How will the HVNL affect small business?

With the new rules around the Heavy Vehicle National Law, some have pointed to the concern that this responsibility restructure, and heavy fines to the businesses, will unduly affect smaller operators.

And this is true, not so much in the fines themselves but in the cost-effectiveness of a large company when it comes to administration and legal expenses.

A larger company can absorb legal fees, and may even be able to afford a permanent legal team as part of their organisation. A luxury that smaller players cannot afford.

Compliance management will also be more cost-effective in a big company as an in-house office manager would keep the paperwork in order, and one compliance manager will effectively be spread across a larger number of trucks.

The arguments to reduce the harshness of fines to accommodate smaller players are missing the point of compliance: It is not to catch people out, but to make sure fewer deaths and disasters happen in a dangerous industry.

If business-harming penalties are the catalyst for this, then so be it.

The good news

Once a company does take the plunge and are motivated to enforce their own safety procedures, they often find many benefits in productivity.

Almost all incidents on the road could be prevented (or greatly reduced) in the garage before the driver takes off, and are all part of good compliance management.

Once your trucks are out there, whatever you didn’t check beforehand will come back and bite you. Fixing the wear and tear of your tyres will greatly reduce the chance of time lost on the road, making sure your engine and clutch are serviced will reduce breakdowns on the highway, and we barely need to say what might happen if your brakes are dodgy.

And there is the matter of driver schedules. Fatigue plays a large part in compliance, and making sure that your drivers have adequate rest is vital. In the past, companies had pushed drivers to their limit and beyond in search of that little more of a profit margin.

With every company on board with the compliance of driver management, no company is at a disadvantage in giving their drivers a reasonable workload.

What we do

Understanding that setting up a compliance structure can be difficult for a small business, we use our power as a social enterprise to subsidise small transport businesses. We want to make sure that you are safe, and so reduce barriers that would take you there.

We developed Industry Sector Standards. We recognised that each sub-industry within the transport industry have their own requirements. Standards would be different in livestock transport, different in the fresh produce industry, and different again in timber.

We act as your compliance standards advisor with knowledge of your specific industry, and its needs, so we can best advise which changes can make your company more efficient and effective.

Ask us what we know about your industry, and how to improve the running of your business.