NRFA STANDS FOR THE TRUCKIE

News

12 Mar

National Road Freighters Association National Conference 2025

As most of you would be aware, there are a number of organisations who represent the trucking industry. These groups are of paramount importance when making submissions to Government for the advancement of goals that will make trucking a more viable industry in which to work and thrive.

The National Road Freighters Association or NRFA is a body of trucking professionals dedicated to giving a voice to truck drivers and (mostly) smaller fleet operators since its inception in 2008.

Bipartisanship has been a tenet of the NRFA along its journey and the organisation has strived for joint representation from industry bodies to policy makers in Canberra, believing correctly that a united voice will be more clearly heard in the halls of Parliament.

The NRFA was at the forefront of the Closing the Loopholes legislation which passed in the Senate this time last year and is just now starting to bear some fruit for the transport industry.

The prominence of the NRFA as an industry body was again highlighted this year by the attendance of Senator Glenn Sterle: Chair of Rural & Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, and his counterpart, Scott Buchholz MP. They were joined by Brent Mickleberg MP – Minister for Transport & Main Roads, Qld, Commissioner Scott Connolly – Fair Work Commission, Paul Daly – Director Strategic Policy HNVR, Don Hogben – Principle Consultant NTC and Dr. Geoff Allan –Austroads CEO.

Re-elected President of the NRFA, Glyn Castanelli opened proceedings.

“Today we come together to discuss infrastructure, but not the kind that involves roads bridges or rest areas. Today we focus on the infrastructure that holds our industry together: the people, the policies and the principles that shape our future.

“This infrastructure is built by all of us – drivers, owner-drivers, operators, industry associations, regulators, bureaucrats, governments both state and federal and even our customers. Each of us plays a role in building a transport industry that is safe and fair.

“At the NRFA we call this infrastructure Minimum Standards and they come in many forms. They could be minimum standards orders or contract chain orders, which are negotiated standards to ensure fairness throughout the contract chain. They could be licensing and competency training, ensuring only well-trained skilled drivers are on our roads. They come in apprenticeships and industry training, creating career pathways in developing the next generation of transport professionals.

“These minimum standards are the foundation of a strong, safe and vital transport sector and like any infrastructure they require continuous maintenance, updates and improvements. They can only be achieved when we stand together so today I encourage open discussion, bold ideas and collective action. Let’s work together to strengthen the infrastructure that keeps this industry moving.”

When asked where the Closing the Loopholes legislation is at 12 months on, Glyn replied that the body had recently attended their first Rtag (Road Transport Advisory Group) subcommittee for Minimum Standards Orders. In simple terms these orders will address 30 day payment terms as well as some unfair contract provisions and dispute resolution for the transport industry.

Board member, Gordo Mackinlay (above) continued: “We always knew that the biggest hurdle was to actually get it (CTL) across the line and we always knew that was not the end, but just the beginning. Now through the hard work of the likes of Glen they’ve started that next part of the process and definitely there’s been progress –although progress is always slow when bureaucracy is involved.”

It was apparent from the panel discussions held throughout the day that whilst many policies relating to the industry are under review, there is still a way to go before their implementation, perhaps reflecting Gordo’s passing comment.

Austroads CEO, Geoff Allan (above) discussed that body’s work in reviewing driver licencing standards and the development of training packages for HC licences and so forth. Charged with this exercise in 2020, Austroads is now, “in the process of turning material into proper training materials and we intend to start working with industry on the training material to make sure it is fit for purpose and it fits in with state and territory systems. We expect the training material to be finalised around the second half of this year and rolled out through 2026 - 27.”

In a similar vein, Don Hogben, Principle Consultant for the NTC (National Transport Commission) discussed that organisation’s work for the NHVL review and associated reforms. From commencement in 2022, the review of general regulations, mass dimensions, loading regulations and such will be forwarded to Ministers within the next few weeks.

The NRVR’s Paul Daly is charged with implementing these changes, the biggest of which will be accreditation.

“Accreditation as we know it today will cease to be and we will have a couple of tiers of a different style of accreditation. General safety accreditation, which is essentially bringing in the mandate for a safety management system to be accredited, and then the removal essentially, of Mass, of AFM and BFM and maintenance, and bringing in alternative compliance accreditation. A lot of work will have to go into that space.”

The package goes to the ministers in February. The mass dimension and length regulations probably won’t be finished until much later in the year.

Licencing was also addressed and is being approached from the twin desires of safety on the road and enticing capable drivers into the industry. Methods and systems are being developed along these fronts.

Heavy vehicle driver licensing has two main reforms: The standard approach to driver training and the heavy vehicle assessment process. There are both online and practical components. There is a second area being looked at called alternative pathways which involves driver supervision and other accelerated apprentice type schemes. These are expected to be investigated during the second half of this year.

An area of contention is the proposed overall length laws extending from 19 to 20 metres and possible height standardisation to 4.6 metres to gain cube. While the ability to carry more load is welcomed, those gathered made it clear that it should not be a choice between prime mover or trailer, where (particularly) long distance drivers are either restricted on living space or carry less cube. Glen Castanelli made it clear that the NRFA will lobby hard to advocate for the living space. Gordo Mackinlay backed him up.

“I just want to reiterate the absolute need for these length laws to be governed properly. Extra cube! When you said that I just about back flipped. It is absolutely imperative that we need to get comfortable, safe driving environments for our drivers.

“A couple of days ago a person was killed in a cab over. A lot of people are forced to drive them because of the rules we have. In two trips to America I saw how they do it and it is a simple rule from the kingpin to the back of your combination.

“Let us make up our mind up about what we need to do. If we are doing deliveries into the centre of Sydney we buy the prime mover we need to do that. If we are doing trips across the Nullarbor we will buy the equipment that we need for that.

“It is seriously about time it was about the driver. We all have driver shortages and we need to make an environment that is inviting. By just adding to the cubes all the time – we went from 23m to 25m – it was all about the load. We went from 25 to 26m – it was all about the load. And now you’re looking at adding a metre to singles and it is going to be all about the load. It needs to stop!”

Gordo’s comments drew sustained applause from those assembled.

The international guest speaker was Dean Croke (above), an Australian who has spent the past 25 years in America. Dean worked for Dial a Truck (DAT), a freight matching company that handles around 2 million loads a week through the spot market. The company’s success comes partly from matching drivers with what we would call back loads, and catering to shippers that couldn’t find a truck to move their product after deregulation occurred in 1980.

A billion dollar business, Dean’s presentation was a fascinating insight into the American transport industry and how it differs from Australia.

Another guest was Greg Casey, a 34 year veteran of the NSW Police Force – 25 of those as a Highway Patrol ‘Practitioner’. Upon retiring in 2021, Greg’s passion for road safety and concern about driver fatigue led him to commencing a PhD on the subject.

Rather than the traditional method whereby the only readers of PhD’s are the examiners, Greg decided to publish his works in parts in academic journals to reach a wider audience.

His PhD consists of four parts – one already published, two under review and the last still being worked upon. The first was an observation study of truck drivers’ rest stop behaviour and the prescriptive context in which they stop at these locations.

“Firstly we were able to show how loads differ in their time sensitivity. For example drivers of refrigerated loads generally had less rest time than others. Livestock drivers interrupted their rest time to tend to the welfare of their stock and drivers of oversized loads rested for longer at night because of the restricted operating hours. This allowed us to show that differing load types impact truck drivers’ rest stop behaviour - but the law doesn’t account for these variables.

“Changeovers were the second phenomena to feature when it came to drivers being short-changed on the rest break. Clearly the efficiency of the changeover process relies on both drivers arriving at or near the same time, but the study showed that when one driver was late, the first driver’s overall journey time is extended because they have to wait for the second driver, and the second driver on 75% of occasions had insufficient or no rest at all. They just unhitched, rehitched and took off.

“Now when parking is limited, truck drivers face a conundrum. They either continue driving or risk a fine for exceeding work hours or, if there is no legal space available they will park illegally and risk a fine. Interestingly, 58% of those had more than 15 minutes rest.

“Recommendations to come out of this study are that laws need to be amended to consider the effect of differing load types on truck driver’s rest stop behaviour. Changeover runs need to be better planned by transport managers and they need to build flexibility in to account for any delays. Parking availability for trucks at rest stops needs more consideration in both trip planning and at the stopping site construction stage. Drivers understanding of the definition of rest and work probably also needs improvement.”

Greg went on to detail the law enforcement side of the industry and found that Police Officers had only limited understanding of the fatigue laws and more education needs to be done in this area.

**Opposite politics, same goals for the industry. Scott Buchholz & Glenn Sterle**

Other guests included Scott Connolly of the Fair Work Commission, who took the audience through minimum standard orders as they relate to the industry as a result of the Closing the Loopholes legislation. He stressed that decisions made by the FWC will be done in cohort with the industry via the Road Transport Advisory Group – indeed, the FWC has an “absolute obligation” to liaise with Rtag, ensuring those affected by decisions will have a say. At the top of the FWC agenda is 30 day payments.

Other guests included CILT CEO, Karyn Welsh, who addressed safety standards and Dr.Kim Hassall who spoke of the Post-Licencing Driver Supervisor Program.

The evening saw the assembly entertained by Canadian trucking success story, Chuck Snow, CEO and founder of TRAFFIX, who paid homage to the best truck drivers in the world – Australians of course!

**The irrepressible Chuck Snow with Rod Hanifey.**

The NRFA National Conference will be held at Wollongong next year. Put it on your calendar, and if you wish YOUR voice to be heard, go one better and join this dedicated group. $11 per month is an inexpensive and worthwhile investment.