THANK YOU ALRTA NATIONAL PARTNER
PACCAR & Dealer Industry Fund
We’re not all made the same and neither is a Kenworth. With a huge range of options, a Kenworth can be customised for the driver and the task at hand. Drive something to be proud of, “a truck that’s uniquely yours”.
www.kenworth.com.au
ALRTA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE
It’s been another busy week here in Canberra. I started off the week heading to a COSBOA event ‘Small Business Breakfast – Productivity, Procurement and Priorities’ hosted by Senator David Pocock, Allegra Spender and Maria Kovacic. The Hon. Julie Collins, Minister for Small Business and the Hon. Sussan Ley, Deputy Leader of the Opposition were also in attendance and spoke of the importance of small business to the Australian economy. There was a panel of industry representatives including Andrew McKellar, ACCI, Kate Pound, Tech Council of Australia and Luke Achterstraat, COSBOA on issues faced by small business in the current economic climate, including labour market implications, stymied productivity and impacts of inflation. At the end of the event I had the opportunity to speak with Senator Pocock and as a result secured an invitation later this month to a roundtable on ‘Closing Loopholes Bill’.
On Wednesday I was back up on the hill reconnecting with Senator Glenn Sterle on heavy vehicle rest areas, proposed IR reforms, driver safety and welfare. Senator Sterle acknowledged some of the unique challenges faced by livestock and rural transport and expressed his ongoing support of ALRTA. We had a somewhat lengthy discussion on the impacts of Live Sheep Exports on rural transport and the broader agricultural community. Senator Sterle is supportive of ALRTA’s position on this critical issue and agrees export of live sheep can be done safely and humanely. Unfortunately, our meeting was cut short due to a caucus being called, the realities of meeting with a politician. I will meet with Senator Sterle in coming weeks to progress discussions.
Sue and I attended the first Biosecurity Truck Wash Subcommittee meeting this week and the committee is off to a great start and set to meet in two weeks to keep momentum going.
I also had the opportunity to meet with Annabel Mactier from GrainGrowers regarding the reestablishment of the Rural Roads Alliance (ALGA, NFF, GG and ALRTA) to advocate for investment in rural and regional roads. I am meeting with Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) on this and other topics in coming weeks.
I attended the VTA: Alternate Fuel Summit, it was an interesting day with lots of panel sessions focussing on the technological and regulatory challenges of decarbonising the road transport economy. I have several presenters and attendees to follow up with to discuss how we tackle the challenges of transitioning long-haul, heavy transport to greener technologies. It was clearly apparent there will not be one single type of technology that is adopted, rather a mixed approach across different modes and distances to assist in a piecemeal way to decarbonising the transport and freight task. There are some interesting developments in the use of methanol in shipping and air modes, which may end up transitioning to heavy road freight. The general accepted hypothesis is that heavy transport of the future will still rely on an internal combustion engine, but will use different types of biofuel. One fuel company is currently investigating how to use chicken waste and turn it into biofuel, there might be an opportunity for a broader range of effluent down the line!
Thursday evening I was a guest of Todd Hacking, HVIA to their Executive Networking Event including announcing their southern Award finalists, with special guests Michael Hopkins, CEO, NTC and Kym Lindsay, CEO (retired) Lindsay Transport. Senator Carol Brown, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport addressed attendees regarding transition to Euro VI and the acceptance of wider vehicle widths. Kym Lindsay spoke to the group about his time in the transport industry and how he built a successful multimillion dollar business. He attributes his success to their culture – embracing technology and telematics, staff wellbeing and rigorous compliance. It was an interesting speech particularly on how they use technology to predict driver behaviour and provide customised training and support to their drivers, ultimately reducing wear and tear and increasing safety.
It was great to be back in Canberra today, connecting with other association heads based in Canberra as a guest of the Canberra Convention Bureau at the new dining spot, Louis.
Looking forward to another busy week next week, until then!
Rach
NHVR LAUNCH INTERACTIVE FREIGHT PASS
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has launched an interactive tool – Freight PASS (Productivity and Safety/Sustainability) – to help industry and road managers make more informed decisions about the benefits of heavy vehicle combinations on the road network.
Freight PASS uses more than one million registration data records to assess a range of performance factors for conventional and Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles including crash likelihood, trip numbers and travel time, and fuel consumption.
The NHVR is encouraging those with an interest in Freight PASS to provide feedback on the tool. Details on how to provide feedback as well as information on a series of webinars to support the use of Freight PASS will be released shortly. Consultation closes on Wednesday 17 January 2024.
For more information and to access the Freight PASS Operational guide and Consultation questionnaire go to the NHVR website.
CHANGES TO NSWLLS
To continue as a New South Wales Livestock Loading Scheme (NSWLLS) driver, you now must re-accredit every five years. This is to ensure that driver knowledge is current and to reduce the incidence of livestock vehicle rollovers. Re-accrediting requires drivers to complete an assessment with an accredited NSWLLS assessor.
What does this mean for you?
All NSWLLS drivers certified prior to March 2021 need to re-accredit before
6 November 2023 otherwise your NSWLLS Driver Card will be cancelled.
Drivers without a current NSWLLS driver card cannot carry the additional weights allowed by the NSW Class 3 Livestock Transportation Exemption Notice 2021.
Effective 6 November 2023:
A NSWLLS Driver card without a printed expiry date will be considered expired.
Next steps:
If you don’t have an expiry date on your NSWLLS Driver Card and want to continue as a NSWLLS driver, you need to book an assessment with a NSWLLS assessor as soon as possible.
For a list of assessors visit the NSWLLS Driver Learning and Assessment website at: NSWLLS Driver Course | Transport for NSW
EBS EXPERTS ARE TMC AWARD WINNERS
The Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA’s) 2023 Technical and Maintenance Conference at Docklands in Melbourne attracted around 400 business owners, mechanics, technicians, fleet managers and other trucking professionals who experienced three days of panels, workshops and exhibits featuring the latest in trucking technology, productivity, efficiency and workforce development.
During the conference the Castrol Vecton Industry Achievement Award went to Ian Thompson of BPW Transpec, who has worked to improve safety via the implementation of EBS in trailers as well as carrying out new vehicle PBS assessment and design. The 2023 Craig Roseneder Award for Technical and Maintenance Excellence was won by Shane Pendergast, the NSW EBS service manager and national EBS training manager at Air Brake Systems.
We are fortunate to have Shane on board to work with ALRTA to deliver the federally funded project, ‘Using telematic data to reduce the incidence of truck roll-over crashes’.
SAVE THE DATES FOR 2024
- LBRCA – 23-24 February 2024 – WAGGA WAGGA NSW
- LRTAQ/ALRTA National Combined Conference – 21-22 March 2024 – TOOWOOMBA QLD