Several items relate to compliance issues the industry as a whole continues to grapple with
Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association (LBCA) has laid out a list of issues it will focus on in the coming 12 months.
The industry organisation sees close consultation with government, particularly in New South Wales with freight minister Duncan Gay, as proven as an approach that it intends to take to the new federal Coalition government, along with state government representatives and affiliated industry associations.
The priorities and LBCA comment are as follows :
NSW Livestock Loading Scheme – the LBCA and its members have sought to identify priority council areas and priority roads within them to extend the scheme to local roads.
“Despite our efforts, many councils within NSW have not yet enrolled in the scheme despite Government funding available, resulting in increased costs to the local supply chain and more trucks on local roads moving livestock,” it says.
“The lack of local road access available to participants in the Livestock Loading Scheme indicates that a significant amount of work needs to be done to make this Scheme truly effective.”
Effluent loss from livestock trucks – association continues to seek a spread of responsibility for the issue beyond operators. who are a last line in the chain.
“A whole of industry commitment is required to resolve the serious negative and adverse outcomes for the meat and livestock industry, from an animal welfare and commercial perspective and for our local regional communities in terms of health risks and increased road safety issues,” the LBCA says.
On-road compliance and enforcement – in common with other organisations over the years, the association is still battling against over-zealous and counter-productive enforcement.
“The LBCA Secretariat dealt with several cases where members were fined for unintentional clerical errors or similar non-safety related mistakes,” it says.
“It is frustrating that such mistakes continue to place large financial loses on our members, simply because ‘that’s the law’. It continues to be a problem that forces good drivers out of our industry and it isn’t right.”
Road safety productivity initiatives – noting initiatives including the current Livestock and Grain Schemes and increase of Higher Productivity Vehicle access, including higher mass limits (HML), the association warns “there are still a number of improvements required and schemes will not reach their full potential until significant local access challenges are solved”.
NSW Access Issues – the importance of local access is heightened by the potential to deliver significant freight productivity improvements possible from utilising HML and key reforms introduced such as the NSW Livestock and Grain Harvest Management Schemes and 4.6m high vehicles.
“These reforms require local access to deliver results for NSW, and the current reality is that they are not. Unfortunately we are seeing the opposite and Councils are increasingly locking trucks out of regional areas and local businesses.
Increasing focus on small livestock truck standards – the association notes that substandard livestock crates can include inadequate structural material such as unsafe walls and floors, which greatly increase the risk of livestock slippage and subsequent injuries such as limb breakages and bruising. In addition, the lack of regulation of small truck standards places a financial and unfair disadvantage on professional truck operators who invest in quality transportation equipment.
Managing overloaded bulk trucks – the LBCA is advocating for grain receival sites to accept weighbridge dockets as proof of legal weight and allow vehicles to be unloaded. The mass measurement adjustment allowance applied at Roads and Maritime Services weighbridges should also be an acceptable practice at grain receival sites therefore ensuring a consistent mass measurement procedure is applied at all weighing points.
“We would like to see the introduction of a system that sees overloaded trucks (up to 2.5 per cent above the assessed mass limit) unloaded, rather than rejected, with a record of the overweight being made and appropriate enforcement carried out,” it says.