Originally, we planned to share this article on the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR’s) latest safety campaign, A Truckie Knows.
But, with this month’s weather event hitting extremely close to home for many of us based in southeast Queensland, instead, we’re revisiting how the NHVR deals with emergencies and disasters such as (ex) Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
At the start of the weather season, industry, the NHVR and our jurisdictional partners – particularly in tropical weather affected states – are generally prepared and anticipate that incidents can arise, and often with short notice.
The NHVR works closely with its peers in emergency response and government to keep informed of the changing weather landscape and position itself to be ready to respond when needed.
During an emergency such as a cyclone, there are multiple priorities, but two stand out as significant: ensuring essential supplies and assistance can reach those most in need in a timely manner, and working to safeguard the people delivering those goods and services.
A key element of ensuring timely access is the provision of national notices, to provide “as of right” access to eligible heavy vehicles, removing the need for permits in emergencies.
The NHVR will work with government to ensure vehicles that need priority access to affected areas can do so in an efficient manner, to best ensure the safety of local communities.
Over four days leading up to TC Alfred, members of the NHVR, particularly in Access, worked to add an additional 22 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to the Emergency Defence Assistance to the Civil Community Notice.
This task involved working with local government to identify potentially impacted councils, preparing and sending consents, uploading consented roads to the National Network Map and marking high-risk structures, among other things.
The result of this work meant the Australian Defence Force (ADF) could deploy heavy vehicle assets as needed and with confidence across these LGAs to support communities in need, without having to seek or wait for approval.
Emergency events are unpredictable and the ability for the ADF to deploy exactly when needed is critical to the safety of communities.
Ensuring the delivery of essential goods and services
Generally, during a disaster, freight is essential. Before TC Alfred arrived, critical supplies like sandbags, water, non-perishable pantry items, and other household goods (it always seems to be toilet paper?) were treated like gold.
Heavy vehicles also helped to ensure the movement and removal of potential hazards, such as green waste, so that communities were prepared for the worst.
During the emergency, the NHVR also deployed an Access on-call team to ensure defence assets and other emergency services, such as Energex, could bring power back online for impacted communities.
To maintain the safety for all road users during an emergency, the NHVR must also focus on its community messaging.
We have a dedicated team of social media officers who work with their business partners across the organisation, as well as other emergency services and organisations, to deliver timely and relevant information across our social channels.
These messages include important updates such as road impacts and closures, preparedness information for operators and drivers and contact details where necessary.
Our contact centre is also always available seven days a week, to ensure industry can reach out as needed.
These disasters can often create anxiety and panic, with the volatility of a weather event like a cyclone making for a difficult time for the community.
But the reliability of the heavy vehicle industry goes a long way to instilling confidence and assuredness in those affected.
So, the NHVR would like to thank everyone who worked with us during this event, as well as those who heeded emergency warnings and helped to ensure a safe community.
- Paul Salvati is the Chief Operations Officer for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.