On Thursday 18 May the Brisbane Truck Show kicks off at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. As many of you know the Brisbane Truck Show is Australia’s largest truck and trailer showcase and once again the NHVR is proud to be supporting this industry event. This year the NHVR has taken the opportunity to take up three separate displays at the event to showcase the work being done across the regulator and to allow industry, local and state governments and our other stakeholders the ability to speak first hand with our people in relation to topics and matters that impact them.
Our first display is located inside the exhibition centre and focuses on a number of key initiatives currently underway at the NHVR including the improvements being done to the NHVR Portal to create a single entry for industry and local government to access our services and to manage their respective assets. The Portal is the NHVR’s heavy vehicle business centre, and we are taking the opportunity during the truck show to demonstrate how we are advancing the portal and what benefits this will bring to industry and local government.
This display, along with our second display which we have partnered with the Queensland Police on, will focus on our approach to heavy vehicle enforcement being centred around Inform, Educate, Enforce. We will have our Safety Compliance Officers (SCO’s) on hand alongside officers from the Queensland Police Service to speak directly with you around questions you have on compliance and enforcement activities.
Our third display will be located on Little Stanley Street and focuses on our young driver road safety campaign Don’t #uck With A Truck. This display is aimed at families and school groups who visit the exhibition and want to know more about heavy vehicles and how to drive safely around them. A big thanks to Kenny Easter from Easters Transport for lending one of his trailers for our young driver road safety display to operate alongside of!
For those of you who have not made it to a Truck Show previously I encourage you all to attend. The four days are packed with showcases and information sessions on where the industry is heading when it comes to advancements in technology and equipment which will ultimately drive safety and productivity improvements across the heavy vehicle supply chain.
Have your say at the Truck Driver Information Day for National Road Safety Week
This National Road Safety Week, the NHVR is encouraging all road users to take the pledge and make every journey safe.
The NHVR’s Stakeholder Engagement team will host Truck Driver Information Days on Monday 15 May across major freight routes in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania to discuss heavy vehicle safety and receive driver questions and feedback.
Drivers are encouraged to drop in for a chat, discuss any issues they face and find out how the NHVR can help.
Click here for more event details
Logging operator and Director prosecuted following ongoing fatigue breaches
The NHVR has prosecuted a logging company and its Director based in Tasmania, following pleas of guilty to serious offences under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
An extensive investigation by the NHVR revealed ongoing fatigue breaches by the company. Over a 12-month period, the company had 251 fatigue-related breaches which were undetected by the company and Director. Due to the management of these practices, charges were laid under sections 26G and 26H of the HVNL.
The Tasmanian Local Court issued two Supervisory Intervention Orders (SIOs) worth $100,000 to the company and Director, requiring them to address their faults in fatigue management. The court also ordered a fine of $80,000 and issued the Director a fine of $8,000.
NHVR Director of Prosecutions Belinda Hughes said both outcomes are significant as they will help improve safety across the industry.
“Both the company and the Director must now engage an accredited training provider to receive training in key areas like applying a fatigue risk management system and then administer that system,” said Ms Hughes.
Read the full article
Don’t #uck With A Truck visits the top end
The NHVR’s Don’t #uck With A Truck campaign attended Street Smart High in Darwin last week to engage with over 1000 high school students eager to learn about road safety.
Students were tested on their knowledge of sharing the road with trucks and it was great to see their responses to questions about overtaking a truck, identifying truck blind spots, and sharing how many lessons they had with an instructor or parent that focused on sharing the roads with heavy vehicles.
Students completed a short quiz and the results often astonished them! Most students only got about 30% correct and wanted to learn more about where they went wrong. The team was on hand to answer questions and provide practical tips for driving safely around trucks.
To find out more about the campaign visit www.dontmuckwithatruck.com.au
Agfest wrap up
The NHVR Stakeholder Engagement and Safety and Compliance Officers recently attended Agfest 2023. Held in Carrick, Tasmania from 4 - 6 May, our team had over 200 direct conversations with attendees.
Handouts profiling industry trends and risk management specific to the Tasmanian heavy vehicle industry were produced specifically for the event.
Owner/drivers and employees made up over 60% of attendees with an additional 10% from the farming or supply chain sectors.
Over 80% of truck drivers attending the NHVR booth identified as local or intrastate (within Tasmania) drivers.
Work diaries, mass, NHVR compliance, fatigue management, road access and vehicle standards were the most popular topics, forming over half of all discussions.
The stand was well attended by light vehicle users too who were keen to hear about NHVR’s Don’t #uck With A Truck campaign.
It was a fantastic event and provided a great opportunity to answer questions, strengthen relationships and have proactive safety and compliance conversations.
Communications survey results
In March, NHVR conducted a survey to gain a better understanding of the changing communications needs and preferences of our external and internal stakeholders.
The findings of this research informs our continuous improvement approach, ensuring our communications remain effective, timely and valuable.
We received 1,135 responses from industry stakeholders external to NHVR equating to a 38% response rate. The average time to complete the survey was three minutes.
Key findings include:
- 37% were highly satisfied with NHVR communications received.
- 49% said they are very clear on the purpose of our communications.
- 51% said they find it easy to understand NHVR communications.
- Email remains the most popular communications channel, closely followed by the On The Road newsletter.
- 59% said they ‘always’ read On The Road.
- 51% said they are very highly or highly satisfied information in On The Road.
Interestingly, over 35% respondents preferred receiving On The Road monthly (currently fortnightly). Over coming weeks, we will transition On The Road to a monthly publication featuring articles relating to safety, driver and operator tips, the role of Safety and Compliance Officers, and driver features. These topics were the most requested by respondents.