Dairy tankers will be the focus of a new training program, focused on road safety, with research showing dairy tankers are 2.4 times more likely to be involved in a major crash than other freight transport.
National Transport Insurance has received federal government funding through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator's heavy vehicle safety initiative to deliver the two-year program.
NTI customer and industry strategy head Staci Clark said 'Spilt Milk: A national crash reduction program for the dairy industry' would have NTI work with experts and those in the dairy transport industry to develop and test training programs, resources and workshops.
"The goal is to reduce dairy tanker rollovers and improve road safety by working with drivers, fleet managers and maintenance consignors," she said.
Each year, $4.4 billion in milk is transported within Australia.
But an equivalent on every one in 17 dairy tankers are involved in major crashes, compared with one in 41 for other heavy vehicles.
Ms Clark said a similar education program in Victoria's forestry industry resulted in a 65 per cent reduction in rollovers from 29 in a year to FY20 being rollover free.
"For the dairy industry it is about improving road safety and protecting the environment because dairy tanker crashes not only put drivers and road users at risk, but can cause milk and diesel spills," she said.
"Keeping Australian industry moving toward a safer and more sustainable future is our priority and this program is another example of NTI working with industry to achieve that."
- To get involved in the program email sustainability@nti.com.au
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