ALRTA NEWS – 13 March 2020

Goodyear – National Sponsor of ALRTA

*ALRTA Members are entitled to a 10% discount off regular cash prices at participating Beaurepaires stores. Discount does not apply to products on promotion or other specials. Offer applies to cash transactions only.

NHVR EXAMINES LIVESTOCK SUPPLY CHAIN

The NHVR is calling for feedback on future safety reforms across the livestock supply chain. 
 
NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto told the Livestock, Bulk and Rural Carriers Association’s 2020 Conference in Tamworth that the review targeted several key areas where Chain of Responsibility laws applied to the movement of sheep and cattle.

“We’ve identified a range of issues including loading practices, understanding of mass management and general understanding of regulatory responsibilities,” Mr Petroccitto said.
 
“There are a number of questions raised about why overloading occurs, the pressures on drivers and how the livestock supply chain are meeting their safety responsibilities.”
 
According to the Livestock Supply Chain Issues Paper, movement of sheep and cattle makes up about four per cent of the national freight task, but accounts for more than 10 per cent of accidents, including a significant number of rollovers. 
 
The average livestock journey from the farm gate to the processor is estimated to be over 500km, involving stops and transfers between feedlots, saleyards, vehicles and spelling.
 
Mr Petroccitto said the need for further guidance around livestock loading practices followed a review last year by the NHVR into Improvement Notices issued to Forbes and Dubbo saleyards.
 
“It’s important we look at what we can do to make these journeys as safe as possible for drivers, livestock and other road users,” he said.
 
“We are seeking responses to a series of questions about opportunities to improve mass management awareness and practices, and identify tools that will help members of the livestock supply chain in meeting their safety and regulatory responsibilities.”
 
Submissions to the Livestock Supply Chain Review close on April 24, 2020. To respond to the issues raised, visit www.nhvr.gov.au/consultation
 
ALRTA will consult with State Member Associations and lodge a submission in response to the review.

COVID-19 IMPACTS AND RESPONSE

The ALRTA and ATA have this week briefed the Australian Government on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transport industry. 

Joined by the presidents and CEOs of other peak transport bodies, our associations participated in a teleconference with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, the office of the Chief Medical Officer and the Australian Border Force, to share feedback from industry and emerging issues. 

Thus far, our members are reporting that the agricultural supply chain is continuing to function in a recovery mode following drought, bushfires and flooding.  Some supply chain parties are already requiring drivers to declare in writing any possible exposure to COVID-19 and are prohibiting anyone exposed from accessing sites for 14 days.

Government and industry information on COVID-19 symptoms and preparedness is filtering through to trucking businesses. Click  below to access the ATA fact sheet.
business continuity fact sheet

ALRTA applauds the Federal Government’s economic stimulus package announced this week that includes a 50 per cent investment allowance available to purchase new trucks and trailers.

Under the new allowance, businesses with a turnover below $500 million will be able to deduct 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible asset immediately, with existing depreciation rules applying to the balance of the asset’s cost. 

The package also expands the instant asset write-off, with the threshold to be increased from $30,000 to $150,000, and access expanded to businesses from a turnover of less than $50 million to less than $500 million. 

The package will boost business cashflow, helping approximately 690,000 businesses employing 7.8 million people, with payments of between $2,000 and $25,000 to help pay wages or hire extra staff. Up to 70,000 businesses will also be supported to retain their apprentices and trainees. 

ALRTA RESPONDS TO PRODUCTIVITY PLAN

ALRTA has lodged a submission in response to the NHVR’s Draft Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan 2020-2025. Our submission
 
Australian Governments and industry have an obvious shared interest in improving heavy vehicle safety and much of the regulatory and educative effort is consumed in this area. However, safety issues only arise because of the need for heavy vehicles to operate on public roads as a vital part of the business, consumer and community supply chain. 
 
Any unnecessary cost imposed on heavy vehicles, or opportunity to improve productivity that is lost, imposes a cost on businesses and consumers, which consequently reduces our international competitiveness and increases the cost of living.  ALRTA has commended NHVR for developing the draft plan in consultation with operators who truly understand the impediments to improving productivity and efficiency in the heavy vehicle sector.
 
The three objectives contained in the Draft Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan 2020-2025 are:

  • Objective 1: Provide access certainty and consistency;
  • Objective 2: Partner with local government to build capability; and
  • Objective 3: Promote safer and more-productive vehicles that are better for the environment and communities.

 While ALRTA is generally supportive of these guiding objectives, we have raised some concerns about the specific enabling goals relating to each objective.  Specifically, ALRTA has made eight recommendations:

  • Recommendation 1: That NHVR broker best practice capacity and capability standards based on objective criteria rather than parochial approaches currently taken by individual jurisdictions or assessors.
  • Recommendation 2: That NHVR promote the adoption of capacity and capability standards (including bridge assessment formula) that focus on productivity maximisation rather than longer-term asset preservation.
  • Recommendation 3: That NHVR aim to minimise data collection costs, avoid duplication of existing technology and maximise protections for privacy, commercial in confidence and exposure to increased enforcement action. 
  • Recommendation 4: That NHVR work with CSIRO to develop a complementary dataset able to predict freight route optimisation.
  • Recommendation 5: That NHVR work with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications to investigate the collection of de-identified data on a voluntary and low-cost basis that does not duplicate existing technology or violate privacy or commercial in confidence. 
  • Recommendation 6: That NHVR facilitate dedicated access consultative arrangements that involve NHVR, state government, local government and industry, including a local government liaison officer in larger jurisdictions. 
  • Recommendation 7: That ADRs regulate the physical characteristics of heavy vehicles, not a plethora of lower level instruments and potentially hundreds of individual governments and agencies. At the very least, NHVR must insist that any access conditions relating to safety or environmental technologies are broadly consistent and wholly justifiable in terms of a quantifiable safety or environmental risk. 
  • Recommendation 8: That NHVR should focus on reassessing the mass and dimension thresholds that apply to standard vehicles as the primary means of facilitating broad vehicle-based productivity improvements.

CONSULTATION ON CHANGES TO CHARGING

The Australian Government is consulting on proposed changes to the way that heavy vehicle charges are set and invested.  The consultation will focus on four proposed changes to the way in which road services are provided by governments:

  1. The Transport and Infrastructure Council will determine service level standards for different types of roads. These standards will be developed in consultation with users.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Revenue collected from these heavy vehicle charges would be dedicated to road infrastructure.

 Members are invited to attend face to face consultation session in March-April or an online webinar.  Options are below:

DateTimeCityRSVP by
Tuesday 24 MarchPMBrisbane17 March
Thursday 26 MarchAMAdelaide19 March
Tuesday 31 MarchAMPerth24 March
Tuesday 31 MarchPMDarwin24 March
Wednesday 1 AprilPMCairns25 March
Thursday 2 AprilPMLaunceston26 March
Friday 3 AprilAMMelbourne27 March
Monday 6 AprilPMSydney30 March
Tuesday 7 AprilPMCanberra31 March
Wednesday 8 AprilPMOnline webinar1 April

To RSVP to a consultation session please email HVRR@infrastructure.gov.au and identify your preferred location/s.
 
Subject to demand, consultation sessions will be confirmed via a formal meeting invitation.

AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE STRATEGY

The Australian government is developing a National Agriculture Workforce Strategy to address the agricultural industry’s need to build a skilled workforce that equips us for the future.
It will explore potential opportunities:

  • in school education
  • in vocational education and training
  • in higher education
  • by providing employees with competitive employment conditions.

 ALRTA Executive Director, Mat Munro, met with the National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee in Canberra this week to provide advice about workforce issues in road transport and in supporting regional communities.  The Committee is specifically looking for examples of what is working well across industry and ALRTA will follow up the initial consultation with a formal submission.
For more information click here.

PROGRESS ON EFFLUENT CODE

The Effluent Code working group, chaired by John Beer, LRTAV President, met via teleconference on Friday 13 March 2020 to progress the development of the draft Registered Industry Code of Practice. The wording of risks and controls proposed in the draft Code was discussed by the working group and documented by ALRTA.

Representatives of NHVR were invited to the meeting to assist the group in discussing the impact of the inclusion of their recent feedback in the fourth version of the draft document. NHVR advice was helpful in clarifying some of the legal concepts presented in the draft Effluent Code and they also offered suggestions for a slight re-structuring. ALRTA recommended, and the working group agreed, that a pre-assessment review by NHVR, to check that the document is on the right track for registration, would be helpful.

During the teleconference, the working group reviewed in detail sections of the code that describe the suggested actions and related factors to be considered in effectively managing livestock effluent both in transit and post transport, having previously documented controls for the first two stages of a transport journey, ie planning and preparation.

Members of the working group have been invited to provide ALRTA with any additional feedback they may have before a final draft is provided to the next meeting of the ALRTA National Council and to NFF for comment. A final version of the Code will then be submitted to the NHVR Panel for assessment and the formal public consultation process.

LBRCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE & ELECTIONS

ALRTA National President, Stephen Marley, and Executive Director, Mat Munro, attended the successful LBRCA Annual Conference in Tamworth last weekend.  For a full wrap up of sessions, outcomes, awards and frivolities check out this week’s LBRCA Newsletter.

Mat Munro, Bec Coleman, Assistant Minister Buchholz, Athol Carter, Sal Petroccitto, Mark Collins. 

ALRTA congratulates Paul Pulver on being re-elected LBRCA President at the AGM.  The senior members of the LBRCA Executive now include:

President: Paul Pulver
VP Bulk: Jeremy Horne
VP Livestock: Reggie Sutton
Treasurer: Stephen Hopkins
Secretary: Tracy Boshetti
Immediate Past President: Lynley Miners

ALRTA recognises the huge contribution of Kel Baxter who retires from the VP Bulk position and Anthony Hopton who retires from the Treasurer position.


Our congratulations also go out to the winner of the LBRCA Young Driver Award, Sophie Reid, LBRCA’s newest Life Member, Ben Pisasale, and Honorary Membership Award recipient, Tracy Boschetti.

MAJOR TRUCKING EVENTS CANCELLED

Several major industry events have been cancelled this week after COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic and the Australian Government recommended against attending events of 500 people or more.  These include:

  • Trucking Australia 2020
  • Australian Logistics Council Annual Conference
  • MEGATRANS2020
  • LRTAQ Conference in Roma 20-21 March 2020 is POSTPONED.

BP LAUNCH QANTAS BUSINESS REWARDS FOR PLUS CARD HOLDERS 

New applicants will be able to earn a bonus 100,000 points which is a very generous acquisition offer that BP would like to share with ALRTA members. Existing BP customers still get access to Qantas/FF points (which will link automatically to their account when they transact).

ALRTA OFFICE PHONE

ALRTA National Office landline in Canberra is finally working again.  The NBN has not been installed as yet, this is an extremely slow process and ALRTA has no idea when this will happen.

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR 2020

LRTAQ (QLD) on 19-21 March 2020 in Roma QLD. POSTPONED
LTAT (TAS) on 2 May 2020 in Hobart TAS. Click here to Register
LRTASA (SA)on 12-13 June 2020 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre SA.
LRTAWA/ALRTA (WA & National) on 24-25 July 2020. Perth Convention Centre.
LRTAV (VIC) on 14-15 August 2020 at All Seasons Resort Bendigo VIC.