ATA, Opinion

An Industry United on Positive Safety Outcomes

an industry united on positive safety outcomes

The trucking industry is an industry united on positive safety outcomes, says Geoff Crouch, ATA Chair, in a response to a recent Diesel Opinion Piece.

Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, and it is a responsibility that the Australian Trucking Association takes very seriously.

Representing the 50,000 businesses and 200,000 people in the Australian trucking industry, our council is diverse and includes associations that represent thousands of small businesses, elected owner-driver and small fleet representatives, and major logistics companies. 

We stand together with one voice and a goal that is shared by all: improve safety.

Last month, our council unanimously agreed on the industry’s approach to the ongoing debate about the potential for government-imposed price fixing.

We are willing to collaborate with all sides of politics in the best interest of those we represent. 

Earlier this week, I joined transport industry representatives at Parliament House for the Labor Party’s Transport Industry Standards Forum, accompanied by ATA CEO Ben Maguire, owner-driver Chris Howard and owner of Fellows Bulk Transport Paul Fellows.

We were also joined by representatives from the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association, Queensland Trucking Association, NatRoad, NT Road Transport Association, Western Roads Federation, Victorian Transport Association, Tasmanian Transport Association, DGL Logistics and Toll. It was great to see so many of the ATA’s members at the meeting.

 

an industry united on positive safety outcomes
Geoff Crouch, ATA Chair

 

Hosted by the Shadow Assistant Minister for Road Safety, Senator Glenn Sterle, the forum explored ways to improve standards and safety outcomes in road transport. We were delighted to be invited to Senator Sterle’s forum and to have the opportunity to contribute to this important discussion.

Senator Sterle’s forum brought together an extremely diverse range of industry participants and it was very encouraging to see everybody proactively contributing to one central goal: to improve safety outcomes. 

As demonstrated in our council resolution, the ATA is passionate about improving safety outcomes across the industry and we are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure the outcomes are achieved. 

The ATA council stands united in calling for practical safety measures, including mandating autonomous emergency braking for all new trucks, and increasing the quality and quantity of driver rest areas.

We’ve unanimously agreed on the need to enable the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to provide independent, no-blame safety investigations for road crashes involving heavy vehicles. We’ve also called for a review of the prescriptive work and rest hours, including work and rest hour tolerances for electronic work diaries.

Although the latest research shows the industry’s safety record is continuing to improve, there is still much more work to do. Until we reach a point where there are zero fatalities and injuries on our roads, the ATA will continue to advocate for practical safety solutions.

 

 

an industry united on positive safety outcomes

 

 

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