etruck.com.au

Submissions are being made to the National Transport Commission in response to their Performance Based Standards Regulatory Impact Statement (PBSRIS). While the submissions are considered and do bring up important points needed to be considered in the improvement of the PBS system as it now stands, there is one crucial change without which the whole RIS is a waste of time.

Yes, it is a good idea to be able to get individual components of a combination passed as compliant PBS rules. Yes, they probably do need to rethink some of the classifications of the various levels of vehicle. And yes, some vehicles passed as PBS compliant should move out of the scheme and be included as compliant under the prescriptive vehicle rules.

All of those considerations will be as nought if the one major change trucking operators in Australia need, is not put right during the process of this review. PBS is a good concept, allowing vehicles to use roads if they can prove their safety and productivity credentials. But it’s all about access, the big bugbear for operators stopping them from embracing what is a very good idea is getting permission to access the routes they need.

Operators large and small across Australia have looked at the PBS rules and, if they thought it could be useful to them, seriously looked at getting an innovative vehicle on the road. After speaking to truck and trailer suppliers they will have realised the practical implications of putting the vehicle on the road. Some even put in orders for the vehicles to be manufactured.

The vast majority of good ideas, in terms of PBS, have never got further than the drawing board. Almost inevitably, the reason for the idea being dropped will be something to do with access to the roads and difficulties with getting permission for the owners of the infrastructure. Both local government and state authorities have placed innumerable obstacles in the way of operators trying to improve the efficiency of the transport task.

If the trucking industry want to make the PBS system something they can use in the future and not the irrelevance it is in danger of becoming, they need to speak with one voice and only talk about one subject. The message continually needs to be hammered home that without realistic access being allowed the PBS enthusiasts within the NTC might as well pack up and go home.