addressing topics of interest to transporters and the broader community. In meeting Colleen, Mat and Sue, Claire said it was great to ‘put a face to a name’ and told us that she is keen to work with us to share important, timely and relevant information to association members and a wider audience.

If there are any specific heavy vehicle safety and compliance issues that you would like to know more about, let us know and we will work with Claire to provide some general advice on the topic in your ALRTA newsletter, or in NHVR’s On the Road, or via social media channels.



Claire Rosenberg and Sue Davies discussed media communications for rural truckies.

BP OPENS ITS FIRST ELECTRIC TRUCK CHARGING FACILITIES

bp has opened its first ultra-fast-charging facilities aimed at medium and heavy-duty electric trucks to support the decarbonisation of the sector – where, according to the IEAi, tailpipe COemissions have increased on average 2.2% annually since 2000.

  • First charging facilities for electric trucks for bp globally.
  • Now live and open at Aral’s retail site at Schwegenheim in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.
  • Enables truck drivers to charge close to strategic road networks and manufacturers to test the charging capabilities of their electric trucks under real-world conditions.
  • Daimler Truck and bp worked closely together to understand the requirements for a truck charging hub. 

FULL PRESS RELEASE

WINNER OF NTI EXPEDITION TRUCK

A grandfather, planning to travel to Queensland’s Cape York, has been announced as the winner of a deluxe Expedition Truck, raffled to raise funds for medical research.


 
The truck was the fifth to be raffled by Australia’s largarest transport and logistics specialist insure NTI and it raised $555,850 for Motor Neurone Disease.
 
This year’s record fundraising amount brings NTI’s total raised for Motor Neurone Disease research to more tha $1.5 million over four years.

MEDIA RELEASE

SAVE THE DATES FOR 2022

ALRTA/LRTAV National Combined Conference -12-13 August 2022 – All Seasons Bendigo VIC – Registration Form
LRTAWA (WA) – 3 September 2022 – Industry Day – Burswood on Swan – Perth WA – Information