SARTA believe national regulator needs more staff to meet the needs of trucking operators
By Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | April 17, 2013
The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) believes the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) must be given more resources to meet the industry’s needs following a spate of permit issues.
SARTA Executive Director Steve Shearer believes the Brisbane-based NHVR, which is due to be fully operational by July 1 this year, needs more staff.
“My understanding is that they have a team of 20 people for the whole of country processing permits. There would be more people than that in South Australia or Victoria,” Shearer says.
“We think they need to sit down with us all and have a very serious look at what it is they have to do to make sure they’ve got the necessary resources and make sure they’ve got a way of dealing with problems rapidly when they come up.”
While expressing optimism about the regulator, Shearer says he is concerned about the operational side of things.
“I’ve got no doubt that the intention, desire, will and commitment is right and time will tell whether they’ve got the formula right. We have faith in the concept and people, we are just concerned about the operational details,” he says.
Queensland Parliament passed relevant legislation late last year and early this year to establish the NHVR. Other state and territory are due to pass similar legislation before the end of the financial year to give the regulator national authority.
Western Australia, however, has so far resisted calls to sign on to national regulations.
