Year in review 2022/23

In spite of a backdrop of ongoing supply chain issues, skills shortages, regulatory challenges, inflation and rising interest rates, Australia’s heavy vehicle industry has powered ahead over the last year.

This report provides a snapshot of some of HVIA’s achievements and benefits to our members during the last financial year.

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Advocacy

Road Vehicle Standards Act (RVSA)

• Solved RVSA implementation issues including improvements to guidance materials, prioritisation of changes to the ROVER system, changes to administrative rules, and expediting urgent or overdue applications.

Performance Based Standards (PBS)

• Delivered reduced costs and simplified compliance requirements for PBS scheme applicants:
  • implementation of the PBS generic tyre approach
  • guided the simplification of forms and processes

• Shaped the priorities for PBS 2.0 and the Low-Speed Swept Path review, including a comprehensive submission guided by feedback from two industry webinars.

Heavy vehicle access

• Guided the rollout of the National Class 3 Truck and Dog notice including hosting industry webinars, and pushing amendments and improvements through the NHVR guidance materials.
• Advocated for general improvements to access at federal and state levels, focusing on High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFVs).

Vehicle standards and general regulations

• Facilitated member engagement, as subject matter experts, on committees chaired by the Department of Infrastructure to develop and revise ADR and Australian Standards in the fields of next-generation power trains, and mechanical connections (couplings) between vehicle units.
• Facilitated industry information sessions to assist in the VSB 6 v3.2 implementation, and advocated for improvements to the J4 code assessment method with the NHVR.
• Participated in the ongoing review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

Telematics

• Partnered with Transport Certification Australia and state road authorities to inform industry on changes to telematics for onboard mass compliance, and the closure of the 3G network.

Electric and hydrogen vehicles

• Partnered with other industry stakeholders to advocate for increased width and axle mass allowances for next-generation zero-emissions heavy vehicles.
• Worked with TAFEs to facilitate relevant training to support the rollout of electric and hydrogen vehicles.

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Member Services

New members

• HVIA welcomed many new Corporate Members, from the length and breadth of the country ranging from micro-members to national and international institutions. The number of members has exceeded 300 for the first time.
• HVIA membership is for every staff member at every company-owned branch.

HVIA partners

• HVIA welcomed Wurth Australia and Caltex as new Principal Partners. HVIA’s strong membership base and connection to the heavy vehicle industry were key attractions for Wurth and Caltex.
• HVIA Supporting Partners have also grown and now include Ampol, Auto-IT, Chamberlains, EnergyAustralia, Morris, Royans, TransVirtual and Truckline.

State Committee Meetings

• Over 150 member representatives attended the quarterly State Committee Meetings during 2022-2023. HVIA’s regular interactive forums inform HVIA members on current and regulatory issues, industry priorities and opportunities and are held across Australia in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA.

ROADBOSS magazine

• ROADBOSS magazine is an extension of the Brisbane Truck Show’s successful official program which features high-end journalism to promote the best of the trucking industry. ROADBOSS is produced by industry for the industry.

Truck Show program

• Publication of the Brisbane Truck Show official program and new preview magazine was taken in-house. The program directly connects members messaging with the truck show’s physical audience.

Truck Chat

• Truck Chat produced candid face-to-face interviews with the heavy vehicle industry’s key figures, resulting in untapped thoughts from industries biggest players. Presented through HVIA’s growing social media channels and Talk the Torque e-newsletter.

TechAssist

• HVIA utilised its contacts with regulators to assist over eighty members requiring technical and regulatory information saving those members unnecessary hours of research and delays.

EmployerAssist

• Forty members used HVIA’s complimentary EmployerAssist member service to gain professional advice on industrial relations and human resource issues including Award interpretation, pay rates, employee management guidance and workplace health & safety information.

Member Communication

• Almost 4,000 industry and stakeholder recipients now receive HVIA’s weekly “Talk the Torque” e-newsletter for current news, issues and events updates.
• Engagement on HVIA’s website is up 49% to 50,000 users who have viewed over 98,000 pages during 2022/23.
• The continued growth of HVIA’s LinkedIn community is set to pass 7,000 followers this year, now complemented by Brisbane Truck Show and HVIA-LITE project pages.

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Jobs & Skills

National Apprentice Challenge

• A new format for the 2023 National Apprentice Challenge saw six training providers from around Australia each selecting two apprentices to compete
• The two-day event went down to the wire before the Queensland team of Lachlan Tate (Brown & Hurley) and Brayden Conaghan (Penske Australia) took out the title with a flawless fault-finding final.

Much more than just a job campaign

• HVIA’s “Much more than just a job” campaign, showcases career opportunities in the heavy vehicle industry to school leavers and other job seekers.

Schools to Industry Tours

• The Brisbane Truck Show careers days brought close to 2,000 students from around fifty schools into South Bank. The National Apprentice Challenge is designed as a showcase of the great career opportunities on offer in the industry, and a variety of industry ambassadors were interviewed by our entertaining and informative host Cobey Bartels.
• The topics covered went beyond the operational side of things, and talked about two interacting safely around trucks, with two campaigns being supported by the South Bank Truck Festival: the NHVR’s Don’t #uck with a truck, and the National Road Safety Partnership Program’s Look beyond the truck.

National Apprentice of the Year

• A strong contingent of nominations from across the country were received for the 2022 HVIA National Apprentice of the Year Award.
• The annual award is open to apprentices in the final stages of their training from the heavy vehicle repair, service and manufacturing sectors, nominated by their employer.
• In 2022 Ten finalists were hosted to attend HVIA’s Gala Awards Dinner in Brisbane.

HVIA Training

• HVIA’s popular HV101 online induction training course is available to HVIA members, providing staff with a broad understanding of heavy vehicle industry vocabulary and terminology.
• HVIA is about to launch two new interactive on-line training courses covering best practice procedures for Load Restraint and Tyre Management to improve workplace safety. The development of the courses has been supported by the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative managed by the NHVR.

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National Events

HVIA National Awards

• HVIA’s prestigious National Awards were presented in front of a full house at a Gala Dinner held at the Emporium South Brisbane during November. The number of guests from interstate was the most of any HVIA dinner to date.
  • Product Innovation Award | sponsored by NTI | WINNER: Knorr-Bremse, iMass®
  • Safety Innovation Award WINNER: Scania Australia, Securing the Future of Workshop Safety
  • Community Leadership Award – WINNER: Penske Australia, Outback Futures
  • National Apprentice of the Year Award sponsored by Wurth Australia | WINNER: Hunter Tapping, Brown and Hurley
  • Peter Langworthy Future Leader Award – WINNER: Thomas Baggaley, CMV Truck & Bus
  • Ken Cowell and Max Winkless were honoured with HVIA Industry Recognition awards, and SGESCO-MAX was presented with an award for fifty years of continuous membership.
• Victorian (Southern Region) members were also able to celebrate their local successes at a special HVIA Executive Club event hosted by EnergyAustralia.

HVIA Executive Club

• The HVIA Executive Club brought industry leaders together at three well-attended events in Melbourne, Brisbane and alongside the ATA’s Trucking Australia Conference.

Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry Week

• The Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council (Brisbane Economic Development Agency) have provided support and assistance since AHVIW was launched in 2019.
• Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry Week 2023 included the country’s biggest-ever program of heavy vehicle events and activities and the largest display of zero-emissions vehicles in the southern hemisphere.
• In addition to the Brisbane Truck Show, activities also encompassed the South Bank Truck Festival (South Bank Parklands), the Heavy Equipment and Machinery Show (RNA Showgrounds), and the Heritage Truck Show (Rocklea Showgrounds) as well as numerous conferences, dinners, product launches, drive days, factory tours and other events and activations at venues throughout Brisbane.

Brisbane Truck Show

• The 2023 Brisbane Truck Show saw a record turnout from the heavy vehicle and road freight industries and friends and family from the length and breadth of Australia and further afield.
• Produced by HVIA (formerly CVIAQ) on behalf of its members since its inception in 1968, the 2023 show has eclipsed all records for attendance with 42,855 through the doors.
• HVIA self-published a Brisbane Truck Show preview magazine in November 2022, with over 12,000 print copies circulated. The 200-page Official Show Program was also published by HVIA.
• A variety of new digital technologies were introduced to offer every exhibitor increased opportunities to connect and engage with attendees.
• A BTS23 review magazine is scheduled for publication in September and will see the launch of a new ongoing quarterly industry showcase publication, now connecting more than 40,000 subscribers on an ongoing basis.
• BTS23 social media saw Facebook followers pass 33,000 with over 1.7 million reach across the campaign.
• The BTS website had over 134,000 visitors viewing 400,000 pages.