One of my biggest 2025 hopes was that fines under the revised Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) would be fair.
After six years of industry lobbying, that hope is finally fading.
Some of the proposed fines defy logic. Imagine a $530 penalty for taking a 12-minute break instead of 15 minutes, because those extra three minutes are crucial to your fatigue management?
Or a $200 fine when you forget to rule a vertical line in your work diary, even though the horizontal one already shows rest and work periods? Absurd, right?
According to the 2024 NTARC Report, fatigue-related crashes account for 9.5 per cent of incidents. The real dangers? Inattention/distraction (31.7 per cent), inappropriate speed (16.5 per cent), and following too closely (14.8 per cent).
Yet, administrative errors – which are not actual safety risks – are hit with heavy fines. Worse, only drivers operating outside their driver base radius or those accredited under fatigue management schemes are targeted, while city drivers engaging in genuinely unsafe behaviour are exempt.
Meanwhile, police, local governments, and even the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator make mistakes without consequences, whereas truckies are held to an impossible standard. This red tape isn’t about safety. It’s about revenue.
The road freight industry isn’t perfect, but it’s not the villain it’s made out to be. The facts speak for themselves, even if regulators refuse to listen or act sensibly. I don’t expect those in government to admit road freight is safe, but the data doesn’t lie:
• 1300 people died on Australian roads in 2024.
• Around 15 per cent of all road deaths in Australia involve heavy vehicles (195 people).
• Approximately 50 per cent of those are occupants of light vehicles (97 people), 25 per cent are truck occupants, and 25 per cent are other road users, such as cyclists or pedestrians (49 people each).
• Of the 25 per cent of truck occupants, 23 per cent of those are single vehicle crashes (about 11 people).
• The NTARC report notes that 85.3 per cent of fatal crashes involving a heavy vehicle and a third party (e.g. car, pedestrian, motorcyclist, cyclist, etc) are not the fault of the heavy vehicle.
Using this data, we can see that approximately 32 people died because a person driving a truck was at fault. Just 2.46 per cent of Australia’s road fatalities can be attributed as being the fault of our industry.
So why are truck drivers being so heavily penalised when the evidence is irrefutable – truck drivers are not the problem!
Governments must recognise that road safety isn’t just a trucking issue – it’s everyone’s responsibility.
All road users need better training; how to drive properly, interact with trucks safely, and take road safety seriously.
Every day, we see reckless behaviour: Drivers cutting in front of trucks, riders taking insane risks, pedestrians stepping onto roads without looking, and motorists speeding or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, with no thought of the consequences.
For years, we’ve lobbied against unfair fines, but penalties keep rising. We missed a crucial opportunity during Covid to promote our industry.
We stayed invisible and carried Australia during a difficult time, but the public still fears us. And yet, nearly everyone knows a truckie – a father, uncle, friend, sister, mate, or someone at their local club.
What the public doesn’t see is the stress truckies endure, wondering if simply doing their job will cost them a week’s wages. No other industry in Australia operates under this constant threat.
It’s time to change tactics. Instead of lobbying bureaucrats who won’t listen, we need to educate the people around us – our friends, neighbours, mates at the footy, parents at school drop-off, and even strangers. They don’t understand our issues – because no one is telling them.
I will end this article with clause 3 from the HVNL. It states the object of the law, which summarises why this Act was introduced in the first place.
Have a read and comment whether you think huge fines for non-safety related matters are meeting this objective.
Then go and tell someone about these fines. You deserve to enjoy your job without the threat of losing a week’s wages for an issue that doesn’t affect anyone’s safety.
3. Object of Law
The object of this Law is to establish a national scheme for facilitating and regulating the use of heavy vehicles on roads in a way that—
(a) promotes public safety; and
(b) manages the impact of heavy vehicles on the environment, road infrastructure and public amenity; and
(c) promotes industry productivity and efficiency in the road transport of goods and passengers by heavy vehicles; and
(d) encourages and promotes productive, efficient, innovative and safe business practices.
Jodie Broadbent is the founder of Know the Road, which provides consulting auditing and training services for road freight supply chain partners.
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