Australia’s new national truck law will improve safety and generate up to $12.4 billion in economic benefits, the Chairman of the Australian Trucking Association, David Simon, said today (Monday, 10 February 2014).
The national truck law takes effect in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania today, with some provisions taking effect in the ACT.
Mr Simon said the ATA had campaigned for the national truck law for more than twenty years.
“The national law will improve the trucking industry’s safety. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will be better placed than state road agencies to enforce the law against large industry customers that operate nationally. The NHVR also has the opportunity to work more co-operatively with the safest firms in the industry,” he said.
“The law could potentially create $12.4 billion in economic benefits by enabling the industry to use larger trucks on more routes, improving vehicle standards and removing the inconsistencies in the speed, fatigue and other aspects of the law.
“With our members and other industry groups, the ATA worked very hard to get the new law right. 1,020 issues were identified with the original draft of the law. Many have been fixed; others are on a legislative forward work program.”
Mr Simon said there were still teething issues with the national law.
“The national law will require truck drivers working for businesses accredited under the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme to carry more paperwork. This is due to a drafting error,” he said.
“The ATA and its members have urged governments to fix the drafting error as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the NHVR has put in place a six-month transition period for enforcing the provision.
“The trucking industry is also concerned about the NHVR’s proposed budget, $147.5 million in 2014-15. $135 million of this total will be paid by the industry. This is almost $60 million more than the industry is currently charged, yet part of the case for setting up the NHVR was that it would reduce duplication and the industry’s costs.”
Mr Simon said the national truck law included provisions to allow the industry to register codes of practice. Operators that can prove they have complied with a registered code of practice will be considered to have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the law.
“The ATA will seek to register our safety accreditation scheme, TruckSafe, as an industry code of practice as soon as the NHVR publishes its guidelines for accrediting industry codes.
“TruckSafe is already a registered code of practice in Victoria, and its registration will continue under transitional provisions in the national law,” he said.
