Trucking access regulations causes delays for drivers

Industry representatives shared their frustrations with the program, established in 2013 to regulate driver fatigue and road infrastructure, at the Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of SA annual conference on Saturday.

Under existing rules, if a primary producer calls on a carrier to truck out their livestock, the company is required to research the route through a state based system - in SA it is RAVnet - to check if their vehicle is allowed to travel there or if a permit is required.

Permits cost $84 each and fall back on the trucking operator.

Australian Trucking Association chief executive officer Michael Deegan said it was easier to operate a heavy vehicle in the European Union with 20-30 countries than it was to operate a vehicle in Australia, with six states and two territories.

"It is a massive failure for government and frankly some of the industry," he said. "Those operating trucks in just SA, happy days, you have got the government and industry working closely together.

"Industry have decided in SA to do their own map, based on Tas - they don't need permits, they don't need red tape, they don't do any of the things that NHVR have been struggling with for eight years."

He said what the country needed was one piece of legislation.

"This is what we're recommending to ministers - one federal transport act focused on safety and productivity about five pages long, not the current 821-page version that the National Transport Commission is working on, which is full of rubbish," he said.

"The EU has one framework for the whole country and that would require people like (SA Transport Minister) Tom Koutsantonis and others to consider passing over some of their responsibilities to the Commonwealth.

"We think we should get rid of all these fatigue management systems, logbooks - all the red tape that goes with it and put it back on the directors of the company, many currently present in this room, to have a safety management system.

"You are accountable for your safety management system and in some states, you would be accountable for the industrial manslaughter law - tough - but it would clean up all the prescriptive paper based rubbish that allows enforcement officers to fine you $600 because you can't spell Melbourne.

"But how do we get the jurisdictions and their ministers on the same page when considering a fundamental shift and giving up their patch?"

Mr Deegan said productivity was the latest focus being pushed from governments in national cabinet.

"They want government and industry to focus on productivity," he said.

"With the current access system, if you can't get a B-double in to pick up the full load then you are sending two single trucks.

"That means more trips with a smaller figuration or more labour units to send two trucks at the same time, more fatigue management, more carbon dioxide emissions - how is that in anyway productive?

"In Tasmania you log into the system they've mapped out, work out where your access is and away you go.

"If you do the wrong thing they turn your computer off and you don't get access anymore - it's a pretty simple system."

LRTASA president Frank Tedesco said operators should be able to self manage their fleet, employees and businesses without the present hurdles to get a job done.

Primary producer Darren Button, Port Pirie, said he could not see any progress on the issue of access unless local government was encouraged to make some effort.

"We have had (permanent access) requests for commodity routes in local government areas denied, despite still being able to get a permit. In some cases permits have been declined," he said. "Imagine paying council rates, vehicle registration and taxes and still not being permitted access to your own property with your vehicle of choice."

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NHVR program director David Carlisle said there were a lot of changes happening at the regulator on the topic of how they used the data and the platforms as they evolved.

"The change is to help you do your business better, get fewer trucks on the road, quicker and ultimately eliminate the need for permits, which is our vision as well," he said. "Governments across the board are trying to leverage a lot of information that exists to unlock networks.

"The fundamentals to that is to make sure that we're doing things safely and in a more efficient, effective way.

"This year alone we are going to see about 150,000 permit applications.

"We're working heavily on our spatial platform - our mapping system - that hopefully over time, we can unlock networks and almost move to dynamic networks without needing to go through permit processes all together."

This year the regulator has made more than $12.5 million in permits.

Mr Carlisle said the whole program was about putting all the information in one easy-to-access place as a usable tool that was mapped out and worked for road managers.

"Tas did a lot of heavy lifting a few years ago doing their bridge assessments - it's critical to understand the assets," he said. "RAVnet will be part of the regulators system from December."

Department of transport and infrastructure principal policy officer Matthew Matricciani said there was an expansion of approved networks underway.

"This is ultimately to reduce red tape and remove the regulatory burden on operators and the greater freight industry," he said.

"The department is committed to improving these networks - we are looking at the permits that are being renewed year after year and ultimately trying to expand the state approved networks."