Home > Industry > Freight and heavy vehicles > Heavy vehicles > Fatigue management

Fatigue management

National reforms to combat heavy vehicle driver fatigue are now here. The new laws are about making the roads safer and fairer, not just for heavy vehicle drivers but for all road users.

Livestock Welfare Driving Hours Variation

Livestock Transporters Association of Queensland (LTAQ) member drivers have the authority to continue to operate under the Livestock Welfare Driving Hours Variation until 31 January 2010. Drivers must print and carry a copy of the LTAQ class exemption notice (PDF**, 41KB) at all times whilst operating under this exemption.

Expiry of transitional fatigue arrangements

All transitional fatigue schemes ended on 29 September 2009. If operators do not have accreditation for Basic Fatigue Management or Advanced Fatigue Management, their drivers must now work to Standard Hours.

Work diary requirements

It is a legal requirement to complete a work diary if you are a driver of a fatigue regulated heavy vehicle:

working further than 200 km from your base location
working under any fatigue management accreditation or work and rest hours exemption.

Work diaries are available from Department of Transport and Main Roads customer service centres, Queensland Government Agent Program offices, and some regional police stations.

Additionally, a sample of the national driver work diary daily sheet (PDF**, 72KB) and the instructions for its use (PDF**, 182KB) are also available. A sample can also be found at the National Transport Commission website*.

Please note that this sample diary page can be used as a supplementary work record. Supplementary work records can be used for up to seven business days in Queensland should the need arise.

Heavy vehicle driver fatigue information kits

Information kits about the heavy vehicle driver reforms are available by emailing the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Alternatively, if you do not require a copy of the DVD in these kits, you can download the fact sheets and other resources below.

Heavy vehicle driver fatigue fact sheets

Fatigue offence demerit points and penalties

On 1 March 2007, demerit points and fines were introduced for heavy vehicle drivers who commit logbook and driving-hour offences. Details of these demerit points and fines are contained in the document below.

Fatigue offence demerit points and penalties (PDF**, 39KB)

National Driving Hours Policy

The Queensland Government implemented the National Driving Hours Policy on 29 September 2008 to better manage heavy vehicle driver fatigue. The policy was introduced through the Transport Operations (Road Use Management — Fatigue Management) Regulation 2008 and makes use of work diaries, prescriptive driving, and work and rest limits.

The National Driving Hours Policy has also been implemented in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have introduced 'fatigue management codes of practice' under occupational health and safety legislation.

The policy places direct legal requirements on the actions and instructions of consignors, employers and responsible employees. Responsible persons within the transport management chain will be subject to prosecution and substantial penalties where it can be shown their direction has resulted in a driver committing an offence.

For more information visit the National Transport Commission* website.

Downloads

National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme
Fatigue management module

Related information

*The content found by using this link is not created, controlled or approved by this department. No responsibility is taken for the consequences of viewing content on this site. This link will load into a new window.

**While this department has taken every possible precaution with the creation of these files, they are downloaded and used at your own risk. Adobe Reader is needed to open and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files and is free to download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Various tools to enable access to these files for people using a screen reader can be found at http://access.adobe.com. Further information is available from the "Help with downloading, reading and printing PDF".

Last updated 09 November 2009