Operators and customers may be fined for failing to reimburse drivers for queuing times under fatigue management regulations in NSW
Trucking operators and customers will be fined for failing to reimburse drivers for queuing times under fatigue management regulations in NSW.
Under regulations passed by Minister for Roads Michael Daley, businesses must provide rest breaks for remuneration for queuing times.
Furthermore, they must schedule rest breaks and loading and unloading times and have contingency plans in place for traffic delays.
Failure to comply will result in 100 to 200 penalty units for corporations.
ATA NSW Manager Jill Lewis has raised concerns over the provision to compensate drivers for queuing times and has sought a meeting with the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) “to consult with us before putting more and more red tape into regulations that directly affect our productivity”.
If implemented, the provision means operators and customers will need to comply with two sets of regulations because the Transport Workers Long Distance Drivers Award 2000 does not provide payment for queuing.
“The Award covers a standing 20 percent overtime component and a 30 percent disability allowance, both of which compensate line haul drivers for unpredictable changes of work,” Lewis says.
Lewis’ call for a meeting with the State’s road regulator follows her meeting with Daley, in which the ATA NSW raised the issue of rest areas.
The meeting with the roads minister is a breakthrough for the ATA NSW, which was refused meetings by the former roads minister Eric Roozendaal, who blacklisted the State’s peak trucking lobby because of political tensions.