ARTSA Matters June 2019

RVSA Update

I attended the Strategic Vehicle Safety and Environment Group (SVSEG) meeting on June 5 in Canberra to represent ARTSA about concerns with the revisions to the RVSA scheme.

During two meetings organised by ARTSA on the RVSA scheme at the Brisbane Truck Show there were significant concerns raised about the lack progress of the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development & Cities (DIRDC) with establishing a system for Component Type Approvals including providing forms and guidance for testing facilities and component suppliers. Changes to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act for ADR 38/05 is a further complication that impacts industry.

To highlight to DIRDC the industry’s apprehension with the current situation, a list of principles were prepared by ARTSA, HVIA, ATA and the CVIAA and submitted to the Administrator at the SVSEG meeting.

The principles are:

Preserving the continuity of supply of compliant vehicles to the market should be the first priority.
This should include the supply to market of new innovative designs such as PBS vehicles.
The department and industry must work towards minimising the cost to industry of transitioning to the new arrangements.
Any arrangements put in place under the new legislation should not adversely impact the competitive situation of Australian manufacturers with respect to overseas manufacturers.
Any rules put in place under the new system should not create winners or losers among manufacturers based on decisions they have made in the past (such as the choice of test facility).
Any rules put in place under the new system should not create winners or losers among manufacturers if their test facilities decide not to seek continued approval as a test facility in the future. Existing approvals must continue.
Where manufacturers have previously provided suitable information to the department, they should not be required to resubmit the information.
Where additional information is required but there is no current evidence, the requirements for submission of additional evidence should allow for the costs and likely delays associated with collecting that information. This should be considered when determining processes and timelines for submission of the additional information.
Compliance with ADRs involves two separate conceptual processes:
Validation that the component or vehicle as designed meets all of the standards.
The manufacturer can demonstrate conformity of production.
Once the design of vehicle component has been validated it should not need to be validated again unless the design changes.
The renewal of type approvals should not require re-proving the design of the component of vehicle but should focus on confirming conformity of production.
The development of theses administrative arrangements should not interfere with policy work on improving heavy vehicle safety.

Next steps include DIRDC responding officially to the principles and ARTSA members will continue to represent the industry at SVSEG meetings. We will provide further advice on this important matter when the Department responds.

ARTSA Data Update June

ARTSA Data’s quarterly update is due in the 1st week of July. It will summarise the calendar year and also the quarterly outcome to end June 2019. In the March quarterly report (see http://www.artsa.com.au/store for a free copy) we were fairly bullish as to the outlook for heavy vehicle sales. More recent news from Europe suggests a slowdown in their market with the sales retreating 2% in the first 5 months of this year and a 10% reduction forecast for the year. What does that mean for Australia? Probably not much, but our end June data will comment not only on the history of what has been added to the heavy vehicle fleet but also some crystal ball gazing for the balance of 2019.

Also note that the annual ARTSA Data Day will now be held on the 10th September in Melbourne. More information including registration will be released in July.

IRTENZ Conference

The Institute of Road Transport Engineers of New Zealand are holding their 16th International Conference in Rotorua from 20 to 22 August. ARTSA are on the program represented by Martin Toomey and Peter Hart talking about the Australian activities including ARTSA Institute and ARTSA Data. Les Brusza from the NHVR will also present on PBS Tyres. For further information, contact the IRTENZ Secretariat, Kate Bucknell on 021-917506 or kateb@tesnz.com or visit Conference Registration.

ARTSA/NBTA Brisbane Meeting

Over 100 people attended the Brisbane Truck Show meeting on 16 May. Dr Peter Hart of ARTSA facilitated a discussion between National Heavy Vehicle Regulator CEO, Sal Petroccitto, NBTA Chairman, Justin Keast and ARTSA Chair, Martin Toomey, on industry issues and where the industry can help the Regulator. Other speakers from the NTC, NTI, AJ Gallagher, Holmwood Group and TCA gave informative presentations.

Sal Petroccitto later released the joint report authored by NHVR and ARTSA Data on the uptake of PBS vehicles. This report showed that PBS now has a market share of around 20% of eligible heavy vehicles. This is a huge measure of support for this scheme and the safety and productivity benefits it delivers. A copy of the report can be downloaded from http://www.artsa.com.au/assets/library/2019/pbs_report_2019_v6_singles.pdf

Paul Corkhill and Tim Renowden also introduced the Transport Certification Australia (TCA) data and tabled the joint report between TCA and ARTSA Data into PBS vehicles in the IAP scheme. It also detailed many useful facts on vehicle utilisation, preferred routes and more. A copy of this report can be downloaded from http://www.artsa.com.au/assets/library/2019/artsa_tca_pbs_freight_analysis_may_2019.pdf

regards

Greg Rowe
Executive Director
Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association Inc
exec@artsa.com.au
www.artsa.com.au
tel ‭0407 825 132