Next week's major road safety event at Nhill Trailer Exchange will feature a range of activities which should provide something of interest for heavy vehicle drivers and operators across a range of industries.
Horsham Rural City Council and Hindmarsh Shire Council will host the event in partnership with several transport industry groups as well as Victoria Police and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR). The event is being supported with funding from the Department of Transport and Planning.
Activities at the event include keynote speakers on safety aspects of the transport industry, along with practical demonstrations and hands-on opportunities for drivers and transport companies alike.
The NHVR will provide demonstrations of a truck shaker, which tests for safety of truck brakes and suspension systems. A truck from the local Shire will be used for these demonstrations, as the focus for Victoria Police and NHVR personnel will be to provide advice and education to drivers/owners to improve their vehicles/equipment to ensure everyone is safe when travelling on the roads.
Video demonstrations will also highlight the situations where trucks can rollover and the benefit of wire rope safety barriers in minimising the impact of incidents on the road.
Staff from the Department of Transport and Planning and Victoria Police will also be available to record suggestions from drivers on the types of improvements that could be made to help make our roads safety for all.
The will be one of a series of poster and video displays that will be running all evening at the event, held over the two days of Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 14 and 15 February, from 4-11 pm on both evenings.
The earlier part of the evening will also feature presentations from industry experts, including Greg Fleming from the Transport Workers Union and leading transport safety consultant Mike Wood.
This is on top of previously announced speakers who include Peter Anderson from the Victorian Transport Association and Alina Hawkins from the Livestock and Rural Transports Association of Victoria.
HRCC Mayor Robyn Gulline said various activities and speakers had been arranged.
"These are sure to be of interest to interstate truck drivers and farmers who often operate large trucks for their own businesses," she said.
"We encourage truck drivers to drop-in and have a short stay at the trailer exchange to break up their long journey, and for farmers from across the region to make the trip to get some information on how they can improve the safety of their transport operations in their own and their business' safety."
