ALRTA News – 3 February 2017

INDUSTRY GIANTS JOIN ALRTA NATIONAL COUNCIL

Three of the largest livestock transport companies in Australia have joined the National Member Chapter of the ALRTA.  The Chapter now has five members who together operate several hundred trucks right across rural and regional Australia.

The expanded Chapter membership will meet for the first time in the week before the ALRTA National Council meeting on 16 February 2017 in Toowoomba, Queensland.

ALRTA National President warmly welcomed the new Chapter members.

“The ALRTA National Council established the National Member Chapter in 2013 as a way of enhancing our engagement with the most successful and influential operators in the rural transport sector”, said President Keenan.

“The Chapter operates much like our six state associations and is entitled to representatives and voting rights at all ALRTA National Council meetings”.

“Collectively the Chapter now brings more than 200 years of experience to the table.  These exceptional operators know what it takes to build successful road transport businesses from the ground up.  The ALRTA National Council welcomes the opportunity to cooperatively address the unique challenges facing rural, regional and remote road transport in Australia”.

“As you can see, we represent everyone from the smallest operator to the very largest”, said President Keenan.

The Chapter Members

Ross Fraser AM:  A former Chair of the ATA and Past President of ALRTA, Ross Fraser would like to see clear guidelines on effluent control. Managing Director of Frasers Livestock Transport, based in Warwick, Queensland, Ross has been in the transport since 1961 heading the family business founded by his parents, Charlie and Edna Fraser, in 1944. Frasers now run a fleet of more than 50 prime movers and 150 trailers servicing the eastern states of Australia.

Gavin O’Sullivan: Gavin started out with one truck in 1969 and now operates over 60 prime movers. He considers driver training and maintaining good staffing levels to be one of the major challenges facing the industry over the next decade.

Robert Cavanagh: Robert operates Stockmaster out of Tamworth, NSW, and goes everywhere.  He is passionate about maintaining drivers’ high skill levels required to handle livestock and keeping paperwork to the highest possible standards while removing unnecessary red tape. Robert is a former ALRTA National President.

Joe Sepos: Joe is based in Newcastle and operates a fleet of livestock and bulk vehicles right across the country. He reckons that rural roads need better funding.  Joe is a former President of the LBRCA (or NSW Livestock Transporters Association as it was then known).

Jason Thornhill: Jason operates Trans Australian Livestock from his home base in Murray Bridge, SA, and specialises in carting livestock and other farm produce. He considers that managing fatigue is one of the major issues for both drivers and operators and is keen to contribute to improving safety across the industry.

ALRTA SUBMISSION ON VICTORIAN OWNER DRIVERS REVIEW

The ALRTA, LRTAV and ATA have each made submissions to the Victorian Government review of the laws regulating owner drivers and forestry contractors.

Among other things, ALRTA has:

  • argued strongly against any potential proposal to introduce mandatory minimum rates, citing the RSRT disaster in 2016 and NSW laws that exempt rural carriers.
  • cautioned against proposed broad brush regulation aimed at protecting tipper drivers in the earthworks and construction sectors because of the consequential impacts this could have on tripper drivers in the rural supply chain.
  • sought improvements to the Ministerial advisory model to include specific representation from the rural transport sector.

The ALRTA will keep a close watch on this issue and support the LRTAV in further political representations. 

FUEL TAX CREDIT RATES GO UP

Fuel tax credit rates have increased in line with the indexation of the Australian Government’s fuel tax.

The new rates apply to fuel acquired from 1 February 2017.

The fuel tax credit rate for eligible diesel trucks travelling on public roads is now 14.2 cents per litre, up from 13.7 cents per litre. Diesel trucks must meet environmental criteria to be eligible for the credits.

The fuel tax credit rate for fuel used to power auxiliary equipment is now 40.1 cents per litre, up from 39.6 cents per litre.

Full list of fuel tax credit rates
Visit the ATO fuel tax credit calculator or the ATO app
ATO tips to avoid common errors made on fuel tax credit claims.

GUIDELINES FOR REGISTERED INDUSTRY CODES OF PRACTICE

The NHVR has released new Guidelines for Preparing and Registering Industry Codes of Practice.

ALRTA has made submissions to NHVR on early drafts of the new guide which has since been revised in consultation with industry.   One of the key benefits of operating your business in accordance with a registered code is that courts will automatically recognise it as industry best practice.   Demonstrating that your road transport business has adhered to a registered code will be a strong defence against prosecution.

We are pleasantly surprised that the Federal Government has chipped in $350,000 of new funding to kick start the development or transition of industry codes.  The money can be used to off-set development and registration costs.

ALRTA has maintained an interest in this issue because there is potential to develop a new registered industry code for effluent management.  ALRTA will look more closely at this opportunity as part of our overall effluent strategy.

The guidelines can be found here.

NTC PROPOSES MORE RESEARCH ON FREIGHT MOVEMENTS

The NTC has proposed to improve transport-related data collection, storage, sharing and analysis, including 5-yearly reporting.

The recommendations are included in the NTC Discussion Paper ‘Who moves what where – Better informing transport planning for Australians’.  If adopted, more cross-jurisdictional data sets could be accessed and industry would also be encouraged to share de-identified data.

The only crazy thing in this proposal is that we are not doing it already.

The NTC discussion paper can be found here.

SUBMISSIONS ON FEDERAL BUDGET 2017-18

ALRTA is a member of ATA and the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA).  Both have made submissions on the Federal Budget for 2017-18.

ATA has recommended:

  1. Review and consideration of an independent and hypothecated road fund
  2. Continuation of Coalition road safety programs
  3. Redirection of RSRT funds to practical safety measures in all states and a ‘share the road’ safety campaign
  4. Freeze total charging revenue and introduce lower charges per truck on 1 July 2017
  5. Require every heavy diesel vehicle on a public road to meet maintenance or test criteria to be eligible for fuel tax credits

COSBOA has recommended a focus on five key priority areas:

  1. Encouraging investment and innovation
  2. Boosting productivity and efficiency
  3. Investing in equitable and quality education
  4. Overhauling our approach to training
  5. Working with small businesses on employment

REMINDER: VOTE IN ATA ELECTIONS

The ATA’s 2017 elections are underway, with voter registrations and candidate nominations now open until 22 February 2017.

The ALRTA encourages all members to register and use your vote in the election.

In the election, owner drivers with one truck and small fleet operators with 2-5 trucks will elect two representatives to the ATA’s General Council, which sets its strategic policy direction.  The council meets in Canberra at least 4 times a year and ALRTA is also represented directly on the council.

To register to vote in the election, you must own, be purchasing or leasing 1-5 trucks over 4.5 tonnes.  You will also need to provide a valid ABN and an email address that is unique to you.

You must be a member of an ATA member association, such as one of the ALRTA’s six state associations, to nominate for one of the positions.  The nomination form is available on the ATA website.

The election will be conducted entirely online, using a secure voting system.

Register to vote now

Background information about the 2017 ATA election

If you are thinking about nominating for one of the positions, let the ALRTA Secretariat know and we will do what we can to support you.

REMINDER: NATIONAL CONFERENCE: 17-18 FEBRUARY

It is only two weeks until the ALRTA and LRTAQ combined National Conference to be held 17-18 February 2017 in Toowoomba, QLD.

Delegates will hear from keynote speakers including:

  • QLD Minister for Transport – the Hon Stirling Hinchliffe MP
  • Federal Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister – the Hon Luke Hartsuyker MP
  • Founder of the ‘Heart of Australia’ mobile specialist medical service – Dr Rolf Gomes

The national policy session will include highlights such as:

  • NTI Major Crash Report:  Protect yourself by knowing about the latest accident trends and risk factors.
  • Rollovers:  An expert presentation on how it happens – You may be surprised!
  • Electronic Stability Control:  Will it be mandatory and is it right for you?
  • Farm Gate Access: Hear about the nation-leading program in WA and how it is being tackled in the East.
  • Effluent Control: Can chain of responsibility really work?
  • A focus on new technology: What is under development and when will it be available?

You can also relax with a round of golf, meet the locals at our community breakfast, grab a bargain at the fund raising auction and kick your heals up at the legendary Bull Carter’s Ball.

The full two-day program of events and registration brochures can be found here.  We hope to see you there!

REMINDER: NATIONAL CONFERENCE AUCTION ITEMS

Get ready to place your bids!  ALRTA thanks our national sponsors for donating some amazing auction items for the 2017 National Conference in Toowoomba on Saturday,18 February 2017.

Cummins Engine
Option 1:  Signature GENII engine that meets ADR80-00 emission certification and is rated at a Hp of 500Hp/1850 FtLb torque and this engine is rateable to 600hp/2050FtLb torque for a scheduled fee. This engine has a single cylinder air compressor option fitted.
Retail Value – $52,363 + GST

Option 2:  ISX EGR engine that meets ADR80-03 emission certification and is rated at a Hp of 500Hp/1850 FtLb torque and this engine is rateable to 600hp/2050FtLb torque for a scheduled fee. This engine has a single cylinder air compressor option fitted.
Retail Value – $67,437 + GST

Option 3:  ISXe5 engine in that meets ADR80-03 emission certification and is rated at a Hp of 500Hp/1850 FtLb torque and this engine is rateable to 600hp/2050FtLb torque for a scheduled fee. This engine has a single cylinder air compressor option fitted.
Retail Value – $60,657 + GST

All the engine options listed above come with Cummins standard base factory warranty included and do not have extended coverage applied.  However, this can also be purchased for a scheduled fee.

Beaurepaires Tyres
2 x Steer tyres. Goodyear S100+/S200+ (295/80R22.5). RRP $1,100
8 x Drive tyres. Goodyear G667 (11R22.5). RRP $4,400
2 sets of 12 x Trailer Tyres. Goodyear LHTII (11R22.5). RRP $4,800
4 x GY 4×4 Wrangler Tyres valued. RRP $1,500
Ipad 2 Air with wifi and cellular. RRP $760

King Bars
A King Bars bullbar up to the value of $10,000 (can include fitting and freight). The successful bidder has 12 months to take up the offer. The bullbar can be any design from King Bars product line.

BP
Truckies hamper and $500 gift card

PACCAR
2 x PACCAR promotional kits including jackets, shirts, bags, sheets, umbrella and more. RRP $265 – $430

Please call Tanya on 02 6247 5434, if you want some additional information or wish to place a phone bid on the night.