Trucking Australia: NHVR update

Sal Petroccitto, the recently installed CEO of the NHVR, has pledged his commitment to getting the regulatory body back on track

Addressing delegates at the ATA's Trucking Australia 2014 conference in Queensland, Sal Petroccitto, who took over the role of CEO of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) just three weeks ago, has acknowledged the regulatory body's shortcomings following the troubled roll-out of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) on February 10, and has assured industry members the organisation is doing all it can to rectify its systems and processes.

The February 10 start date of the HVNL quickly saw a large backlog of intrastate oversize/overmass and special vehicle access permits accumulate, with lengthy delays for permit approvals potentially resulting in significant financial penalties for affected operators.

Formerly the General Manager of Roads, Rail and Ports System Management with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Mr Petroccitto said the NHVR has carried out a thorough review of what went wrong and has set out a road map to get it back on track.

"We've done an extensive diagnostic review in partnership with industry and government and we found a number of factors that impacted on how that delivery rolled out," he said.

Mr Petroccitto acknowledged the NHVR's computer systems and processes were lacking, while its decision to roll out the changes across all its participating jurisdictions (everywhere bar WA and the NT) was questionable.

"Local government was a little bit underprepared and probably overwhelmed in terms of the amount of payments they received … and we didn't have clear turnaround time frames with road managers for road access applications, which also impacted on services," he said.

Mr Petroccitto said the review had given the NHVR a way forward to address the issues.

"Following the findings of that diagnostic report, considerable work has been taken in both short-term actions to improve the current situation in relation to administrative access, but also in planning a longer-term sustainable solution for all," he said.

"There really is no desire for this initiative to fail; we have to get it right for industry, for those who are supported by what we do and, more broadly, for the economy of this country."

Mr Petroccitto said the body has been looking closely at process optimisation, demand management, and potential changes to the national law.

"The law came together with a collapsing of individual state laws into one common law," he said.

"Is that law perfect yet? No, it's not. Has it got the potential to become a good piece of law? Yes, it does, but that will take time. And we're also putting a lot of time and investment into what that future system will look like."

The new CEO, who formally began his duties on May 19, also stressed that the permit applications issue had overshadowed the positives that came into play with the HVNL, such as the delivery of a more consistent enforcement and compliance environment across participating jurisdictions, more flexible fatigue management, an increase in Performance-Based Standards (PBS) approvals and the start of a process to address multiple application fees.

"Some of the implementation that's been done to date on some of the improvement steps are starting to generate some outcomes," he said.

"I hope you are starting to see a change and if not you will start to see a change as we move forward."

Mr Petroccitto highlighted the supreme importance of the successful rebirth of the NHVR.

"I need to go back to ministers in the latter quarter of this year with a preferred solution but I don't intend to rush through any quick fix only to have it fail again," he said.

"We need to get it right, but it needs to be done in an appropriate way to ensure that whatever that outcome is, it delivers for industry. I have a personal view that there won't be a third CEO of the NHVR if we don't get it right."

Mr Petroccitto thanked the ATA and the various state transport departments for their on-going support and assistance, and said the body has charted a 12-month course to revamp the NHVR's systems.

"Following that we will probably roll out on a staged approach over a six-month period," he said.

"We're still determining if that's by function, business type, a jurisdiction at a time or a mix, but I can assure you that we won't be going for a 'big bang' approach again."

In the meantime, the state transport departments will continue to assist with the processing of intrastate oversize/overmass and special vehicle permits.

Trucking Australia: NHVR update

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