‘WA industry was blindsided’ by new road train signage

The decision by Main Roads WA to force operators to transition to new road train signage has come as a complete surprise to the industry, according to president of the Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA (LRTAWA), Darran Bairstow.

Operators in the west will have to foot the bill for new pictorial length signage for vehicle combinations ranging from 22 to 60 metres in length.

They will replace existing ‘ROAD TRAIN’ or ‘LONG VEHICLE’ signs, with WA operators given until January 1, 2025 to make the switch.

The new signage will be displayed on the rear of restricted access vehicles, including road trains and other heavy vehicles.

These signs show the number of trailers and the total length of the vehicle, depicted with an equivalent number of car lengths.

For Darran, the move to new signage will be a costly one. He’s a second generation truckie who has been operating his agricultural transport business Flexitrans, for the past 22 years, alongside his wife Carmen Bairstow.

“Just with my 36 trailers and dollies, it will cost me about $18,000 to switch over to the new signs, so I’d have to turn over $200,000 in my business just to cover that cost,” he said.

“I have a brand new set of three trailers I just took delivery of, with three horizontal flip signs – so that’s about $1500 worth of signs that are now redundant.”

Despite heading up one of WA’s key transport associations, Darran says the first he heard of the transition to new road train signage was after seeing a story shared on the Big Rigs Facebook page.

“It would have been nice to have a bit of a heads up or a consultation. We didn’t get any of that. Big Rigs knew about the change before most of WA knew about it,” he revealed. 

“There was no consultation with the industry, apart from a survey from Main Roads WA that came out about two years ago. I replied saying I wasn’t in favour of the new signs.

“I haven’t spoken with anyone in the industry who is in favour of the move. For me, the biggest thing is the cost and the second is the logistics of it. I have friends who run 90-100 trailers, so at about $500 a sign, you can imagine how much this is going to cost them.”

As well as having to pay for new signs, Darran says some companies will also need to make changes to their equipment to accommodate the new requirements.

“At the LRTAWA, we’re estimating this will cost the WA transport industry $10-20 million. If this was to be extended to the whole of Australia, you could be looking at over $1 billion.”

A press release issued by Main Roads WA stated the new signs were aimed at giving other road users a clearer idea of the length of the vehicle in front of them – before attempting to overtake.

While Darran says the LRTAWA supports initiatives that improve road safety, he thinks this time Main Roads WA has got it wrong.

“I am sceptical about the safety benefits of this change, when a motorist is expected to comprehend a message 8cm high on the back of truck that is travelling at 100km/h,” he said.

“The lettering is smaller than the existing signs. I’m concerned this is likely to cause more distraction when drivers should be concentrating on the road!

“If you went through any OH&S data, it shows that signage is a poor way of conveying safety. Education is the only way to get a satisfactory outcome.

“Sometimes what seems like a good idea isn’t so good in its practical application – and this is one of those.”

Darren is calling for Main Roads WA to scrap the new road train signage in favour of education to help other road users better understand the length of road trains.

“It’s the people on the coalface who are dealing with this and paying for it. I’m hopeful that enough pressure is put on the ministers for safety and transport, so that we could at least get some common sense put into this,” he said.

WA is currently the only state to be implementing the new signage.

For interstate heavy vehicle operators heading into WA, there will be no change. They will be able to continue using existing warning signage, which will still be recognised and accepted across the state.

Main Roads WA was contacted for comment but did not respond.

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