The ATA has called on Australia’s transport ministers to potentially reduce fines for paperwork mistakes by truck drivers and to concentrate on real safety issues.
The ATA chair, Mark Perry has made the call, imploring transport ministers to reduce fines for minor fatigue breaches and paperwork mistakes under the national truck law.
Parry released the ATA’s submission to the National Transport Commission (NTC) on the exposure drafts of the planned Heavy Vehicle National Law amendment bill and regulations.
The HVNL under the supervision of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, regulates trucks in every state except WA and the NT, and has been under review since 2019.
“The ATA and its members have argued throughout the review that the fines for minor fatigue breaches and paperwork mistakes are too high,” Parry said.
“These can include a $200 fine for failing to draw a vertical line in a work diary or a $530 fine for taking a 12 minute rest break instead of 15 minutes.
“There is no connection between minor offences like these and improving safety. In fact, it’s the opposite. Imposing high penalties for minor offences means that people focus on getting their paperwork right, instead of looking after what’s important: getting everyone home safely,” Perry added.
“The NTC reviewed the 349 offences in the law and recommended reducing 21 penalties, including the penalties for minor fatigue offences. The reduced penalties would still be too high, but they would be fairer than the ones we have now.
“Our submission urges transport ministers to agree to the results of the penalties review. In addition, infringement notices for work diary paperwork offences should be reduced from $200 to $150.
“A $150 fine would still be a large penalty for failing to draw a vertical line, but it’s a lot more reasonable than $200,” he said.
Parry said transport ministers should reconsider draft amendments that would limit the NHVR’s ability to set the work and rest hours for drivers working for trucking businesses with advanced fatigue management systems.
“The hard outer limits in the draft would require 24 operators to restrict their operations. The change would affect more than 480 drivers, who would have to spend more time away from home to do the same work,” Parry said.
“The regulator should be able to set the work and rest hours and split rest rules for the small number of businesses and drivers who work under these advanced systems, often with the use of fatigue detection technology.
“If our recommendation is not adopted, ministers should specify a fatigue risk management standard for the regulator to follow, rather than setting arbitrary limits in the regulations,” he said.
The submission also recommends that the definition of ‘unfit to drive’ in the exposure draft be rewritten in objective terms, that the fatigue rules for drivers who make trips to and from Western Australia and the Northern Territory be simplified, that ministers approve codes of practice issued under the law, in line with the approach in the Work Health and Safety Act, and that the conflict of interest provisions for new appointments to the NHVR board be strengthened.
