As the Australian truck industry heads into another year, there are plenty of challenges rearing their head. From productivity, safety and fatigue issues, to law reforms, the industry has no shortage of qualms to raise with policy makers around the nation. In November, the topic of heavy vehicle licensing requirements once again came to the fore. It all started with a tragic accident.
On April 5 last year, a two-way truck crash along the Eyre Highway at Yalata claimed the lives of three people. One of them was Neville ‘Slim’ Mugridge, a well-known and beloved member of the local trucking industry. While the incident caused ripples across the sector, it also spurred on Slim’s wife Delphine to campaign to improve licensing requirements in South Australia.
These changes came to fruition in late November when the South Australian government announced massive changes to its heavy vehicle licensing scheme.
“I am very pleased to see the state government adopt these changes that should help save lives,” Delphine says.
“It is comforting to know that Neville hasn’t died in vain.”
Under the changes made by the SA government, from February onwards, new MC class permit requirements will be introduced while the state government will no longer recognise overseas heavy vehicle driving experience (except for New Zealand) when drivers wish to obtain a MC licence in the state.
When it comes to the MC class permit requirements, the SA government will establish a new MC Licence Program that will see drivers take part in a “structured learning program” with their employer’s support. Once a driver receives their employer’s support to apply for a MC licence learner’s permit, they will then have to complete a competency-based training course through an approved Registered Training Organisation before logging a minimum number of training hours and learning components under the guidance of a qualified supervising driver.
For HR licence holders, a minimum of 60 logged hours of supervised driving and learning is required, while HC licence holders only need 50 hours to graduate to a practical driving assessment in a MC vehicle to receive the licence. The second change means the SA government no longer recognises any overseas heavy vehicle driving experience when it comes to obtaining a MC licence except for New Zealand drivers due to their similar training and driving conditions.
For drivers looking to gain a MC licence in South Australia, they’ll have to hold a HR or HC licence for at least 12 months or complete the newly established MC Licence Program.
South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) executive officer Steve Shearer was at the announcement of the licensing changes and is a firm believer the changes being made are the right ones for the state’s trucking industry.
“As we said on April 5, the loss of three truck drivers in the head-on truck-truck crash west of Yalata was another tragic loss of life and we extend our sincere condolences to the families of those drivers and their friends and associates,” he says.
“These important changes might give them some solace that the deaths of their family members have provided some positive reform.
“SA transport minister Tom Koutsantonis and the SA government have stepped forward and decided not to wait any longer for a ‘national solution’ and that SA would be the first state to take positive and effective action.”
Shearer is hopeful the initiatives will be adopted interstate, with SARTA set to begin working nationally to get the changes made in other jurisdictions. While the current time periods outlined for graduating to an MC licence have been made clear, Shearer says these are only minimum periods – some drivers may need more than 100 hours of training before they reach the competency required to gain the licence.
“SARTA has pushed for changes to the licensing of HV drivers from overseas for some 15 years, but we were always met with arguments from officials that nothing can be done because of the 1939 Geneva Convention on Land Transport, under the control of the Department for Foreign Affairs, which allows overseas drivers to use their overseas licences here,” Shearer says.
“As usual, SARTA did not give up and we kept pushing the issue at every opportunity within SA and nationally. In recent years, the changing dynamic on the roads has increased the need and the pressure for change.”
Shearer says he knows the authorities understand the current extended downtime of the rail to Perth due to flood damage, meaning there are many more trucks on the Eyre Highway and that most of the extra rigs and drivers are from interstate and are unfamiliar with the route.
“The exorbitant rates being thrown around by rail-freight operators and customers who are desperate to get their freight to Perth doesn’t help,” Shearer says.
“We will all have to await the findings of the crash investigation, but if anything good is to come out of this triple fatality, it must be the widespread and rock-solid reinforcement of the absolute need for everyone within the trucking business, from the drivers right back to the owners and MDs and boards of large corporates, to ensure they have genuine and effective safety measures, systems and training in place to ensure safety.
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“That must include measures to remove all pressure on drivers, logistics managers and others and, if need be, replace any who refuse to operate safely.
“We can’t change the geography or shorten the distance between Adelaide and Perth, or anywhere else, so there is absolutely no point in bending it like Beckham. The journey is what it is and if every driver and operator did what the vast majority do and operated completely safely and responsibly, sharing the road safely, avoiding unnecessary overtaking or speeding and accepting a responsibility of care for all other road users, then we just might see heavy vehicle crashes become a rarity.”
However, Shearer’s wish to spread these licensing changes wider to other jurisdictions is meeting some opposition in the industry. For National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) CEO Warren Clark, he believes the changes have made licensing more complicated in the state.
“We don’t see it as an advancement at all – training must be competency based, not time based,” Clark told OwnerDriver.
“The changes have missed this point – because it’s now more complicated to get a MC licence in South Australia, people will just go over the border. There’s no mention of training aptitude, awareness and competency, which are key components of a low-risk driver.”
Clark says time based requirements don’t provide this same safety focus in drivers who receive their MC licence, as drivers can still get their HC licence and deliver for 12 months before receiving the higher licence.
“We’ve constantly argued that time is not the issue when it comes to licensing,” Clark says.
“People shouldn’t be able to drive a heavy vehicle in this country without a training system that helps people become competent and safe while holding the right attitude when on the roads.
“I also disagree with the inclusion of New Zealand driving experience towards a MC licence – New Zealand doesn’t have the same conditions as South Australia. If you come from another country, you need to have an Australian licence, and to get that you should be trained and rewarded with a licence based on competency.”
At the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA), CEO Gary Mahon has echoed Clark’s calls that licensing should be based on competency. He has a simple message – if you’re deemed good enough, then you’re ready.
“We need to look at the appropriate assessment procedures and licensing arrangements,” he told OwnerDriver. “I’m not overly focused on time served, I’m not sure it brings the right value. I instead would rather reward skill and capability.”
Moving forward, Clark’s goal is to create a national framework for heavy vehicle licensing that means all jurisdictions have the same competency based requirements in place for drivers looking to receive a MC licence. It is hoped that under this system, tragedies such as what occurred on April 5, 2024 will become a rarity due to highly trained, low risk drivers receiving their MC licenses and hitting the roads.
“Licensing is currently a state-based system – I think there needs to be a change where states work together to make licensing requirements the same,” Clark says.
“It all comes back to making sure they’re trained. Time holding a licence means nothing – we need a recognised standard training program across the country. The licence shouldn’t give you the qualification, the qualification should give you the licence.”
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