Road safety is a vital priority for those working in the trucking industry, and government planning should reflect this. With the rising number of road incidents and 1,324 lives lost on Australian roads over the past 12 months, the need for governments to urgently address road user safety and bring these worrying overall statistics down is clear.
The 27 per cent increase in the incident rate for heavy vehicles over 12 months should be enough of an incentive to governments to take the initiative and make some much needed changes. NatRoad is calling for a series of initiatives aimed at reducing the current road toll, including road improvements and educating road users.
NatRoad has outlined its approach to safety and other pressing issues facing the road transport industry in the ‘Road to 2028’, a document setting out priorities for NatRoad’s reform agenda. We need safer roads, higher skill levels in the workforce, trucking operators working with defined costs, increases in productivity and a move towards lower emissions. All the priorities outlined in ‘Road to 2028’ would contribute towards improving safety outcomes.
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We are calling for higher standards on our major highways under the AusRAP rating system. The current target, taking the rating of 80 per cent of roads up to three stars or above by 2030, should be raised to hit a higher target of 100 per cent by 2035. Investing to achieve this aim will not only bring better safety outcomes, it will improve productivity. Statistics show that raising the AusRAP star rating on a road by just one star leads to a reduction of road deaths on that road by 50 per cent.
NatRoad welcomes the $7.2 billion in new funding to bring the Bruce Highway up to a three-star safety rating. We are emphasising the need for urgency in this new funding to turn around the highway’s appalling safety record. As one of the nation’s significant freight routes, we also need to see a long-term plan and consistent funding into the future.
We need safer roads, and one of the biggest issues among all road users is that of fatigue. Improving heavy vehicle rest stops must be a major priority, alongside bringing our major highways up to a higher standard. Including rest stops in the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) would put the safety and effectiveness of rest stops under scrutiny and, ideally, see them improved.
On that topic, we welcome the recent good news about a planned heavy vehicle rest area in Western Sydney, where the federal and state governments will put $40 million each to establish a purpose-built rest area on the greenfield site at Eastern Creek in Sydney. This is an example of the kind of spending required to address our members’ safety concerns and we’ll be working to ensure this new rest area provides key facilities that truckies need.
We also welcome further funding to improve heavy vehicle access in Tasmania and improve rest areas in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and regional NSW, where $11.9 million is going towards increasing parking bays available to trucks and the marking of 14 new green reflector sites.
The other priorities laid out in ‘Road to 2028’ include a drive for a skilled workforce, reducing the uncertainty around the costs of doing business, increasing productivity and moving towards lower emission trucks, all of which will contribute to improved safety outcomes.
At NatRoad, we are calling for a Road Freight Workforce Action Plan to enable our members to employ and train people coming into the industry to a national truck driver standard. Cost uncertainty caused by others in the supply chain puts stress on truck operators and can create pressure to cut corners. Higher specification levels to meet Performance Based Standards requirements also include enhanced safety systems. As our members invest in lower emission trucks, they will also offer an improved safety level as they are introduced.
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