Let’s get serious about fatigue management, writes ALRTA Executive Director Rachel Smith.

Managing fatigue is a serious business for heavy vehicle drivers and the transport companies that employ them.

Every driver wants to get their load to its destination safely and to get home safe and sound. Obviously, the impact of a heavy vehicle fatigue crash can be devastating. Consequently fatigue management in the trucking industry is heavily regulated and fatigue laws vigorously enforced.

In Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) oversees the regime of very specific maximum work and minimum rest hours that truck drivers must adhere to.

The trucking industry has consistently made the case that the administration of the fatigue provisions of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) lacks flexibility, is overly complicated and that work diary infringements are mostly revenue raising exercises rather than working towards any affective behaviour change in transport operations.

More recently the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) called for law enforcement to focus on fatigue training, instead of imposing tough penalties for minor work diary mistakes. The ATA proposed that the NHVR give drivers an opportunity to undertake an online, nationally recognised work diary unit of competency rather than being fined.

Road safety experts often say the only cure for fatigue is sleep! Getting a good night’s sleep before each trip is a good starting point for managing fatigue – but many drivers also need to nap during a journey, especially on mandated rest breaks.

While drivers necessarily plan for a 15-minute short fatigue break or a power nap, for long breaks while on the road, good quality sleep can be hard to get!

There are many lengthy freight routes on which it is difficult to find a suitable place to pull up for a break at the required time, and heavy vehicle rest areas on busy routes are often full – a situation not made easier by the increasing number of grey nomads using truck parking bays as free camping areas.

While the Federal Government set up a consultative Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Strategy Committee to plan for the upgrade or construction of rest areas, the uptake of available funding by state and local road managers appears to be rather slow. The ongoing cost of maintaining facilities is apparently a contributing factor.

Road managers do need to step up to the plate and support the transport industry that sustains Australian retail, industry and agriculture, by providing well-designed heavy vehicle rest area facilities at regular intervals on major freight routes – especially in less populated locations.

Service centres can also provide an opportunity for truck drivers to rest, grab a meal and have a shower, however they are not always easily accessible for all truck and trailer combinations, and due to their popularity, may not offer a quiet place to sleep.

Many Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) members are livestock carriers, who (while loaded) are subject to statutory requirements to inspect livestock within the first hour of a journey and every three hours thereafter under the Australian Land Transport Standards.

Finding suitable, accessible rest areas can be a real challenge. And, with an increasing number of women driving heavy vehicle combinations on Australian roads, there is a practical need for more toilet facilities to be provided in existing and new heavy vehicle rest areas.

In addition to our members’ consistent call for the provision of more and better heavy vehicle rest areas to help manage driver fatigue, the ALRTA is also anticipating simpler and fairer fatigue laws will be included in future legislation.

The Association has long maintained that the HVNL needs to appropriately balance safety and productivity and, following a long period of consultation on reforms to the HVNL, our members look forward to seeing the updated draft law that the National Transport Commission (NTC) is proposing to put to Ministers later this year.