As the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator reaches another milestone, and the integration of the enforcement side of Transport for New South Wales into the NHVR setup continues at a slow pace, we only have one more major state, Queensland, to come on board for the NHVR’s coverage of Australia to be as complete as it is likely to be for some time.
We are clearly going to have to wait for a while before the recalcitrant state of Western Australia and the Northern Territory come on board, if they ever do.
It is very easy to complain about the problems created by the NHVR for road operators, drivers and for others, but all you have to do, to make it less painful, is simply remember what it was like before the idea of the NHVR came along.
Remember all the problems with cross border freight, cross border communication and endless ridiculous fines for minor breaches simply because your truck was in a different state. I can remember, when the whole idea of the NHVR was first mooted, saying to someone involved that we in the transport industry are not expecting the NHVR to be any kind of perfect solution, but it’s got to be better than the current situation at the time.
This has proved to be the case. The NHVR has made some real progress with some major slip ups on the way. The horrific period of meltdown, with the permit system collapsing in the early days was very traumatic for many involved in the industry.
Now, we are seeing a certain amount of genuine rationality seeping into the way trucks on the highways are regulated and for that we should be grateful. Yes, it is fair to criticise the NHVR for a number of issues, which they seem to be taking way too long to engage with.
What we need to remember is the shifting of the responsibility to regulate the trucking industry from a diverse set of state based agencies to a single entity with all of the legislative ivory tower issues that it involved.
The formation of the NHVR has been an achievement, even if it is flawed in the view of people working in the industry. It is never going to be perfect, but, overall, we have to admit that the situation with which the trucking industry has to deal on a day to day basis is a major improvement today over what it was in the year 2000.
There are improvements to be made and there, hopefully, should be progress on many fronts in the years ahead. The NHVR has been tied up with difficult negotiations with each state, as they bring them on board one by one.
Hopefully, when the Queensland road enforcement moves over to the NHVR next year, we will be looking forward to a period when the NHVR can turn its focus to just getting all of the other services with which it is involved. up and running. properly and not holding back the productivity and progress which the trucking industry so desperately needs.
