The rollout of approved Electronic Work Diaries will reduce red tape and improve safety for transport operators, Australian Trucking Association Chair David Smith said today.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, the Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, Scott Buchholz, and the Chair of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Duncan Gay, today launched the rollout of approved Electronic Work Diaries (EWD) for heavy vehicle drivers to manage their fatigue.
Step Global‘s Smart eDriver and Teletrac Navman‘s Sentinel systems have been listed by the NHVR as approved EWD solutions, following collaboration with the ATA and its members, technology providers, transport operators, and transport and police authorities.
“Today’s announcement is a big step forward for our industry. It will reduce paperwork for our drivers and the unbelievable amount of record keeping that companies need to do to stay compliant,” Mr Smith said
From December 1, transport operators will be able to voluntarily use the approved EWD systems as a regulatory alternative to a paper logbook, the National Driver Work Diary.
“The ATA’s recent Voice of the Driver survey highlighted truck drivers’ calls for simplified record keeping, and we are pleased the NHVR is delivering for industry,” Mr Smith said.
“Reducing the paperwork burden will save drivers time, allow them to achieve compliance and manage their work and rest hours.
“The ATA is separately pressing for changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law to simplify the fatigue rules even further,” he said.
The ATA and its member associations collectively represent the 50,000 businesses and 200,000 people in the Australian trucking industry. Together, the ATA and its members are committed to safety, professionalism and viability.
Step Global and Teletrac Navman are both members of the ATA’s Industry Technical Council. The ITC’s role is to enhance the trucking industry’s safety, professionalism and viability by providing technical input and best practice advice to the ATA.
