TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - ATA identifies 245 issues with proposed truck laws

(Picture from ritemail.blogspot: Australia NTFS' road train)

Canberra,ACT,Australia -Australian Trucking Association/Logistics Magazine -25 May 2011: -- The National Transport Commission (NTC) needs to undertake a clause by clause rework of the draft national truck laws, the Chairman of the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), David Simon, has said...  The new truck laws, first proposed in 2009, will see a single national truck regulator introduced in 2013...  Simon said that while the proposed law offered obvious benefits to the trucking industry, there were still flaws...  According to Simon, ATA’s policy and legal teams have so far identified 245 issues with the draft law that need to be resolved...  Simon has urged ministers to consider a number of policy issues further, including:

* The NTC recommendation not to allow external review of access decisions by road managers;

* The recommendation not to provide operators in TruckSafe with the same regulatory benefits as operators in NHVAS, even though TruckSafe delivers comparable or better safety outcomes;

* The inconsistent approach in the draft to chain of responsibility and the need for the national regulator to be responsible for significant CoR investigations; and

* The need for the national regulator to have oversight of enforcement agencies.

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - ATA rejects planned fuel, registration increases

ATA: There is no case for the planned increase in the trucking industry’s fuel and registration charges

Canberra,Australia -ATA Friday Facts -25 March 2011:  ...   The National Transport Commission (NTC) has advised the Australian Government to increase the effective fuel tax paid by the trucking industry by 2.4 per cent from 1 July 2011. As a result, the fuel tax credits received by trucking operators would fall from 15.543 cents per litre to 15.043 cents per litre...  Truck registration charges would also increase by 2.4 per cent...  The ATA’s submission in response to the advice said many trucking operators could not afford to pay any increase in charges...

The submission also said:

* any increases should be delayed until 1 October to give trucking operators six months to negotiate price increases with their customers.

* the very high charges on lead or A-trailers were stopping operators from using safer and more productive trucks like B-doubles. It called on governments to consider a windback of A/lead trailer charges, as well as the introduction of part-year registration payments without penalties and concessional registrations for A-trailers used permanently in road trains.

* the cost allocation arrangements for future years must not bill the trucking industry for the cost of rebuilding the road network after the floods. These rebuilding costs should be met by the community as a whole because they are due to weathering, not truck use.

* the increase was based on an underestimate of the charges already paid by trucking operators. The trucking industry already pays more than enough to cover the costs allocated to it, so there is no case for a charge increase.

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - Pressured truck drivers told to speak up

Drivers who feel pressured by their employers to work longer hours and go a greater distance are encouraged to contact the police

Melbourne,VIC,Australia -ATN, by Ruza Zivkusic -March 18, 2011: ... Victoria Police Superintendent David Newton, who works as a transport industry liaison officer, believes more drivers are put under greater stress by their managers and therefore take drugs to stay awake... During selective drug testing, one in 20 drivers was found to have used amphetamines while on the road, Newton says. He says the problem is not improving and is particularly prevalent in the long haul sector... Police are targeting the problem by visiting companies and holding forums with Victorian Transport Association (VTA) members... Newton says there was a significant increase in heavy vehicle fatalities last year despite a fall in the overall road toll... (Photo from abc.net.au: The scene where a milk truck crashed into a Victoria Park car dealership office)

* Patrick fee increase riles ATA

Port Botany,NSW,Australia -Supply Chain Review, by Brad Gardner -March 16, 2011: -- Patrick Stevedores is facing a backlash from the trucking industry after it announced yesterday it will increase slot booking and phone booking charges at Port Botany...  The terminal operator will more than double the slot booking charge from $4.75 to $9.75 from March 28, while the phone booking fee will increase from $15 to $20 on the same date...  Patrick claims the increase is due to the cost of complying with the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy (PBLIS), but the NSW branch of the Australian Trucking Association says transport operators should not bear the cost...  In a message to ATA NSW members, manager Jill Lewis says Patrick should recoup higher running costs from the shipping lines...  The PBLIS applies to stevedores and the trucking industry, the spokeswoman says shipping lines should not face higher charges to cover Patrick's compliance costs...  The spokeswoman questioned the NSW ATA’s decision to consider lodging a complaint with the ACCC because Patrick complied with the 60-day notification requirement and Sydney Ports approved the new charges... (Photo: Port Botany view)

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - Queensland or bust: transporters fight the floods

Hundreds of trucks are either idle in the yard or stuck on the roadsides as the floodwaters close roads

(Photo from media.kansas: Tow truck workers clear vehicles from a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, following a flash flood)

Victoria,QLD,Australia -Transport & Logistic News -13 Jan 2011: -- Transport companies are going to extraordinary lengths to supply as much of Queensland as they possibly can, but hundreds of trucks are either idle in the yard or stuck on the roadsides as the floodwaters close roads...   The Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Queensland Trucking Association, NatRoad, ATA NSW, the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) and the Australian Livestock Transporters’ Association (ALTA) coalitioned warning transporters not to leave home. Trucking companies should not despatch trucks to south east Queensland or northern New South Wales unless they have scoped the route and know their trucks can get through safely, six of Australia’s trucking industry bodies has warned...   But many transporters are attempting circuitous routes to keep freight moving...  Supermarkets and their suppliers are trying everything to get through...  Logistics companies and retailers are sending trucks on wide swings through western Queensland, directing goods into the state from the Northern Territory rail line, and launching barges up the coast to help supply the far north with life's basics...

* Canberra - Spare a thought for transport drivers. This catastrophe has highlighted the realisation that without trucks Australia stops

Canberra,Australia -Transport &  Logistic News -17 Jan 2011:  --  The restocking of shelves, the removal of the debris, the delivery of timber and furniture, the reconstruction of roads and the supply of fuel are reliant on the Australian transport drivers – mostly family men who leave their families for weeks on end transporting the goods to rebuild the nation...  Transport drivers across the country have been vastly affected by the devastating floods that have swept the nation, but their work is expected, not appreciated or acknowledged...  Whilst some trucks have been washed away, other drivers have been stranded for days, fully laden with freight waiting to get supplies into flood affected areas at the first opportunity. Some traversing flooded roads and dangerous conditions in hope to get supplies through...  With many warehouses and transport depots flooded, their destination for unloading is unknown...  Road closures and road damage is another contributing factor to this catastrophe. Fuel stations have to have tanks pumped before petrol /diesel can be delivered. One tanker has enough diesel to fill only 35 trucks. With the refineries in Queensland closed all this has to come from interstate...  One driver was stranded for 8 days; others entered raging flood waters to save lives in the height of the devastation. Those parked up on roadsides, with up to 250 in one area, ran out of money and food, with some being flood-affected themselves, leaving their families at home to face the devastation. Drivers across the country have been stood down as there is nowhere to take the freight, whilst others are doing 21-hour trips, zigzagging across the nation to get freight to a destination that would otherwise take just seven hours...  As the flood crisis spreads to other states, there are more restrictions on freight movement and the impact is going to be even worse. Drivers do not get paid unless the wheels are turning...

* Victoria - Kings buys Forum Transport

Notting Hill,VIC,USA -Transport & Logistic News -10 Jan 2011: --  Kings Transport Logistics (Kings) has acquired Forum Transport (Forum) effective 10 January 2011...  Forum has operated out of Seven Hills, NSW, for 16 years, providing services to customers predominately in the Sydney Metropolitan area. More recently it has expanded its services across the eastern seaboard...  Forum’s identical vehicle design and fit-out, providing consistent freight movements, has been one of company’s the attractive features for Kings...  The Forum business will continue to trade as Forum Transport and work out of its Seven Hills location over the short to medium-term timeframe...

* Canberra - Fair Work works for truck drivers

Canberra,Australian Capital Territory,Australia -Transport & Logistic News -13 Jan 2011: -- Fair Work Australia has successfully pursued several transport companies, leading to truck drivers receiving significant payments.

* Victoria: Two truck drivers at Bendigo are being reimbursed more than $67,000 after an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found they were underpaid... After Fair Work inspectors contacted the employer and explained its obligations, the company agreed to back-pay them...

* Tasmania: Two Tasmanian transport workers have been back-paid a total of $36,100 after investigations by the Fair Work Ombudsman found they were underpaid.


The Fair Work Ombudsman has a number of tools on its website - www.fairwork.gov.au - to assist employees and employers to check minimum rates of pay, including PayCheck, Payroll Check and a Pay Rate Calculator... Small to medium-sized businesses without human resources staff can also ensure they are better equipped when hiring, managing and dismissing employees by using free template employment documentation with step-by-step instructions...

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - Health of trucking at stake

Melbourne,VIC,Australia -Supply Chain Review -December 8, 2010: -- The health of the trucking industry is at stake, according to the Victorian Transport Association (VTA), which is telling customers accept cost increases or risk sending transporters broke...   VTA CEO, Philip Lovel, has issued a plea to clients following the release of the latest cost index figures from the association showing a 3.89 percent rise in transport costs...  Lovel says labour accounts for most of the rise (2.43 percent), followed by interest rates, capital costs and fuel prices. Administration costs also jumped as the industry grapples with more regulatory obligations...  Lovel says interest rates and vehicle capital costs added 0.75 percent to the rise, followed by fuel at 0.36 percent...  His call for customers to pay follows comments from Ferrier Hodgson's, Brendan Richards, who says compliance costs for transporters are increasing while freight rates are decreasing...  Richards believes small trucking companies are struggling to compete with larger carriers such as Toll and Linfox because they cannot meet customer demands for a comprehensive transport and logistics solution...

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Australia - ATA hopes port reforms will deliver for trucking

To improve landside efficiency and ensure trucking operators are paid for waiting times

Sydney,NSW,Australia -Supply Chain -December 6, 2010: -- The first phase of reforms to the running of Port Botany begins today to improve landside efficiency and ensure trucking operators are paid for waiting times... Following the recent approval by Ports and Waterways Minister, Eric Roozendaal, the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy (PBLIS) has been introduced... Sydney Ports will now begin gathering landside performance information from stevedores and setting a new rail service charge... PBLIS will be introduced progressively, with paid waiting times to take effect from early next year. Currently only trucking operators are penalised for missing schedules... The NSW branch of the Australian Trucking Association hopes the changes will lead to faster turnaround times for trucks and a reduction in traffic congestion...

* Victoria - Linfox snaps up new Freightliner truck

Essendon Fields,VIC,Australia -Supply Chain, by Gary Worrall -December 3, 2010: -- Linfox is the first major fleet to sign on the dotted line for the Coronado, Freightliner’s new hero truck launched last week...  With 50 units ordered for road train operations in South and Western Australia, Linfox says the trucks will be used to service jobs in the resources sector, where the company is finding its work “expanding”...  Freightliner’s Coronado enjoyed its full public debut in Melbourne on Wednesday, with a media preview of the new model...  Held at the picturesque Flemington racecourse in central Melbourne, the Coronado launch is the first in a series of new or updated Freightliners arriving down under over the next 18 months...