Chain of Responsibility (CoR) Information for the Transport Industry
Making Australia’s Heavy Transport Industry Safer

The amount of freight being transported from our ports is estimated to double by 2020, which means more trucks are needed to transport that freight. To help cope with the increase, bigger, longer trucks are being trialled.

These super B doubles and A doubles, as they are known, will be able to carry twice the amount of a normal semi-trailer. Also being discussed are B triples which at 35 metres long will be the biggest vehicle on the road.

For the last two years these trucks have been on trial through VicRoads. Neil Chambers from the Victorian Transport Authority states that “these are a safe vehicle, they are productive, they have got better braking systems, better prime movers, and better drivers.”

He explains that restrictions will be placed on these vehicles, such as which road networks they can use as well as lane restrictions.

The National Transport Commission predicts $1.1 billion savings by using the big trucks and a reduction in fatalities of up to 25 per year.

Link to Today Tonight website
http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/latest/article/-/10398021/super-truck-safety-fears/

Does your company use road transport to get goods to your customers? Do you get items and/or materials shipped to you for your business?

Under new legislation, anyone with influence over the supply chain must be Chain of Responsibility compliant, and you could be risking a fine if you aren’t. This extends to consigners, packers, loaders/unloaders, supervisors, drivers, schedulers, operators and receivers – everyone must be properly trained and compliant.

If you perform any of these roles and aren’t currently compliant, you can fix this the easy way by taking the online course available from Chain of Responsibility Online. The course takes less than an hour and can be completed in multiple sittings, plus you can print your certificate from your home or office – no time off work or expensive in-person training necessary.

Clear on-screen instructions with audio and video aides make the test as easy and straight-forward as possible. All you need is access to a PC, an Internet connection and a printer to make it official and ensure you are free to focus on business, not avoiding a fine.

Don’t let something that’s easily avoidable get in the way of your ability to do business: take Chain of Responsibility Online’s interactive course today!

Ruttley Freightlines, the trucking company owned by Bob Ruttley, one of Sydney’s highest-profile racehorse breeders, has been fined $293000 for breaches of the chain of responsibility laws.

It is the largest fine issued in NSW and was for breaches including overweight and oversized trucks. Other Ruttley owned companies are facing prosecution in South Australia for further breaches of the law.

Ruttley Freightlines is a contractor for Toll IPEC, transporting up to 30% of its cargo. Toll’s corporate spokesman, Andrew Ethell, said Toll “will not support actions by either its employees or contractors to undermine road safety. Toll Group expects its businesses and their contractors to operate according to the law at all times,” he said.

Link to Sydney Morning Herald report

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/horse-breeder-pulls-plug-on-trucking-firms-after-fine-20110715-1hhy0.html#ixzz1SEBz3y5V

The NSW Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, and the Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, announced the restructuring of the NSW Transport department.

The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), NSW Maritime, the Transport Construction Authority and the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority will no longer exist and will all come under the new integrated authority, Transport for NSW.

Transport for NSW will be responsible for the delivery of services across all modes of transport, with a particular focus on customer service.

Mr Gay said a new body to be called NSW Roads and Maritime Services would build and maintain roads; conduct driving tests; issue licences and registrations; and oversee harbours and waterways.

"What we will have [instead of the RTA] is a streamlined, customer-focused organisation to deliver essential frontline services to the people who use our roads, our harbours and our waterways. This means that for the first time the key freight system components including road, rail, marine, ports and intermodal terminals will be consolidated, and will provide a single point of contact for industry interaction,” he said.

Under the new structure the six divisions of Transport for NSW will be:

• Customer Experience which will make sure journeys are as simple and seamless as possible
• Planning and Programs which will consolidate planning for all modes and develop a comprehensive transport master plan
• Transport Services which will ensure transport services cost-effectively meet the current and future needs of customers
• Transport Projects which will ensure major projects are delivered on time and on budget
• Freight and Regional Development which will make sure freight services and facilities meet the needs of the State economy, with particular focus on regional NSW
• Policy and Regulation which will develop and oversight polices and laws pertaining to transport across the state