Machinery & Infrastructure
1 May, 2025
Border permits hamper freight
AUSTRALIAN Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) held its annual conference in conjunction with Livestock, Rural and Bulk Carriers Association (LRBCA, NSW) in Canberra on April 3 and 4.
ALRTA chief executive officer Anthony Boyle said all the state representatives were facing very similar issues; the first being driver shortages and lack of accredited driver training programs.
“It’s one thing to say that we don’t have enough drivers but it is quite another to have the required skill set and training to get and keep a job in this industry,” Mr Boyle said.
“It became obvious that we need to create a better pathway for young people coming into the industry to be able to gain skills and have access to proper training to become proficient and be able to work safely and efficiently.
“It’s a great industry to be involved in but we need to support prospective drivers in the role by providing training that will keep them in this industry for the long term.”
According to Mr Boyle, the council discussed some issues relating to driver license competency and is planning to consider and discuss further, adopting the South Australian model.
“We also discussed an advanced driver training program to further a drivers’ capability,” he said.
“Government bureaucracy is always an issue and particularly with PBS (Purpose Built Specifications for higher productivity) on trucks – relating to the crossing state/territory borders.
“Unfortunately, everything still goes back to state legislation and this can differ from one state to another.”
He added that while there was a National Heavy Vehicle regulator, that regulator doesn’t make the laws it just enforces them.
He believes what is really needed is a national regulation for trucks.
“We have been trying for years now, but we need an overarching body for transport around this country to enable the permit process to be less complicated,” he added.
At the moment, a truck on a single journey from Melbourne to Brisbane requires permits for each state.
An acceptable truck and trailer transport combination in New South Wales is not necessarily permitted in Victoria or South Australia.
Mr Boyle said there had been a real push from the members to get some consistency throughout Australia.
“You should be able to get a permit for your PBS combination to go from Melbourne to Brisbane, across borders in one place at the one time.
“We had, here at the conference, some examples of the latest PBS vehicles on display but they don’t fit the Victorian approved specifications (the latest models) and are still no good in Victoria, which is problematic for our businesses.
“How do you invest confidently in equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars but it’s not compliant interstate?”
In Victoria, a HPFV (High Productivity Freight Vehicle) is a heavy vehicle combination that exceeds 26 metres and/or has a gross combination mass greater than 68.5 tonnes (or a 20.0 metre semitrailer fitted with a quad-axle group operating at 50.5 tonnes).
Mr Boyle said there were 557 local government departments across Australia to liaise with – add to that the number of state and federal departments and it makes the process even more difficult to reach an agreement.