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Increasing Wages, Pushing Policy and Loading Livestock

increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock

This week has seen a number of interesting changes and initiatives with increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock arrangements, new faces at the HVIA and awards for Volvo Group.

Livestock Loading

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has released a discussion paper as part of a review of Livestock, Mass, Dimension and Loading Arrangements. The discussion paper aims to identify opportunities for:

  • standardising and rationalising access arrangements, to minimise the compliance burden on livestock transportation in Australia, as far as reasonably practicable
  • simplifying cross-border transport and improving last-mile access on local government roads
  • improving safety, productivity and efficiency for the livestock transportation industry.

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association https://alrta.org.au is now deep in discussions with the aim of lodging a submission on agreed issues on behalf of industry.

increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock

Dangerous Goods

The National Transport Commission (NTC) is working with stakeholders to undertake a full review of the Australian Dangerous Goods Code (the code). This will result in an updated version of the code, planned for 2024.

If you are involved in activities in the dangerous goods transport chain, or if you engage people to do this on your behalf, attend an information session to learn more. The NTC will share details about what could change and the process they’ll follow while reviewing the code.

The session will be on 23 June from 2.00-4.00pm (Melbourne time) at this link.

Learn more about this project on the NTC website.

increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock

Award Wages Rise

The decision to increase wages by 4.6 per cent or $40.00 per week for some Award based occupations means that some road transport operators will struggle to meet these new labour costs, says the National Road Transport Association.

NatRoad CEO Warren Clark said the profit margin of member road transport companies was about 2.5 per cent.

“Operators are struggling under sky-high fuel prices and other pressures and this will hit many of them hard,” said Warren. “This underlines the importance of the new Federal Government moving quickly to reform the industry, particularly unfair contract terms.”

increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock
Rob Smedley (L) and Craig Lee

New Board Members

The Heavy Vehicle Industry Association has appointed Penske’s Craig Lee and leading engineering consultant Robert Smedley to fill vacancies on its Board of Management.

HVIA President John Drake said the addition of Lee and Smedley is in keeping with executive level appointments that continue to strengthen the organisation.

“Craig and Robert are two very impressive leaders from different parts of our industry,” said Drake. “The industry is faced with a complex range of challenges, from the supply chain to skills shortages; our journey towards zero emissions against a backdrop of rising energy costs, and inflation that is affecting every business and every household.”

Regional Dealer of the Year TCWA (L-R) Martin Merrick. President and CEO Volvo Group Australia, Brad Daff, CEO Truck Centre WA, Per- Erik Lindstrom, SVP Volvo trucks International, Richard Singer, VP Services and Retail Development Volvo Group Australia. 
Regional Dealer of the Year TCWA (L-R) Martin Merrick. President and CEO Volvo Group Australia, Brad Daff, CEO Truck Centre WA, Per- Erik Lindstrom, SVP Volvo trucks International, Richard Singer, VP Services and Retail Development Volvo Group Australia.

Volvo Group Awards

Volvo Group Australia recently held its first face to face dealer awards in three years, hosting an awards night during the 2022 VGA Dealer Conference. 

The awards recognise excellence in key areas of both the customer journey and employee engagement. Metropolitan dealer of the year was awarded to Volvo Commercial Vehicles (VCV) Brisbane South, while Regional Dealer of the year was taken away by Truck Centre WA Geraldton.

The Health Safety and Wellbeing awards were taken out by Western Truck Group (WTG) in the regional category while the metro winner was Truck Centre WA. Volvo Bus Dealer of the year was awarded to CMV Derrimut while WTG Rockhampton was recognised for outstanding customer service. Volvo Financial Services dealer of the year was awarded to VCV Brisbane.

“The calibre of our dealer network is second to none in this country,” said Richard Singer, Vice President, Services and Retail Development Volvo Group Australia. 

increasing wages, pushing policy, loading livestock

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