Three big transport industry associations representing members from small Outback operators to the largest logistics businesses in the Asia Pacific region have launched a campaign to fight a wind back of Chain of Responsibility laws.

National transport industry representatives say Australia’s existing chain of responsibility laws save lives and make like fairer for truck drivers and operators by holding all other parties responsible for reducing pressure on drivers and operators.

By holding big freight customers and senior executives accountable, truck industry leaders say chain of responsibility laws help to prevent truck drivers from being pushed beyond appropriate limits and make Australia’s roads safer for all.

However the laws have also come under criticism from other quarters, with the Queensland Law Society declaring in May this year that they are unfair to company directors and chief executives.

There has since been a push to rollback the laws, culminating in an agreement on August 13 by Australia’s state road and transport ministers to remove 140 legal accountabilities from the chain of responsibility provisions in the law that will underpin the new National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, which takes effect in 2013.

The consolidated laws that will create the regulator are due to pass through Queensland Parliament later this month.

Transport industry representatives say the changes weaken the effectiveness of the chain or responsibility laws.

Three national transport associations – the Australian Trucking Association, the national peak body for the trucking industry; the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association, the national voice for the rural transport industry; and the Australian Logistics Council, which represents the giants in the transport and logistics industry: Toll, Linfox, Asciano, Coles and Woolworths – have written to Queensland premier Campbell Newman urging him to resist demands to wind back COR laws.

“We call upon you to ensure that the new National Regulator has enough resources, staff and expertise to educate freight customers and the logistics industry about their obligations, and to enforce chain of responsibility laws properly,” a petition launched to support their campaign says.

A website has also been created to back the campaign, urging community members to sign the petition calling for Premier Newman not to “break the chain”.

“Tell the Premier you don't want to return to the bad old days of too much pressure on drivers and operators,” ALRTA president John Beer urges on the website. “We’ve launched this campaign to help protect Australia’s truck drivers and operators – the men and women who will lose out if lawyers or politicians are allowed to wind back the chain of responsibility laws any further.”

Transport industry representatives say they are campaigning to ensure the new national regulator has “the backbone” to make a positive difference.

“We want to see the National Regulator engage with large freight customers, distribution centres, saleyards and all the other major links in the logistics supply chain.

“We want to see freight customers being educated, trained and assisted to understand their chain of responsibility obligations.

“And we want to know that the new National Regulator will have resources, the expertise and the backbone to actually enforce the chain of responsibility law, at the times when that becomes necessary.”

The “don’t break the chain” website can be visited by clicking here