Truck Law Review – a complete waste of time and money

BHP and Woodside have signed a binding share sale agreement for the merger of BHP’s oil and gas portfolio with Woodside. Woodside will acquire the entire share capital of BHP Petroleum International Pty Ltd.

On completion, the Merger will create a global top 10 independent energy company by production and the largest energy company listed on the ASX.1 The combined company will have a high margin oil portfolio, long life LNG assets and the financial resilience to help supply the energy needed for global growth and development over the energy transition.

BHP CEO Mike Henry said, “Merging our petroleum business with Woodside creates a large, more resilient company, better able to navigate the energy transition and grow value while doing so,” he said.

Completion is targeted for the second quarter of the 2022 calendar year. Prior to completion, BHP and Woodside will carry on their respective businesses in the normal course and, will put in place appropriate plans to enable a smooth transition of ownership.

The effective date of the Merger will be 1 July 2021.

“The review of the national truck law has proved to be a waste of time and money and we need to start again,” says ATA Chair David Smith.

David is not the first in a long line to slam the review which started in November 2018 to supposedly address the problems with the existing law which seem to be stitched together from 13 different sources. “All that is missing were bolts in its neck,” said David.

“The ATA highlighted the complexity of the work and rest hour rules, the massive fines for drivers if they made mistakes in their work diaries, provided comprehensive input to the review team at the National Transport Commission (NTC) and lodged 11 detailed policy submissions. We pointed out that the industry’s productivity had slumped since the law was introduced.

“Each of our submissions involved a review of best practice and consultation with our members. We spent tens of thousands of dollars on consultants. In some cases, we provided the NTC with draft legislation that could have been introduced into parliament immediately.

“It was all for nothing,” said David.

In the three years since it started, the review has not resulted in a single change to the national truck law or its regulations.

“Instead, we see the NTC’s first piece of finished work on the review: a proposal to replace standard hours with a new system of counting work and rest time. It was the wrong place to start; the proposal would be catastrophic if it was carried out.

“It would reduce the income of a semi-trailer driver doing local deliveries by $24,000 per year. It would make it impossible for drivers on standard hours to operate between capital cities.

“The NTC sent the proposal out for one week of industry consultation. It was based on a handful of academic research

papers, rather than the 551 suggestions put forward. The ATA’s recommendations were ignored.

“In its consultation meeting on the proposal, the NTC wouldn’t let us raise critical points, such as the need to trial the proposed hours either on the road or in a simulator.

It is hoped that when Australia’s transport ministers meet in December [2021) they will put together a panel of actual experts, supported by a small staff, to develop an approach to the national truck law based on best practice from around the world and your on the road insights.

“The NTC’s work on the review would then be an input to the panel’s work, as would the detailed submissions put by industry.

“Given this head start, the expert panel should be able deliver a law that could come into force in 2023, a year ahead of any timeframe that the NTC process is likely to achieve.

“And you could expect it to be a much better law than this waste of time and money,” finishes David.