Austroads Research Report AP-R439-13, Harmonisation of Pilot and Escort Vehicle Driver Requirements, proposed a nationally harmonised pilot and escort vehicle driver accreditation scheme and operational guideline. For reasons outlined in that report, industry engagement was limited in the first stage of the project. This second stage of the project hosted industry consultation workshops with the oversize transport industry to obtain consensus on the final composition of the scheme including, most importantly, the nationally consistent training requirements that would form part of the accreditation process. The National Transport Commission (NTC) ran a complementary project in parallel with the Austroads project. The NTC project produced a discussion paper based on AP-R439-13 and sought public comment. Responses were received from pilots and escorts, heavy haulage operators, agricultural operators, driver training providers, the police association and road agencies. The responses were provided to Austroads to form the foundation for industry consultation workshops that were held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The industry was well-represented, with some participants travelling from interstate to attend workshops. The following four subjects received considerable attention in the responses and were therefore the focus of the consultation workshops. • Graduated pilot accreditation. By the time the jurisdictional workshops were complete it had become clear that the industry was in favour of introducing a one-size-fits-all national accreditation scheme for pilots, including a full set of training competencies, in lieu of the graduated two-tier approach that had been proposed in the NTC discussion paper. This position was reached on the understanding that there would be exemptions in place for oversize agricultural equipment, so as to not affect the arrangements currently in place for the agricultural industry. • Agricultural exemptions. The arrangements currently in place in each jurisdiction are the result of years of consultation with the agricultural industry. It would be unpalatable to now make changes to those arrangements, particularly if the changes increased the burden on the agricultural industry. It was agreed that a single national exemption for agricultural load movements was not necessary and that each jurisdiction could retain its existing arrangements via the schedules of the Heavy Vehicle National Law. • Driver licencing and background checks. It was agreed that the only driver licencing requirement should be that the driver holds an open driver’s licence, and not a probationary or provisional licence. This was considered sufficient to ensure adequate road safety outcomes; if the driver was considered by law to be able to safely drive a vehicle on the road in any other scenario, then it should be considered appropriate for them to drive a pilot vehicle. Medical checks were widely considered to be an appropriate measure. The discussion focused on the degree of checking. It was agreed to adopt a system based on the Victorian model, where the standard truck driver fitness for duty test would be undertaken as well as an additional list of tests specific to pilot work. For example, being able to effectively get in and out of the car and operate a stop/slow bat is a mandatory requirement under the proposed scheme. This level of checking is above that required for commercial vehicle drivers. • Traffic control powers and road rule exemptions. Many of the pilot industry representatives at the workshops lobbied for more traffic control powers, with some citing the WA authorised person status as a desirable mechanism. The general view of the Project Reference Group (PRG) was that it was not realistic to have a national implementation of the WA authorised person status for pilot vehicle drivers. There is a lack of understanding in the industry of the suitability of existing road rule exemptions for piloting purposes. It was reported by some road authority enforcement officers, who often perform escorting duties in their jurisdiction, that the provisions in the road rules exempting pilot vehicle drivers from some rules apply also to enforcement officers when they are performing escorting duties, such that they have no greater freedom than a pilot in the same situation. It is argued that the road rule provisions are sufficient to enable a pilot to adequately perform their duties–to act as a warning to other motorists of the presence of the oversize vehicle–without putting themselves or anyone else in danger. When a pilot can comply with a road rule, they should. In certain situations where they cannot comply with one of the rules listed as ‘exempt’ in Regulation 311 (or 286 in WA), the exemption provides protection for the pilot. Once approved by the Austroads board, the arrangements proposed in this report need to be implemented. The PRG is of the general view that neither Austroads nor any of the individual jurisdictions are suitable choices for taking ownership of the implementation phase. Acknowledging existing arrangements for the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) and the Performance Based Standards (PBS) Scheme, there is a consensus within the PRG that the NHVR is ostensibly the logical choice. It is noted, of course, that the NHVR may not be sufficiently resourced for this activity at present, and that in any case it be may be necessary for the NHVR to seek significant input from another organisation such as the NTC for some of the development work (e.g. option analysis and legislative drafting). It is therefore envisaged that implementation would probably be best handled via the coordinated efforts of the NHVR and the NTC. The implementation phase may involve the introduction of new legislation into the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HNVL) and corresponding instruments in WA and NT, where the HVNL does not apply at present. An implementation plan would determine exactly what is required in each case. In developing the plan, various options may need to be considered for the scheme. For example: • It may be centrally administered by the NHVR, including accreditation and auditing processes, as per the PBS scheme. • It may be decentralised (status quo), except that all States and Territories operate according to the national scheme instead of current arrangements. • There may be a collaborative approach where States and Jurisdictions continue to manage the function under the new national arrangements. The amount of legislative drafting, and the timeframe within which Ministers will be able to vote on the new legislation, are both unknown at this stage. Furthermore, subject to advice from the Office of Best Practice Regulation, the new legislation may need to be accompanied by a Regulation Impact Statement. It is therefore impractical to indicate a timeframe for implementation at present. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting