There is a slow rising chorus, you could say cacophony of voices from Police and Industry to expand scope of Chain of Responsibility (CoR).
Drugs and Alcohol: In Victoria, the head of Victoria Police’s transport investigations unit has called for Drug and Alcohol testing to be included in CoR. This would force Transport Companies and their Customers to implement mandatory Drug and Alcohol testing.
Maintenance: Various Government Bodies and Agencies in the East are calling for Maintenance to become part of the Chain of Responsibility scope. We strongly support this, and you need look no further than a Customer who changed to a cheaper Transport operator, whose truck fuel tank dropped on the road on the first day, why because it had rusted off.
Elimination 4.5 Tonne Hurdle WA’s application of CoR (termed Compliance and Enforcement in WA) has expanded the scope to all Commercial Vehicles regardless of size. A number of Australian Companies buying Transport Services with multi-state operations are now adopting the WA model. Again strongly support this – a truck uses the road for commercial benefit, so does say a trades person – who is more likely to loose a load on the road a truckie or a tradie?
ADR standards: It continues to amaze all who understand how trailer equipment is designed and built in Australia that Trailer Manufacturers have not been prosecutions. As one Heavy Vehicle Inspector put it,
“in my experience Trailer Design and Modification faults are a significant contributor in many accidents, yet it is unreported”.
Australian Design Rules specify in detail the Engineering Compliance standards for various Trailer Equipment, supported by VSB6 which details the requirements for modifying equipment. Registering Trailers is an industry joke (note there are 150 trailer manufacturers in Australia), as you either self register or ship it around to a local Motor Registration site that has no idea, and then baffle them with science. If you think that is sad indictment of the professional standards, then try this from a major Australian Corporation, who had a major piece of Transport Equipment built.
” We asked out trailer equipment manufacturer to make another two units, some twelve months after building the first one,
they replied we don’t have drawings
we asked why not, there reply was
“we don’t do Engineering Drawings, we just work it out as we go along”
And you wonder why Australia is losing its manufacturing sector!!!! Trailer Equipment manufacturers and those that purchase them will ultimately be included in the Chain of Responsibility.
