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National fatigue compliance steady, NHVR says

Regulator reports 93 per cent fatigue compliance but other issues persist

 

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) says it is pleased with the outcome of a recent national operation that showed national fatigue compliance was at par with last year.

The NHVR-led Operation Wake Up, held during April, inspected more than 4,400 vehicles across 105 locations in all states and territories, except Northern Territory.

Out of the 874 intercepts with an offence, a majority related to mechanical errors (497), with fatigue being the next major concern (at 234 offences).

“Of the fatigue-related vehicles there were 3,272 compliant drivers, which was 93 per cent – a similar level to the national operations conducted last year,” NHVR chief operations officer Paul Salvati says.

“Those drivers operating under Basic Fatigue Management recorded more than 96 per cent compliance rate while there were no breaches for drivers operating under Advanced Fatigue Management.”

Almost one-in-five fatigue offences were the result of exceeding historical work hours, while 17 per cent were for not making a work diary entry.

The top five fatigue offences were:

  • 18.3% – exceeding driving hours (historical)
  • 17.9% – not making work diary entries
  • 10.7% – exceeding driving hours (current)
  • 8.7% – not carrying a work diary
  • 6.3% – false or misleading work diary entries.

The overall compliance rate was 80 per cent.


Read about NHVR’s commentary on a recent multi-border operation, here


The national operation found 38 significant events including, 18 critical fatigue offences that will lead to prosecutions, and two minor fatigue offences; and six severe mechanical offences that led to those vehicles being grounded, plus two mechanical defect notices issued.

The average delay for compliant vehicles was 13 minutes, compared to an average delay of 27 minutes for non-compliant vehicles, Salvati says.

“A lot of the data was collected through the NHVR Compliance app, which allowed real time analysis and information to be coordinated between the NHVR and on-road officers,” he says.

“I would particularly like to thank the 194 officers from a variety of police, transport and workplace health and safety agencies across the country that took part in Operation Wake Up.”

 

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