Proposed National Operating Standard "absurd and misleading"

The Australian Trucking Association has attacked the Australian Logistics Council’s proposed National Operating Standard, slamming it as nothing more than an anti-competitive tax on hardworking small and family businesses.

In recommendations to the Heavy Vehicle National Law review, the ALC has called for a National Operating Standard that would subject trucking operators to mandatory electronic recording of driving hours and the location of every heavy vehicle.

"From our consultations with operators, we know that the hardware costs are around $12,000, not including optional safety systems,” ATA CEO Andrew McKellar said.

Mr McKellar has slammed the ALC’s proposed standard, which they claim could be installed for as little as $2500.

“The proposal is unclear as to how it could be applied, and the estimated costings are completely absurd and misleading,” Mr McKellar said.

“The ALC’s estimated $30 monthly service fee is also a massive underestimate. In reality, this figure is closer to $360 per truck as many systems have separate SIM cards, all requiring a plan and their own monthly charges,” he said.

“Trucking operators live in the real world, not the fantasy land the ALC seems to inhabit,” he said.

Mr McKellar said that that ALC’s proposed standard was just operator licensing under a new name.

“Together with NatRoad, the ATA commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to assess the costs of implementing a national operator licensing system,” Mr McKellar said.

“This assessment found that a national operator licensing system would cost $3.6 billion over ten years if it were rolled out nationally as the ALC is proposing, or $3.2 billion over ten years if it were applied to the existing HVNL states.

“These independent and reputable costings show that operator licensing is not in the best interests of Australia’s trucking operators. Governments should reject the ALC proposal,” he concluded.