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Fatigue training package on the way

NSW will introduce a new fatigue management training package to help operators, but details remain sketchy

By Brad Gardner | March 8, 2010

A new fatigue management training package will be introduced in NSW to help the trucking industry understand its obligations, but details on the scheme are sketchy.

Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport David Borger announced the plan during last week’s Livestock and Bulk Carriers (LBCA) annual conference in NSW.

He says the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) will work with NatRoad and the LBCA to develop the plan, which both industry groups have pushed hard for to improve the industry’s knowledge of fatigue management.

“The focus will be on developing greater industry understanding of the importance of moving to better fatigue practices and how to achieve accreditation,” he says.

But while saying work will begin in the coming weeks, there is mention of how the scheme will work, how it will be implemented or what will be in the training package.

NatRoad CEO Bernie Belacic wants a comprehensive package built around help kits, meetings, education seminars and practical help from presenters on what needs to be done to gain fatigue management accreditation.

Borger told the conference the Government is acting to ensure the trucking industry understands the laws.

“It is in all our interests to support the proactive industry stance on training and I will ensure the RTA works with them [the LBCA and NatRoad] to achieve a training program tailored to industry requirements,” he says.

NSW previously released a help kit for operators trying to gain basic fatigue management (BFM) accreditation.

Borger says the new training package will also include the advanced fatigue management (AFM) module, which is more flexible than BFM.

Fatigue management laws introduced in 2008 restrict the number of hours a truck driver can work and also mandate when a driver must rest and how long for.

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