Coningham outlines proposal and criteria to HVNL consultation RIS
The creation of a list of operators that meet a national standard should be considered by Australian governments, the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) proposes.
The call forms part of a submission made to the National Transport Commission (NTC) in response to a consultation regulatory impact statement on possible changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
The national standard would include a set of measures in which every heavy vehicle operator would:
- Provide the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator with a list of heavy vehicles it operates and garaging information about the vehicle
- Ensure that each heavy vehicle has installed, and uses equipment meeting international standards that records information regarding driving hours and location that can be used in the investigation of alleged breaches of the HVNL as well as providing operators with data that can be used to manage safety outcomes or otherwise provide road owners with information that can be used when applying for access to routes.
- Maintain a safety management system (SMS) that meets standards established in the HVNL
- Require a registered operator have capital available to ensure efficient operation of the heavy vehicles
However, ALC CEO Kirk Coningham points to recorded vehicle movements as the most important of the organisation’s proposals.
How the ALC backs recent EV tax moves, here
Coningham dubs data as the “new oil” for the freight transport industry.
“As the Productivity Commission said in its recent report on national transport regulatory reform, governments should prioritise uses of data with the greatest potential to improve productivity in the transport sector in ways that can inform the provision and management of road infrastructure, inform decisions around permits and road access for heavy vehicles and assist in the development and implementation of the Heavy Vehicle Road Reform Agenda, with the information possible forming part of the proposed federal Freight Data Hub,” he says
“It will be an opportunity lost if the national operating standard concept is not tested in a holistic way as governments considers responses to the regulatory impact statement.”
The ALC submission is available here.