News update from LBRCA

For this new initiative, LBRCA will partner with OzHelp Foundation to deliver 4 free online 'Health in Gear' Webinars - and free 'Health Tune Ups' - to small business owners and their staff who operate or support road freight transport businesses in regional NSW.

Health In Gear is a wellbeing program developed by OzHelp in partnership with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator and the Australian Government Department of Health, and industry including LBRCA.
 
The 1.5-hour webinars will be held across 4 ‘Truckie Tuesdays’ in November, hosted by LBRCA to an estimated audience of 300 small business representatives. Speakers will include a Registered Nurse, Dietitian, Financial Advisor, Workers Compensation specialist, mental health professional and a representative from the Heart Foundation.

The Webinars will provide guidance and advice with respect to general health, financial health, nutrition, mental health, and general wellbeing. Participants will receive a free ‘Health Tune Up’ post-event as well as a ‘Health in Gear’ pack including tips for managing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Health Tune Ups provide participants with an opportunity to undertake a mobile health check where blood pressure/cholesterol tests are completed, referrals arranged, and ongoing support provided.

This opportunity has been made possible through the NSW governments Small Business Month grant program.  This month-long program of activities to be held in November 2022 is designed to support small businesses across the state.

Registrations will open on 1 October 2022.

In line with a decision of Infrastructure and Transport Ministers in April 2022, the Australian Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister, Catherine King, will table the legislative instrument allowing for an increase in the heavy vehicle road user charge.

The charge will increase by 0.8 cents per litre effective from 29 September 2022, which will coincide with an increase in the fuel excise tax credit to 18.8 cents per litre that will offset the impact for heavy vehicle users.

Read more here.

Thursday 22 September 2022 has been declared a public holiday in NSW by the Minister for Employee Relations Damien Tudehope under section 5 of the Public Holidays Act 2010. 

This means shops and retailers can trade as they normally would on other public holidays, such as Australia Day or New Year’s Day.  

For employers and employees, the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 regarding working on public holidays will apply.

More information on those provisions can be found here.

Did you know that 8 years before she became queen, upon the death of her father George VI, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a truck mechanic (registration number 230873).

The Upper Hunter Shire Council says that the $50m upgrade of Coulson’s Creek Road between Merriwa and Willowtree is in limbo after a meeting with the new Federal Infrastructure Minister, the Hon. Catherine King.  The $50 million had been pledged by the former coalition government. 

Catherine King said it wasn’t a Labor election promise and their government are currently reviewing what projects get through. 

The final report on a coordinated ‘mock stock theft’ verifying the crime prevention capability of a new generation animal ear tag has been released by the University of New England, AU Centre for Rural Criminology.

The report highlights the effectiveness of the data provided through the new tag technology designed by Australian company Ceres Tag for both promptly alerting farmers to stock theft and enabling rapid and effective response and recovery by law enforcement.

The ‘mock theft’ involved monitoring data from 20 tagged sheep as they were moved from farms towards the Tamworth abattoirs.  Twelve minutes after the arrival of the thieves, a formal high activity alert was received from six of the 20 tags.  This indicated that the sheep were being agitated or moving much faster than normal.  The NSW Police were able to track and intercept the vehicle with the sheep within 25 minutes following notification of the theft.

Read the full report here. 

Due to the special public holiday on Thursday 22 September 2022 to mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we have moved our COR and SMS training session scheduled in Albury on this day, to Friday 23 September.  The new dates for the southern sessions are:

Cooma – Monday 19 September
Queanbeyan – Tuesday 20 September
Deniliquin – Wednesday 21 September
Albury – Friday 22 September

Sessions kick off at 8.30am and conclude by 3.00pm.  Tea/coffee, lunch as well as all learning resources are provided.

Register here.

The Heavy Vehicle Operator Safety Information Program (HVOSIP) is a NSW online platform where regulatory information is shared between heavy vehicle drivers, registered operators and organisations that have legal obligations (such as the Chain of Responsibility) under the Heavy Vehicle National Law. 

On 13 September 2022, two new features were added to HVOSIP in response to heavy vehicle operators and industry bodies asking for the existing ‘traffic light’ demerit point range feature to instead show drivers’ demerit points.

The changes 

• Operators can see their drivers’ demerit points when they access the HVOSIP Multiple Driver Licence and Demerit Point Check system. Where there was previously a blank or red, amber or green dot next to a driver’s name in the ‘Demerit Status’ column, it now shows the number of demerits the driver has accumulated.
• A ‘Good Behaviour Status’ column has been added to show a ‘Yes’ if a driver has been granted good behaviour, which allows them only two demerit points.  

These additions will improve road safety outcomes by increasing visibility of drivers’ demerit points for operators. They also give operators opportunities to reduce risks and support drivers before they reach their maximum points.

• Conditions of access: Under privacy law, operators must obtain a signed version of the updated Driver Consent Form(released 8 September 2022) from a driver before they run an enquiry. If the updated form is not signed, operators must not run an enquiry to view the driver’s demerit points and can only access the system to search drivers who have submitted the updated form. 
• How to access: Registered operators can access HVOSIP Online as normal.
• Further information: Fact sheets for operators and drivers are available on the Roads and Waterways HVOSIP web page.

If you have any questions about the program, please contact DLC@transport.nsw.gov.au. For any technical help, please contact driveshelpdesk@transport.nsw.gov.au. 

The National Transport Commission have released a consultation paper, presenting three different options for setting heavy vehicle charges commencing in 2023-24.

According to the NTC, the heavy vehicle cost base for 2020-21 which underpins heavy vehicle charges for 2022-23 is $4,302.9 million. Estimated heavy vehicle charges revenue for 2022-23 is $3,727.1 million. This leaves a revenue gap of $575.8 million.

The heavy vehicle cost base for 2021-22 has increased by approximately 20.7% to $5,193.4 million. This is $1,448.1 million more than estimated heavy vehicle charges revenue in 2023-24 if heavy vehicle charges do not increase above current levels.

Heavy vehicle charges revenue would need to increase by approximately 38.7 per cent to achieve full cost recovery.

The NTC has presented three options for setting heavy vehicle charges from 2023-24 onwards.

• Option 1: Increase heavy vehicle charges by 2.75 per cent per annum – This is the same percentage increase as agreed by ITMM for 2022-23 heavy vehicle charges
• Option 2: Increase heavy vehicle charges by 6 per cent per annum – This is close to the current rate of consumer price inflation.  Consumer price inflation was 6.1 per cent in the year ending June 2022.
• Option 3: Increase heavy vehicle charges by 10 per cent per annum – This is higher than Option 2 but would still be insufficient to reduce the revenue gap below $1b by Year 3.

Read the consultation paper here.

The Mitchell Highway is closed in both directions between Molong and Wellington due to flooding at Neurea and Cundumbul.  Motorists are advised to delay their travel through the area as there is no suitable diversion at this time. 

At Forbes, Lachlan Valley Way is closed in all directions at Ercildoune Lane.  Motorists travelling to Gooloogong can divert via the Newell Highway, Mid Western Highway, Gooloogong Road, and Warraderry Way.
Those travelling to Cowra can divert via Wongajong Road, Red Bed Road, Wirrinya Road, Newell Highway and Mid Western Highway. 

Also at Forbes, The Escort Way is closed in both directions between Parkes-Eugowra Road and Riflerange Road.  Traffic can divert via Newell Highway to Parkes, Clarinda Street and Eugowra Road to Eugowra. 

For the latest traffic information, download the Live Traffic NSW app, visit www.livetraffic.com or call 132 701.

The announcement this week by Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP of a $49.5 million dollar package of measures to secure domestic supply of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) is welcome news to LBRCA and our members.

The investment over four years is a comprehensive package that includes funding to establish an emergency stockpile of Technical Grade Urea which is the critical component of DEF.  The funding will also support sovereign manufacturing capability and increase transparency in the market.

The measures aim to provide government with a controlled strategic stockpile of 7500 tonnes of TFU providing an additional five weeks of supply beyond industry stock levels in case of a supply shortage.

Read more here.

To carry out road repairs, there will be a detour in place for all vehicles travelling southbound on the Hume Highway at Marulan between 7pm and 5am on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September 2022.   The detour will be via Medway Road.  Please allow up to an additional 5 minutes of travel time.

While the detour is in place, the BP Service Centre southbound and surrounding businesses will be closed, as well as the on and off ramps to the southbound service centre.  Heavy vehicles are encouraged to use alternative rest areas during the work.

The Freight Transport Advisory Council (FTAC) met on Wednesday 7 September, chaired by independent member Hon Duncan Gay.

Since the inaugural meeting in June, the membership has identified three priority areas for the Council that cut across the whole supply chain. The priority areas agreed by the Council are freight integration, seamless supply chains, and sustainability. These priority areas have been distilled from discussion on the need to consider the role of freight at each point in the supply chain and the importance of understanding freight from an operational and policy perspective within the broader system.

Read the full Communique here.

A contract to carry out early works for a new-look interchange at Coxs River Road has been awarded.  Work on the 2.4km section between Little Hartley and Lithgow is now scheduled to begin later this month.  The Great Western Highway upgrade will be a game changer for anyone travelling through the Blue Mountains. 

The duplication of the highway will begin early next year.

The NSW government has expanded free access to the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine for residents living in affected regional areas of NSW.  The JE vaccine is now recommended for people aged 50 years or older, who spend more than four hours per day outside and who live or work in any of the following Local Government Areas (LGA’s):

Albury, Balranald, Berrigan, Carrathool, Dubbo, Edward River, Federation, Goulburn Mulwaree, Greater Hume, Griffith, Lockhart, Murray River, Temora, or Wentworth.

This is in addition to the current eligible group of people who work with pigs.

The JE vaccine is available through local GP’s.  People should make an appointment with their GP and let them know it is for the JE vaccine.  GPs may require a few days’ notice so they can order the vaccine.

JE is a serious disease caused by the JE virus and is spread to humas by infected mosquitoes.  People are not able to pass the virus to other people.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has amended the Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Road Rules) Regulation 2009 (Queensland Road Rules) for B-triple road train combinations.

Effective 9 September 2022, the definition of a B-triple road train combination in the Queensland Road Rules will align with the Heavy Vehicle National Law. 

This means B-triple road train combinations will be permitted to travel at speeds of up to 100 km/h in Queensland.  However, all other road train combinations are permitted to travel at speeds of up to 90 km/h only.

Read more about the changes here.

Phase 2 of the National Heavy Vehicle Charging Pilot got underway on 1st July 2022, testing a more direct road user charging option based on distance travelled. Distance measuring hubodometers and brackets were sent out to participants in the preceding months. These devices are being professionally installed and requests for permit recharge requests to ‘pre-purchase’ kilometers through an online portal have already been recieved.

You can still join Phase 2, just fill out this form Contact the National Pilot.

Phase 2 will run until 30th June 2023.  Two short videos showing how to recharge permits on your mobile device or PC have been produced.  These are:

• Recharge your permit on a PC
• Recharge your permit on a mobile device

More information on the Pilot can be found here.

The Transport for NSW website contains a selection of useful documents for heavy vehicle drivers and operators including Notices and ministerial orders as well as a range of forms covering the Intelligent Access Program (IAP), Livestock Loading Scheme (NSWLLS), NSW rebates and general heavy vehicle forms.  View the range of documents here.

Since the introduction of the HVNL the following notices and ministerial orders are only applicable in NSW:

• State HVNL notices are state-based notices that have been made using provisions in the new national laws.
• NSW Transitional notices and ministerial orders continue to remain in effect in NSW under section 748 of the HVNL.

All other national notices can be accessed on the NHVR website.

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