A renewed call to split the MC licence into two classes will need a more unified approach from industry if it’s to get the support it needs from transport ministers.
That’s the message from grass roots body, the National Road Freighters Association (NRFA), after a roundtable in Canberra earlier this month to discuss some of the industry’s biggest issues and what can be done to fix them.
The NRFA, which mainly comprises of working truckies, said it agreed with the push by the Australian Trucking Association around changes to the MC classification that if passed would see the existing class split into two with the breakpoint at 37 metres.
This would mean that A-doubles, B-doubles and B-triples would be in the MC1 licence class. Longer combinations would require the MC2 licence.
But NRFA president Glyn Castanelli said that concept had already been floated in a review of the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework by a consortium of experts led by Dr. Kim Hassell.
“It’s a great idea but it’s been agitated for the last 18 months and failed to get to the ministers in their decision regulation impact statement,” Castanelli said.
“For us now as an industry we need to work together as a combined unified industry and say that’s what we want.
“That will only happen if we all go to our state ministers and ask for it and say, ‘why was this too hard?’”
Castanelli also agreed with the ATA’s passport concept, but again said that wasn’t anything new. Teacho has already had something similar in play with its BlueCard system for a number of years.
Castanelli said the proposed changes to the MC licence is just one of several improvements that urgently need to be made to industry training.
“We’ve expected that somebody who turned up with a licence was already trained, and that’s why we’ve got such a problem with training and licensing; the license is just your P plates.
“Everybody advertises for experienced drivers, and then they struggle to find experience.”
Castanelli said the main issues for him from the roundtable were the need for nationally recognised training, a driving apprenticeship and to lift the driver’s position to a trade status “because it’s a very technical job now”.
“The only way we can get people to come into our industry now direct from school is to offer a trade.
“Where they can start from school at 16 on a forklift, where they can get an HR licence at 18, where they can work their way up and by the time they’re 20-21, they could be in an MC truck with four or five years of experience behind them.
“They’re the most important things that will help fix our industry.”
Castanelli stressed that if there’s unified approach, the right results are attainable.
He is confident that everyone who “drives a truck down the road” would have been happy with the progress made in the roundtable convened by former truckie turned Senator Glenn Sterle.
“We’re in a position now that we want to collate what we need as an industry to go forward, and then work out the best way as a united group that we can take that through whatever channels we need, be it state or federal levels.
“We’ve just got to stop running around in different directions.”
Senator Sterle was pleased to get all the big issues on the table with staff shortfalls in every industry sector only forecast to get worse.
He estimates the deficit to already be double that of the 26,000 vacancies advertised.
“We’ve killed off the nursery through occupational health and safety and lawyers, and no, we can’t go back to the good old days, but we haven’t backfilled it with anything.
“We need fit for purpose training.”
Sterle said he was also tired of hearing about ongoing issues around fixing the licensing issues the industry has.
“This divide between the commonwealth and states is now becoming embarrassing.
“The states have got to get over this thinking they have the biggest, hairiest chest just because there is a dotted line on the map that says they’re smarter on one side of the line than the other.
“We’ve got to get away from this nonsense and start talking to industry.
“They’ve got the answers – they know what they need.”
Sterle pointed to his home state of WA as a classic example and the work being done there already by the Western Roads Federation in recruiting and training new drivers, along with other jurisdictions such as Queensland and Victoria.
The senator said he also wants to see drivers from overseas trained and licenced to an Australian standard.
In his roundtable speech, Melbourne small fleet owner and NRFA member Jaswinder Boparai agreed.
Boparai told the 36 other attendees, which at one point included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, that he strongly believed holders of Indian heavy vehicle licences should not be given any
shortcuts.
“They should start by obtaining a car license, then drive a car for a year beforebecoming eligible for an HR licence,” he said.
“After holding an HR licence for a year, they should be eligible for an HC licence, and after another year, for an MC licence.
“Each class of licence should be held for at least a year before upgrading to the next class. The reason for this is that obtaining a heavy vehicle licence in India is relatively easy, and the training standards may not match those required in Australia.”
Even so, Boparai, 38, said there are still issues with training in Australia that need to be urgently addressed.
He progressed to his MC licence in Brisbane in 2013 after driving HR trucks for two years and HCs for a year after that.
On the first day of his supposed two-day MC training course (the RTO wasn’t Indian, stressed Boparai), the morning was spent on
theoretical training and assessments followed by practical training in the afternoon.
During this session, Boparai and one other trainee, hooked up the trailers, along with the driver-trainer, and drove around the block a few times.
“We spent about 20 minutes on learning how to reverse the MC combination, an aspect of driving that certainly cannot be mastered in such a short time. The next morning, I was handed a certificate declaring that I was a well-trained MC driver, but in reality, I knew almost nothing about operating an MC combination.”
To help rectify that, Boparai worked without pay for two months with a B-double owner-driver.
“It was only after this hands-on experience that I felt confident enough to drive a B-double.”
Boparai cited the Canadian approach as a training model that Australia could adopt.
“In Canada, there is a two-week course for obtaining a heavy vehicle license. This course covers everything from driving the truck, loading the trailer, and setting the trailer axles to basic truck maintenance. It provides a well-rounded education that prepares drivers for the real-world challenges they will face on the road.”
The next stage is the formation of a working group with association representation from each state, the Bus Industry Confederation, the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation and the Transport Workers Union who will confirm the top industry priorities.
Sterle said the issues raised at the roundtable will go to a number of portfolios in Canberra, but he also said, “the states need to wake the hell up”.
“They need to get out of this ridiculous slumber that they are in where they think they know every damn thing – and they don’t, that’s the truth.
“Once I collate who’s who in the zoo, we’ll get back together, probably on a smaller scale but before the end of the year, make no mistake.
“I’ll contact the ministers and tell them I want to bring a delegation of industry leaders to come and see them and raise their concerns.”
Sterle later doubled down at the NatRoad annual conference on his push to provide an MC pathway for school-leavers by making it legal for them to drive a forklift at 16, an idea also mooted by former PM Scott Morrison in early 2022.
“We have the appropriate gear, we have the appropriate safety things in place and the people to train and do all this,” Sterle said.
“The industry needs to step up to the plate and stand next to me and run this argument. I don’t care about all the bed wetters.”
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