Better Business Hub

Australia’s leading transport and logistics specialist insurer, National Transport Insurance (NTI), has received Federal Government funding through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative to develop and deliver 'Spilt Milk: A national crash reduction program for the dairy industry' over the next two years.
 
Our goal is to reduce dairy tanker rollovers and improve road safety by working with drivers, fleet managers, consignors and experts to develop and deliver resources and workshops that make a quantifiable difference.  

The Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) program supports implementable, value-for-money projects that deliver tangible improvements to heavy vehicle safety.
 
 The federally funded grants program is administered by the NHVR on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, with an investment of over $28 million in 117 projects. Over the six rounds funded to date, successful projects are delivering outcomes aimed at making Australia’s roads safer for all users.
 
More info here: https://www.nhvr.gov.au/about-us/heavy-vehicle-safety-initiative  

The NHVR is Australia’s regulator for all heavy vehicles and has been the statutory authority pursuant to the Heavy Vehicle National Law since 2013.
 
 Their vision is to have: A safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle industry serving the needs of Australia.
 
More info here: https://www.nhvr.gov.au/about-us  

NTI is Australia's leading specialist insurer.
 
 With over 50 years experience in the insurance industry, NTI have always been successful in finding new ways to keep our customers moving, across the heavy vehicle, marine and mobile plant & equipment industries.
 
 Our combination of tailored products, experienced people, accredited repair & recovery networks, and industry advocacy have seen us ranked as Australia’s #1 heavy vehicle insurer, and recognised industry leader across marine and plant & equipment.
 
Yet insurance is just a piece of paper, a promise. It is not until you really need us that you understand our point of difference – the NTI Difference.  

NTI's purpose it to make you safer and more sustainable and this program is another example of NTI working with industry to achieve that.  

A study of NTI's claims data, taken from the last three years, indicates dairy tankers have a disproportionately higher rate of claims, compared to other heavy vehicles; particularly rollover crashes.
 
On average dairy tankers are 2.4 times more likely to be involved in a crash than other road freight transport. That’s the equivalent of 1 in 17 dairy tankers compared to 1 in 41 other heavy vehicles.  

As a program, Spilt Milk will:
 1. Engage with key players in the dairy industry to understand the pin points of best practice and safety.
 2. Analyse the findings from the engagement and agree with industry on what best practice looks like, and how we can align operators to this standard.
 3. Develop a resource pack that will have meaninful impact on increasing safety in the dairy industry.
 4. Deliver the content back out to industry to improve overall performance and make a quantifiable difference.  

The aim is for consignors and transport operators to be engaged throughout Q3 and Q4 of 2022 followed by a development and delivery phase. The campaign will be closed by June 2023.  

For the delivery and development of the training program, NTI will collaborate with Alan Pincott from Australian Trucking Safety Services and Solutions (ATSS) who has a pedigree in working with heavy vehicle operators in various sectors to improve safety and productivity.  

During this campaign, members of the NTI team will be working directly with both consignor and carrier businesses to support the development and delivery of a training program and workshops designed to improve safety in the dairy industry. We will keep you informed throughout the project as to its progress and any expectations.  

This program and a client's involvement or lack thereof will not impact their insurance.  

We will first engage with consignors and ask them to map out the network of carriers they use for bulk tanker transport.
 
 We will then reach out to carriers and seek their input into the key factors that result in good safety outcomes in bulk milk transport.
 
Participation is entirely voluntary, however the material and guidance we receive back from carriers will significantly contribute to what we report back to consignors as being best practice, so it provides an opportunity for operators to demonstrate leadership and to have their good works celebrated.  

The intention here is for this to be a top-down project. Dairy has a small number of consignors who purchase the majority of milk produced in Australia each year.
 
 As a result, this means that by working with a small number of stakeholders, we can have a big impact on the safety of an entire industry.
 
 As a consignor, we will be looking to have access to the personnel who manage your transport activities and to understand what process, policies and systems you have in place to manage safety.    
 
We will also need to understand your network of carriers and in particular, those who you believe are leading the thinking and practice around safety.  

As with our previous campaigns to improve industry safety, participation in the program is available to everyone, not just NTI clients.  

Business of Safety was a 12 month campaign that delivered applicable and interactive heavy vehicle educational content, with the aim to embed an industry-wide view on safety culture.  

Better Business Hub is NTI's online platform dedicated to driving industry safety, answering those tough compliance questions, and providing practical business improvement resources, specific to the transport industry.  

Please feel free to reach out to NTI experts for further information:
 
 David Jackson, Customer & Industry Relationship Manager
 Adam Gibson, Transport & Logistics Risk Engineer