The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) has been working to improve the management of livestock effluent during road transport for many years.
Its focus is on driver safety, animal welfare, biosecurity and compliance with the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and environmental safeguards across Australia.
The ALRTA is a peak body for rural and regional transport companies which provides first and last mile access to the supply chain for Australia’s agricultural industries.
According to the association, its members recognise that managing livestock effluent at every stage of a heavy vehicle transport journey, from preparing livestock for transit to unloading livestock at the destination, requires a cooperative approach across all responsible parties.
The ALRTA therefore claims that the problem for livestock transporters has historically been that off-road parties in the livestock supply chain have denied any accountability.
In this space, the association has focused its efforts on better access to a network of truck wash and effluent disposal facilities as well as working with parties in the livestock supply chain to develop a Code of Practice for managing effluent.
Following consultation with stakeholders in the livestock and transport industries and with the assistance of National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) Codes Advisors, the Effluent Code – ‘Managing effluent in the livestock supply chain’ was registered in 2022.
According to ALRTA Chair of the Driver and Animal Welfare Sub-Committee, Graeme Hoare, the process of consulting with supply chain parties and transporters to develop the Effluent Code represented a significant and positive opportunity for collaboration.
“The Effluent Code provides recommended best practice advice for identified livestock transport activities from trip planning and preparing livestock to managing effluent in transit and at the destination,” he says. “When a Chain of Responsibility breach occurs, the procedures outlined in the Code can be used in court as evidence of what is considered ‘reasonably practicable’.”
Following publication of the Effluent Code, the ALRTA mounted an awareness campaign which was funded by the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) and supported by the Australian Government.
Delivering presentations to transporters, saleyards managers and livestock producer groups – together with a targeted ‘Mind your pees and poos’ print and social media campaign – has seen a steady flow of traffic to access the Effluent Code from ALRTA and NHVR websites.
This year, the ALRTA also contributed to the development of the NHVR’s Livestock Regulatory Advice which provides useful information for transporters and off-road parties about their CoR obligations concerning livestock transport generally, and it had significant input to MLA’s Transport Hub content.
Hosted by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), the Transport Hub is a one stop shop for best practice information about transporting livestock safely and humanely to ensure the profitability and sustainability of the livestock industry.
Meanwhile, with the benefit of HVSI funding the ALRTA has supported the construction of ‘drop and go’ effluent disposal facilities at saleyards in Horsham, Victoria, and Mount Gambier, South Australia.
“Our members are keen to see a network of similar facilities constructed along livestock freight routes like the very effective network of roadside effluent disposal facilities in New Zealand,” Graeme says. “ALRTA members continue their efforts to share the load of responsible livestock effluent management across the supply chain to help to improve animal welfare outcomes, mitigate biosecurity threats, contribute towards sustainability, support hard-working livestock transporters and make the roads safer for all road users.”
