The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has completed a month-long operation to address key safety risks posed by heavy vehicles during the grape harvest season in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Operation Fortified saw NHVR Safety and Compliance Officers (SCOs) conduct more than 270 heavy vehicle inspections focused on fatigue management, monitoring and identifying potential grape spillage incidents and undertaking mechanical inspections to ensure compliance with vehicle standards.
According to NHVR Chief Operations Officer, Paul Salvati, the project was critical to ensuring the smooth and safe delivery of grapes and local produce from vineyard to shelf.
“South Australia alone produces more than 50 per cent of Australia’s wine, and from 2021 to 2022, the state’s industry produced more than 800,000 tonnes of grapes valued at $622 million,” he said.
“This just goes to show what a major contribution the industry is to the national economy, and with this kind of scale, it’s vital that the transport of these valuable crops is as smooth as fine wine.
“We know this is a busy time of year, for the agricultural sector, but we can’t afford to let any lapses in safety spoil what should be a very productive season.”
NHVR Acting Director of Southern Region, Stephen Bryers, shone further light on Operation Fortified, explaining that the concentrated compliance and enforcement efforts provided education to drivers on how to meet their safety obligations in 88 of the inspections conducted.
“This is the fifth time Operation Fortified has been undertaken in both South Australia and Victoria, and each time the NHVR has led this operation we have seen the rate of non-compliance steadily decrease,” he said.
“We detected a non-compliance rate of around 38 per cent during this year’s operation, with the majority of offences either mechanical, fatigue or permit related.
“This is down from a non-compliance rate of 42.2 per cent in 2023, 59 per cent in 2022, and 61 per cent in 2021.
“We know heavy vehicles play a critical role transporting the harvest, but it’s essential that vehicles are roadworthy, and drivers are fit to operate them safely.”
In addition to the completion of Operation Fortified, the NHVR also recently released the Wine Code of Practice to help producers, distributors and transport operators keep their operations on track.
In other news, AG Farm & Co has taken delivery of a new Performance-Based Standards tipper combination from Bulk Transport Equipment.
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