The TWU has sent a letter to the NHVR calling for information on recent supply chain investigations
In response to a spate of recent fatigue-related operations announced by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) has sent a letter to the regulator calling for a change in approach.
Instead of targeting drivers for symptoms of industry pressures that lead to fatigue, working long hours, speeding or other unsafe behaviours, the TWU has called for information on supply chain investigations instead in its letter.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine sent the letter to NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto regarding the ‘state-wide operation’ being conducted in NSW on written work diary and electronic work diary compliance, as well as a recent prosecution of a truck driver for a fatigue breach.
“The TWU shares your grave concern for the rise in Australia’s road toll as well as the serious safety implications of being on the road too long with insufficient rest. However, the TWU does not support a public announcement of a “blitz” on driver compliance,” Kaine says in the letter.
“This sends completely the wrong signal to drivers and to the general community, that somehow on-road dangers in the road transport industry can be fixed by aggressively prosecuting those who have the least power to make structural and meaningful industry change.
“While the TWU acknowledges the responsibility of truck drivers to abide by the law, we know too that drivers do not “choose” to work long hours of their own free will. Rather, drivers often report that they feel pressured to do so to stay in business, keep their job, or prevent their employer from losing transport contracts. These pressures begin with the owners of freight at the top of the supply chain – those who set out the terms of transport contracts.”
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In the letter, Kaine says a 2021 TWU survey of 1,100 road transport workers found that one in five have been pressured to falsify logbooks, one in four have been pressured by employers to drive past legal hours and skip rest breaks, and 42 per cent of owner drivers said they didn’t raise safety concerns through fear of losing pay.
“This evidence points to an industry under immense pressure from the top of the supply chain. Until these pressures are put under the microscope, drivers and operators will continue to shoulder the burden of the symptoms of a broken industry and fatigue breaches will continue to occur with tragic consequences,” Kaine says.
“In other words, to make meaningful change and save lives on our roads, the root causes of the ongoing road transport industry crisis must be addressed, not only the symptoms. Fatigue, overloading, speeding, the use of artificial stimulants to stay awake; all of these are symptoms of unchecked supply chain and contractual pressure.
“Accordingly, what is required is not a driver compliance blitz but a thorough effort to identify and rectify the supply chain/contract pressures that result in drivers being placed in the mortal danger of working unsafely.”
The TWU has asked that the NHVR provides the TWU with the following:
- The plan (including commencement date) relating to the public launch of supply chain investigations or “blitzes” in order to publicise and target the root causes of industry pressures that promote poor on-road decision making.
- Information setting out the nature and extent of supply chain investigations being conducted in relation to the driver found to have worked 19.5 hours in a 24-hour period and in relation to the considerable number of penalty notices issued in relation to fatigue.
- Information setting out the scope of the recently announced NSW driver blitz, including what constitutes a ‘fatigue related offence’. For example, are clerical errors in work diaries, such as misspelling or failing to complete all contact information, included in this category and operation?