Beaurepaires
Available until 31 December 2018. Offer only available at participating Beaurepaires stores.
Excludes government & national fleet accounts. Only while stocks last. No Rain Checks. Service & fitting charges apply on all tyres.
Not available with any other offer. Prices exclude GST. https://www.beaurepaires.com.au/
MAY 2019 FEDERAL ELECTION LOOMS
The Morrison Government has brought forward Federal Budget announcement to 2 April 2019. This appears to pave the way for a May 2019 election. Since 1994, Budget night has been held on the second Tuesday in May.
Prime Minister Morrison has also stated that a surplus budget will be delivered. Not a bad tactic for limiting the opportunity for new spending promises from the Opposition.
DEFECTION PUTS LIVE EXPORTS ON AGENDA
The Coalition’s woes look set to continue right up until the election with Julia Banks MP resigning from the Liberal Party to join the ranks of the seven other cross-benchers. This has reduced the number of Coalition votes to just 72 of the 75 needed to pass legislation and makes the Government even more reliant on the support of cross benchers to block no-confidence motions.
Labor tested the waters by moving to suspend standing orders in question time but lost the vote 68-66 with four cross-benchers abstaining.
That’s a close call, especially when Greens MP, Adam Bandt, Independent MPs Kerryn Phelps and Andrew Wilke, and Senator Derryn Hinch this week collectively called for more progress on live sheep exports. Successfully bringing on a vote on this issue would require Coalition MPs to ‘cross the floor’ which might seem unlikely now that the MPs who previously supported a ban must first resign their Ministerial positions and move off the Front Bench if voting against party policy.
But add the disastrous Victorian election result for the Coalition to all of the above and who knows what the next week might bring.
ALRTA MEETS DEPARTMENT ON OSOM
The ALRTA Executive Director, Mathew Munro, met with the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, to discuss priority recommendations arising from the independent review of Over Size Over Mass (OSOM) access arrangements.
The review report included 38 recommendations which ALRTA has discussed with several affected operators. Some of the immediate steps we have recommended are to:
- Move regular permits onto pre-approval, notices or gazettals;
- Extend permits to 12mths as standard;
- Commence an ‘envelope’ approach for low risk movements; and
- Remove the requirement for a separate permit for empty return journeys.
Read the full report here.
ALRTA ATTENDS TRACEABILITY WORKSHOP
The ALRTA Executive Director, Mathew Munro, attended the National Traceability Project Co-design Workshop in Canberra this week. The workshop considered the performance of current agricultural traceability systems, new research, trends, future demands and the development of principles for a National Traceability Framework.
INDUSTRY MASTER CODE APPROVED
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has approved the Master Industry Code of Practice: a code developed to assist all businesses in the chain of responsibility manage their common risks and improve safety.
Photo: Code developer Peter Elliot and NHVR CEO Sal Pettrocitto.
Developed by the Australian Trucking Association and Australian Logistics Council in preparation for chain of responsibility changes brought into effect in October, the code will be implemented into TruckSafe standards, making sure all accredited members are covered.
CALLANAN JOINS TRUCKSAFE BOARD
Peter Callanan has been welcomed as a new member of the TruckSafe board of directors.
Photo: Peter Callanan of Shanahan’s Livestock Transport.
Transport Manager of Shanahan’s Livestock Transport, Peter is passionate about trucking and dedicated to ensuring best-practice animal welfare standards.
As a TruckSafe director, Peter is keen to give back to the industry and help all transport operators.
“As a member of the TruckSafe board, I want to support small businesses and owner drivers in becoming TruckSafe accredited and simplify their processes in becoming compliant with the new chain of responsibility obligations,” he said.
COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT POLICY
NHVR has released a National Compliance and Enforcement Policy which outlines the risk-based and outcomes-focused approach adopted by the NHVR and partner agencies when planning and undertaking heavy vehicle related compliance and enforcement activities.
ALRTA made a submission on an earlier draft of the policy and is pleased with the final version.
HEAVY VEHICLE CRASH STATS DECLINE
There were 152 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks in the year ended September 2018, compared to 169 fatal crashes in the year ended September 2017, the latest official statistics show.
This is welcome news but there is still a way to go.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED TRUCKSAFE?
TruckSafe is a not-for-profit world class business and risk management system that is aimed at improving the safety and professionalism of trucking operators nation wide.
It is an industry initiative, which delivers competitive advantages to accredited operators.
TruckSafe members achieve accreditation through independent auditing.
TruckSafe also includes an optional Animal Welfare module (formerly TruckCare), which is an audited quality assurance program for livestock transport. It is fully auditable and is built around the quality assurance principles contained in international standards and also uses hazard analysis of critical control points.
It covers:
- professional management procedures
- customer & subcontractor management
- resolving problems with customers
- training & induction for livestock transport
- stock crate maintenance
- planning for problems in livestock transport
- selecting stock that are fit to load
- proper handling, loading & unloading of stock
- consignment paperwork, load plans, NVDs & waybills
To find out more about TruckSafe and Animal Welfare Module click here.