ALRTA News – 14 April 2023

THANK YOU TO OUR NATIONAL PARTNER NTI

Now is your chance to WIN Daphne – NTI’s fully restored 1954 Chevrolet pickup truck! 
Daphne is a ‘hot lava orange’ pickup truck, built with a 1954 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine body on a 1969 Chevrolet C-20 Pickup chassis.

The truck, named Daphne, is the sixth to be raffled for MND and Me Foundation by Australia’s largest transport and logistics specialist insurer, NTI.

NTI has raised more than $1.5 million over five years for MND research.

The truck can be yours by purchasing raffle tickets online here.

The money raised from this raffle will go towards MND and Me Foundation.

Click here for more information. Terms and conditions apply. 



ALRTA CONGRATULATES HAWKINS

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) congratulates Alina Hawkins on being named Woman of the Year at Trucking Australia 2023.  The award recognises the strong professional or personal contribution made by a woman within the Australian trucking industry.

ALRTA National President Scott McDonald said that Hawkins has been an outstanding contributor to the trucking industry.

“Alina Hawkins thoroughly deserves recognition as the trucking industry’s woman of the year.  She is a grass roots transport operator, running a successful family business while raising a young family. Alina has been an active member of the Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria, serving time as Treasurer and more recently being appointed Chief Operating Officer.

“Alina is an outstanding role model for the many other strong, confident and intelligent women in the rural transport sector,” he said.

Ms Hawkins thanked industry associations and Cummins South Pacific for the prestigious national award and said that she will continue to champion the trucking industry.

“Trucking is a vital, dynamic and high-tech industry at the very heart of the Australian economy. It has supported myself, my family and local community for more than 20 years.  Yes, it’s challenging at times, but I’ve loved being a part of something that every person relies on every day. 

“To receive an award like this is incredibly humbling. I’ve admired many amazing women during my career, like Phyllis Jones, Jacqueline Brotherton, Sharon Middleton and Liz Schmidt.  They’ve been an inspiration to me, and I hope I can be an inspiration to others.

“There are many excellent career opportunities in trucking, especially for young women who currently only represent three per cent of the workforce. As an industry, we can do a lot more to establish recognised career paths and to promote the important work we do.

“I thank the ALRTA for nominating me for the award and I thank the Australian Trucking Association for the opportunity to apply.

“Cummins South Pacific has been an important part of my family business for more than 15 years – their product and service is second to none.  They are long-time supporters of our trucking industry associations, enabling the important advocacy work we do and the establishment of national trucking awards.  I am extremely grateful for the travel package and opportunity for my partner and I to visit the Cummins factory in the United States,” she said.

WAGGA TRANSPORT MUSTER – PROPOSED INFORMATION HUB

Representatives from all parts of the livestock supply chain met at the Wagga Saleyards this week to consider the key role that transporters play in the livestock industry and to work towards sharing information to support best practice and innovation.

Hosted by MLA, the event was attended by several ALRTA members including Wade Lewis LRBCA President, Darren George and Sam O’Sullivan as well as Sue Davies ALRTA Project & Communications Officer, Bec Coleman LBRCA Chief Operating Officer and Alina Hawkins LRTAV Chief Operating Officer, as association representatives. They provided a strong case for information sharing around biosecurity risks and responses, examples of loading ramps that meet the Australian Standard (AS 5340:2020), effluent management and best practice livestock preparation.

Among the session presenters Athol Carter, Peter Callanan and Graham Emery spoke about TruckSafe, in particular the Animal Welfare module, emphasising the value of the assurance program and contracting transporters who are accredited.

Transport issues were also discussed from the perspective of processors and supermarkets, with the incidence of dark cutters raised as a complex problem to be addressed. The data analysis presented in sessions on the Beef Sustainability Framework, Elders’ Feeder Ready Program and a presentation from Mick Young of NAPCO that focused on research about animal behaviour including eating patterns and stress response and recovery, indicate that there is still work to be done to better understand the impacts of animal preparation and handling on productivity and sustainability. 

Photo: Jacob Betros (MLA) talks about the Australian Beef/Sheep Sustainability Framework with attendees at the Wagga Transport Muster, Wednesday 12 April 2023.

If you have ideas about new research, data or other information that could be shared on a livestock transport hub, please email ALRTA at office@alrta.org.au.

NHVR RELEASES SAFETY SURVEY REPORT

The NHVR has released the Heavy Vehicle Industry Safety Survey 2022 report, which measures how the heavy vehicle industry manages its safety responsibilities.

“The results indicate there have been incremental improvements to safety across the industry, which in turn informs our forward-thinking work program,” said NHVR Chief Regulatory, Policy and Standards officer David Hourigan.

“One area the NHVR has worked tirelessly to deliver on since 2020 is greater awareness and uptake of Safety Management Systems and we’re encouraged to see an increase in implementation by businesses of this important safety tool.”

To view the survey visit www.nhvr.gov.au/safety-survey.

NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND

The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2023 passed the Commonwealth Parliament on 29 March 2023.

The Bill establishes the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) Corporation as a corporate Commonwealth entity.  The NRF Corporation will provide finance in the form of debt and equity for projects in priority areas of the Australian economy to diversify and transform Australia’s industry and economy.  Its investments will leverage Australia’s natural and competitive strengths and help Australian industry move up the value chain.  It will be governed by a Board who will make independent investment decisions guided by an investment mandate.

NRF investments will help grow Australia’s industrial capabilities, improve value-adding manufacturing opportunities and create secure jobs. 

Transport is listed as one of seven priority areas for investment.

Now that the Bill has passed, work will now commence on standing up the NRF as soon as possible. 

CHANGES TO LIVE SHEEP EXPORT RULES

Amended rules for sheep exports commenced on 1 April 2023.  The new rules include that:

  • Sheep must be fed a minimum of 3% of their liveweight daily while on vessels.
    • This will reduce competition for fodder.
  • Each vessel exporting sheep must deploy a minimum of 1 data logger on the bridge to record the ambient wet bulb temperature.
    • This will provide a baseline comparison to wet bulb temperatures recorded by data loggers on sheep decks.
  • Exporters may discharge sheep in Oman first, en route to other destinations, provided the prohibition dates for Oman are met.
    • This will result in less travel time for these sheep.
  • Voyages must be west of a longitude of 116° east, no later than 31 May if travelling to the Persian Gulf or no later than 14 June if travelling to the Red Sea.
    • This will prevent sheep arriving in the Middle East when conditions are hotter and more humid, even if the voyage departs from a port other than Fremantle.

The new rules may not be in place for long. The Federal Government is separately consulting on a phase out of live sheep exports. More information is available here.

CoR TRAINING COURSE FUNDING NOW AVAILABLE

NHVR is offering once-off funding to support the development and delivery of Chain of Responsibility (CoR) training and education projects, with $1.7 million being invested to help boost safety across the supply chain!

Priority will be given to projects that focus on ‘off-road’ parties in the CoR, particularly for industries where there is a lack of existing training resources.

Successful applicants will be able to access up to $300,000 of funding. Submissions are now open and close at 5pm AEST Friday 5 May 2023.

For more information, including eligibility requirements, the submission guidelines and application form, visit www.nhvr.gov.au/funding-cor.

SAVE THE DATES FOR 2023

  • LRTASA – 16-17 June 2023 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre SA
  • LRTAWA/NATIONAL Combined Conference – 4-5 August 2023 – BUSSELTON – WA
  • LRTAV – 11-12 August 2023 – BALLARAT – VIC
  • LRTAQ – 28-29 September 2023 – The Ville Resort, TOWNSVILLE – QLD