National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) president Glyn Castanelli has penned a letter to law enforcement to include ‘inform, educate and enforce’ in the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
It comes after the NHVR released its response to the HVNL Constitution Regulatory Impact Statement, which stated that it supports the ‘inform, educate and enforce’ model to the HVNL, making sure drivers aren’t unnecessarily fined for minor breaches.
“The NHVR supports changes to the fatigue laws that provide NHVR Safety and Compliance Officers with more ability and tools to better utilise this approach with the heavy vehicle industry, including the ability to issue formal warnings without current constraints,” the regulator says.
“Sometime ago NRFA Past President Rod Hannifey wrote to all state enforcement agencies (police) seeking leniency when dealing with truck drivers on the roadside with minor work and rest hour breaches and mistakes within the work diary,” Castanelli says in the letter.
“The unanimous response was, police can only enforce what is in the law and there is no leniency written into the law.
“The NRFA now calls for the HVNL to include the NHVR’s enforcement policy of: “Inform, Educate and Enforce” for all on road enforcement agencies.”
Castanelli believes that changing the approach to regulating minor breaches will improve attitudes from the industry towards law enforcement.
“NRFA members and the broader transport community acknowledge these enforcement changes made by the NHVR have made interceptions more friendly and proactive towards safety, yet we still must deal with a different set of rules when dealing with police,” he says.
“The NRFA are seeking support from industry to encourage all State Transport Ministers to adopt the NHVR strategy of “Inform, Educate and Enforce” and have it included in the pending release of the Heavy Vehicle National Law 2.
“Having these three little words “Inform, Educate and Enforce” included in HVNL will enable a uniform approach to on road enforcement from all enforcement agencies and ensure that all drivers are treated reasonably and with respect for minor matters regarding work diary discretions.
“It will go a long way to removing the negativity within industry caused by the current unbalanced enforcement approach.
“It will give all drivers, new and old, the chance to learn from their mistakes, instead of being turned off our industry for good after receiving excessive penalties for minor and low risk breaches or mistakes.”
Castanelli says the NRFA is planning to engage Australia’s transport ministers on this change to the HVNL.
“Over the coming months prior to the HVNL 2 legislative package being delivered to the transport ministers in December, the NRFA are seeking meetings with all state transport ministers to discuss the need to have these three little words included in the HVNL,” he says.
“We don’t need to convene another round of Reviews and Consultations to make this simple change to the law, just acknowledge what has been proven to work and do it.
“This is a decision transport ministers can make knowing full well that it is already proven a success by the NHVR whom they all task with the enforcement of the HVNL within their states.”