HVSI Round 2 funding project put through its paces in Queensland
Industry and government are looking hard at a livestock loading initiative that aims to boost safety.
On trial at Kilcoy Global Foods in South-East Queensland’s Somerset Region is the Parallel Access Landing (PAL) frame, a key project under the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR’s) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program.
The federal government sees trial of the Parallel Access Landing (PAL) frame as a key project under the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program, supported by the Federal Government.
“Livestock can be very unpredictable and that can pose a safety risk to any driver or operator, particularly if they are working at heights while loading or unloading,” federal road safety and freight transport assistant minister Scott Buchholz says.
“The Coalition Government provided $3.9 million in funding to support Round 2 of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative [HVSI] program – $102,000 of that will allow the Australian Livestock Rural Transporters Association [ALRTA] to conduct a feasibility study into user-pay unloading infrastructure at a major Australian livestock processing facility.
“The PAL frame has been designed to improve productivity and safety and the data we collect from this trial will assess whether this system could be rolled out across Australia.”
The original funding was for a Pivoting Access Frame but the concept had to be redesigned for this trial, hence the name change, ALRTA tells ATN.
The concept aims to ensure drivers can access crates without the risk of climbing the sides of high trailers or being struck by stock.
The frame, located at Kilcoy Global Foods, includes Avdata billing, reporting, monitoring and an access control system. Avdata has added truckwashes, waste and water, and access control to its original aviation services operations.
Read about the HVSI initiatives being funded in this round, here
According to ALRTA national president Stephen Marley, the project shows that all supply chain parties are working together on making heavy vehicle transport safer.
“The industry is working together with government to find solutions to some of our most important challenges,” Marley says.
“I want to see the rate of falls and injury among livestock operators continue to decline.”
The NHVR views funding for local safety projects as continuing to play a crucial role in improving heavy vehicle safety and productivity.
“These are great ideas that need to be supported to ensure better heavy vehicle industry safety, information, policy and practice across Australia,” NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto says.