ALRTA News – 13 November 2020

LOWES
ALRTA NATIONAL SPONSOR

Lowes are looking forward to our continued association with the ALRTA following our recent resigning as a national sponsor.

As the delivery specialists in regional Australia, Lowes Petroleum are able to offer ALRTA Members great deals on delivery of bulk fuels and lubricants. Your local Sales Manager can assist to create a package tailored to your needs.

We’ve also updated the Lowes bp+ card offer too with our Blue Ribbon card discounts at Lowes owned sites. We’ve added an additional level of discounts so now you can choose from Blue Ribbon, Gold Diesel and Green Selected Sites. This ensures that ALRTA Members get the maximum benefit from our association between the two organisations. The three levels of card discounts have been colour coded to link to the bp network page on the Lowes website for easy ALRTA Member reference.  

The new agreement took effect on 1 November 2020, so now is the time to have a chat with your local Lowes Sales Manager. Click here to get in touch.

Link to network page for colour coded sites

Link to Lowes Sales managers

LATEST ON BORDER CONTROLS

Victoria has eased some restrictions and effective from Monday 9 November 2020, worker permits will no longer be required for essential freight workers in Victoria.  Freight operators will, however, need to continue to have a COVID safe workplan, wear fitted face coverings outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle if they are travelling with someone who is not a member of their household.
 
For the latest summary of border rules and testing sites click here.

MEMBER FORUM CONSIDERS HVNL OPTIONS

ALRTA member associations held a special online forum this week to discuss options put forward in the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS).  Participants included representatives from QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, SA and WA.
 
ALRTA Executive Director, Mat Munro, said that the state member forum was an important step in finalising an ALRTA submission to the National Transport Commission (NTC).
 
“The HVNL review is one of the most important regulatory reforms currently under consideration by the Australian and State and Territory Governments,” said Mr Munro.
 
“ALRTA conducted interviews with grass roots members in 2019 and subsequently offered 108 recommendations in response to a series of NTC issues papers.
 
“The 2020 RIS contains more than 40 options. Some of these reflect previous member views, while others do not. Some options are entirely novel.  This week’s member forum enabled our state member associations to consider each proposal on its merits, reflect on the original ALRTA submission and adopt new positions to inform drafting of a national response to the RIS.
 
“It was essential to have input from all jurisdictions, including WA which is outside of the HVNL. All options are on the table, so it is important to consider regulatory alternatives already operating successfully in other parts of Australia,” said Mr Munro.
 
Submissions are due to the NTC by 20 November 2020.

FIRST EWD APPROVAL

The NHVR has launched the rollout of approved Electronic Work Diaries (EWD) for heavy vehicle drivers to manage their fatigue. 

An Electronic Work Diary (EWD) is an electronic device or system approved by the NHVR, to monitor and record the work and rest times of a driver and is a voluntary alternative to the written work diary.   

ATA Chair David Smith said “The rollout of approved Electronic Work Diaries will reduce red tape and improve safety for transport operators.”

ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX ON THE WAY

The Australian Trucking Association has welcomed the NSW Government’s support of electric vehicle road user charges, following the announcement of a similar scheme by South Australia earlier this week.  

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has pledged to support a road user charge for electric vehicles and is expected to introduce a user-charge policy to cabinet within the next year. 

Acting CEO of the ATA Bill McKinley said the move was welcome news.  

“The existing road user charging system is not fair. All road users must pay their fair share,” Mr McKinley said. 

“Without reform, the burden of paying for roads would be forced onto the general public and impact funds allocated for other priorities such as schools and hospitals,” he said.  

Earlier this week, the ATA welcomed the South Australian Government’s planned introduction of a road user charge for electric vehicles, set to commence from 1 July 2021.   

MISSION BIOSECURITY 

Mission Biosecurity was launched this week. The departments of agriculture and primary industries across Australia have partnered with Costa Georgiadis of Gardening Australia to develop a suite of interactive and digital resources which showcase the importance of biosecurity across Australia.



Mission Biosecurity is about the national promotion of biosecurity and community engagement, raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and providing advice about how to do that.The web page – has tabs about biosecurity:

  • at home – in our backyard
  • in our environment – including protecting our waterways
  • invaders
  • biosecurity on farms – land management and visiting and working on the land and
  • the future of biosecurity – use of technology to conduct surveillance and capture data
  • The ‘listen’ page has links to podcasts
  • Other pages host quizzes and social media tiles.

Check out the website at:  www.missionbiosecurity.com.au

The session on ‘Mission: Biosecurity’ was presented at the National Biosecurity Forum by John Tracey of NSW DPI.

KEEP SWINE FEVER OUT

On Wednesday 11 November 2020, presenters at the National Biosecurity Forum delivered sessions about what’s happening in Australia in response to the threat of African Swine Fever (ASF).  Topics included:

  • Communication strategies to prevent ASF importation by international travellers, online shoppers and via the post (email questions to Biosecurityinformation@awe.gov.au )
  • Research and engagement to support biosecurity management planning for pig owners and producers in NSW, which is focusing on building capacity to manage the risk, and
  • Stakeholder engagement in the federally funded National Feral Pig Action Plan which sees governments, industry and community groups working together on local activities, research and programs. See www.feralpigs.com.au for more information.

GETTING TRUCKSAFE ACCREDITATION RIGHT

“As Australia enters the second phase of the Heavy Vehicle National Law review with the release of the consultation Regulatory Impact Statement, it is now more important than ever to fix truck accreditation.”

ATA Safety, Health and Wellbeing Director, Melissa Weller discusses TruckSafe accreditation and how it can be best used to deliver practical safety benefits to trucking operators.

 Click Here to read the article on Getting Trucksafe Accreditation right.

PACCAR AUSTRALIA SET TO AGAIN INCREASE PRODUCTION

Despite what has universally been acknowledged as a very unusual year, marred by significant negative health and economic impact, PACCAR Australia is again increasing truck production over the coming months.



To support the increase and in a further boost to the local community, PACCAR Australia will expand its workforce, with recruitment currently underway for the factory and related departments at the Melbourne-based head office.
 
“This is great news for local manufacturing and follows the recent employment of more than 120 people for the Kenworth DAF Bayswater Plant, and many more in PACCAR’s supply chains, following the increase in production earlier this year,” said Andrew Hadjikakou, Managing Director, PACCAR Australia.
 
“Being a proud Australian manufacturer with a predominantly Australian supplier base means we are not suffering some of the constraints of overseas component supply. Australians are patriotic and are showing that supporting Australian manufacturing is important to them.
 
“The increase in production reflects the work carried out across the business in managing the restrictions and challenges we have faced this year, particularly in Victoria. 
 
“I am proud of the dedication and enthusiasm displayed by all PACCAR Australia employees, our dealers and suppliers in ensuring we keep delivering world class Kenworth and DAF trucks while adhering to Government guidelines on social distancing and maintaining health and safety standards.
 
“As we go into our 50th year of manufacturing Australian-made Kenworth trucks, we also celebrate the assembling of DAF trucks in Australia, having more than doubled the number of DAFs being produced in the plant since 2018. The increase in production provides a positive outlook for the future growth of both brands in Australia,” said Andrew.   
 
“In preparation for this growth, the $40 million Bayswater site expansion is well underway and is on schedule for completion in 2021,” he said.

NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK 2020

Every year, approximately 1200 people are killed and another 44,000* are seriously injured on Australian roads. Traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian children under 15 and the second-biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24. These numbers are growing every year but are preventable if we choose to Drive So Others Survive!

National Road Safety Week is an annual initiative from the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, partnering road safety organisations and Government. The week highlights the impact of road trauma and ways to reduce it.

For more information or to take the road safety pledge visit: https://roadsafetyweek.com.au/home/#home/pledge

TMC IS GOING ONLINE FOR 2020



The format will include both live and pre-recorded elements accessed via an online conference platform.

Registrations will be open soon and be free of charge. 

Delegates will be able to access on demand content at any time that suits them, as the platform will remain open for seven days.  

FRIDAY FUNNY

An optimist, a pessimist and a realist are standing next to each other.

The optimist sees light.

The pessimist sees light at the end of a tunnel.

The realist sees a truck at the end of a tunnel.

The truck driver sees three idiots which he’s about to run over.

SAVE THE DATES FOR 2021

LBRCA Conference – Wagga Wagga NSW – 4-6 March 2021 – The Range Function Centre
LRTAQ Conference – Roma QLD – 9-11 April 2021
LRTASA Conference – Adelaide SA –  18-19 June 2021