Truck industry council leader calls for incentivised truck safety measures

Citing a recent rash of road deaths in New South Wales, including numerous ones involving articulated trucks, the Truck Industry Council is throwing its support behind an effort to push the Australian government and industry stakeholders to implement an incentivised system to improve road safety in the country. Support from the TIC, which represents 17 truck brands in Australia, follows recent remarks from Michael Byrne, managing director of transport and logistics company Toll Group, to incentivise truck operators in the country to invest in newer, safer, and more sustainable vehicles.

Speaking up

The call for an incentivised system stems in part from statistics showing truck deaths in New South Wales climbed 86% in 2017 to reach 54, up from 29 the year prior. In response, Phil Taylor, TIC president and COO of Isuzu Trucks in Australia, stated the federal government should make modernising the country’s truck fleet a priority in its 2018-2019 budget.

“Having been around trucks and the Australian road transport industry since the late [1970s], I can verify that significant improvements have been made in regard to truck and road safety,” Taylor said. “We must push towards zero deaths on our roads, truck-related or otherwise, and as an industry collective, we must believe we can achieve that.”

Taylor said that the TIC believes implementing such a system that rewards safe and modern fleets is “the most proactive and cost-effective mechanism for lowering Australia’s road toll.” Earlier this year, Byrne, who began working in the trucking industry as a teenager, characterised the country’s road-safety problem as “dire,” adding that it’s time for “genuinely national approach to heavy-vehicle regulation.”

Growing old

Research indicates that the average age of Australia’s truck fleet in 2017 was nearly 15 years old. That figure is expected to climb, however, as freight-related tasks in the country continue to expand. Figures indicate 42% of the country’s truck fleet was manufactured prior to 2003, meaning these trucks lack various safety technologies included as standard with modern trucks.

“We must act now,” Taylor stated. “This is about creating a safe, productive, and robust road transport industry, but most importantly, it’s about ensuring that no more Australian families are torn apart by largely preventable road crashes and fatalities.”