Real-life cost of the RSRO

Heartbreak and confusion reign as the realities kick in

The Australian Road Transport Industry is in total confusion and uproar this week with the implementation of the Contract Driver Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 at 4:15 pm last Thursday (April 7).

Urged by Michaelia Cash, the Federal Minister for Employment and supported by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), protest convoys of trucks are being organised to converge on Canberra.

The email inbox is full of emails, copies of emails, copies of statements from various associations and government bodies, voices of an industry in peril, angry voices, pragmatic voices but mostly confused voices.

Then reality of the RSRO heartache hits. A phone call a few days ago from a truckie I have known since he was a kid crawling into the cab of the Mack I was driving, wanting to pull the airhorn cord. As kids do.

Glen Scott (pictured) called me seeking some information about what the hell was going on in this industry he had chosen to invest his life in.

Scotty, now in his mid-forties, has spent more than a quarter century driving trucks, doing the hard kilometres on long road-train runs, and running all over Australia from his Queensland home.

Then with a lifetime of professional truck driving under the belt, Scotty and wife Leisa took the plunge, bought a Kenworth Aerodyne (pictured) and started their own business, G&L Freighters.

With a big debt and mortgage, Scotty worked around the clock and slowly, as the couple gained experience, this small family business began to gain traction.

Scotty is an Owner-Driver and the experience of the Scott family mirrors thousands of other operators the length and breadth of the nation.

With Scotty's phone call last Friday, less than 24 hours after the implementation of the RSRO, I couldn't help Scotty much.

Twenty four hours after our phone call Scotty lost his first load because of the RSRO, a load of cotton.

The reason given as to why he lost the load: because he is an Owner-Driver.

The Owner-Driver is integral to road transport in developed countries, particularly Australia and the US.

The image of the proud, independent, hard-working truckie has become part of the mythology of the road and an essential part of the cogs of industry that keep this country going.

And the Owner-Driver, particularly in long haul operations, makes up one of the safest sectors in road transport.

It's a sure bet that When one small operator like Scotty is hit by the RSRO, there are thousands of Owner-Drivers across the nation in the same boat.

To attempt to understand what has caused this confusion, we need to look back at recent history.

TIMELINE TO CONFUSION

July 1, 2012: The Road Safety Remuneration Act 2012 is promulgated by the Federal Government.

2012: The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal with Jennifer Acton as President is set up as prescribed by the Act. The general industry perception is that the Tribunal will review wages and conditions of employed drivers.

2014: The first Order, The Road Transport and Distributions and Long Distance Operations RSRO Order 2014 is passed giving employed drivers certain improvements particularly those working in medium and short-haul distribution. Driven by the TWU, this Order was seen by the union as a major win.

Fourth Quarter 2015: The Tribunal hears submissions from the TWU and others regarding the remuneration for 'contractor drivers'. This was the first down-grading of the term Owner-Driver to contractor driver. The industry does not understand what is going on, and the few operators who know about the Tribunal hearing assume it is to do with, as the name suggests, employed drivers working under 'contract' conditions with their own ABN without any employer support.

December 18, 2015: The Tribunal passes the Contractor Driver Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (RSRO) with an implementation date of April 4, 2016.

January, February 2016: The Tribunal FAILS in communicating the meaning and ramifications of the RSRO to the road transport industry.

March 2016: Associations and individuals in road transport realise the draconian nature of the RSRO, with general industry reaction. Multiple submissions made to the Tribunal to defer the implementation date.

March 4, 2016: the Tribunal publishes a draft application 'to vary the Contract Driver Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016'.

March 4-24, 2016: The Tribunal receives more than 800 written and aural submissions, mostly in dissent of the RSRO.

March 25-27, 2016: The Easter Hearings. The Tribunal hears evidence from a selection of submissions.

April 1, 2016: The April Fool’s Day Judgement. The tribunal hands down judgement refusing to accept the application to vary. The RSRO will be implemented on Monday, April 4.

April 1(PM), 2016: NatRoad, supported by the ATA, applies to the Federal Court for an injunction to stay the implementation of the RSRO.

April 2, 2016: The TWU applies to the Federal Court to remove the previous Federal Court 'stay'. Hearing / Judgement deferred until Tuesday April 5.

April 4, 2016: Federal Employment Minister, Michaelia Cash undertakes to put legislation to Parliament during the week commencing April 18 to extend the implementation of the RSRO until January 1, 2017.

April 5, 2016: Federal Court comes down in favour of the TWU application and removes the 'stay'. RSRO to be implemented at 4:15 pm on Thursday April 7.

4:15 pm April 7, 2016: RSRO implemented and becomes law.

April 8, 2016: NatRoad reported as saying the association can no longer afford to pursue legal opposition to the RSRO.

It is hard to understand a better way that a government mandated body could fast track an essential industry into total confusion.

Today there are thousands of Owner-Drivers, independent and professional men and women, small business people, carrying out a national service who find themselves in confusion and now living under a black cloud of doubt as to whether they have a future in the industry they love.

Owner-Drivers like Glen and Leisa Scott who see the possibility of losing everything in the future.

Australia's Owner-Drivers deserve better than this, particularly from the Turnbull government that has been outspoken in its support of small business.

Real-life cost of the RSRO

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