The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has placed roadworthiness front and centre of issues facing the industry, imploring all operators to keep on top of safety checks.

The ATA says roadworthiness and vehicle safety should not be reserved for inspection time, but should be a central point in any operator’s schedule.

The ATA General Council has approved a new ATA policy statement on roadworthiness.

“The policy specifies that a heavy vehicle’s roadworthiness is an ongoing legal obligation on owners and drivers, not a ‘once a year’ or even a ‘when we next see the truck’ obligation,” the Association says.

The paper outlines recent ATA recommendations for a review of the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS).

The ATA is understood to still hold some reservations about the effectiveness of the NHVAS.

The national transport industry body recommends:

  • extending the chain of responsibility to ‘vehicle maintenance’ and parties with an influence on vehicle roadworthiness
  • mandating electronic stability control for certain vehicles including tankers involved in the carriage of dangerous and combustible goods
  • establishing a national public database of coronial recommendations on road safety
  • establishing a national ‘no blame’ investigation capacity for fatal truck crashes similar to the approach used to investigate aviation, marine and rail accidents
  • improving the visibility of on-road enforcement
  • boosting the presence of uniform vehicle standards under national laws and registration schemes.