FOR about 10 years members of the WA transport industry have been lobbying the State government to simplify the process for obtaining appropriate licences to fill workforce vacancies faster.
So far their efforts have come to naught, although there is ongoing engagement, which is expected to take time to resolve the issues.
Last week the Department of Transport said it was "currently engaging with a wide range of stakeholders - including the heavy vehicle industry on training and preparation of drivers - to consider what opportunities may exist to address industry concerns without compromising road safety, however given the complexities involved, this will take some time".
But Stephen Marley, Marley's Transport, said the current licensing regime was too complicated and the medium rigid licence needed to be dropped completely so that truck driver applicants could obtain the needed heavier licences much faster.
He said drivers from the United Kingdom, after driving much heavier trucks on narrow roads than found in Australia, were unable to transfer their licence across to a WA one.
"The entry level for working with us is a heavy combination licence and we can't get anybody under that in and train them up," Mr Marley said.
"At the moment they need a heavy rigid licence first and to hold it for two years before they can apply for the multi-combination licence.
"There's definitely a gap and there needs to be a step before you get to the big end, but the step is wrong.
"It has slowed the system down and made the training period way too long.
"UK drivers have to start from scratch as their licence is not recognised here - which puts a lot of them off.
"We're stuck - we can't get semitrailer drivers and there's only a 20 tonne difference between the licences."
The Department of Transport said the graduated driver training and licensing system and the accompanying eligibility criteria to be authorised to drive certain vehicle classes had been developed to ensure that drivers were equipped with the knowledge and skills to drive safely in all conditions.
"It is based on both the driver's age and the amount of time they have held authorisations to drive certain classes of vehicles and are described in the schedules of the Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Regulations 2014," the department said.
"In addition, drivers who wish to be authorised to drive heavy vehicles must pass both a heavy vehicle theory test and applicable practical driving assessments to satisfy the CEO that they have knowledge of WA road rules and they have the ability to control the vehicle.
"The meeting of eligibility requirements is particularly relevant to heavy vehicles (medium rigid vehicles and above) as their weight has the potential to create unique road safety risks."
Another issue that Mitchell's Transport chief executive officer John Mitchell pointed out was the inability of HR licence holders to drive a livestock truck with a tandem axle "pig" trailer on the back - if they could it would solve some of the issues he saw in the livestock transport industry.
"The current HR allows for a single axle pig trailer with a total mass of 9t - the tandem pig trailer has a total gross mass of 16.5t - in real terms this represents about a 2t payload increase," Mr Mitchell said.
"A young driver has to wait one year to be able to get their licence from obtaining an HR to HC to carry that extra 2t."
He said after discussions on the matter with the department he had come to the realisation that they "weren't interested in helping" solve the problem.
The department said "the suggestion to allow for new drivers to drive livestock carriers that can pull a tandem pig trailer would create an unacceptable level of risk to road safety, not only to the drivers themselves, but also to other road users".
Mr Mitchell disagreed.
"There's no safety issue," he said.
"There is zero technical or safety reason to not allow this concession - it's red tape gone wrong.
"I know because it is likely that none of the decision makers even have an HR licence, let alone driven the vehicles they are in charge of.
"It's stupidity - the department's position is in direct conflict to creating jobs.
"The Federal government is raining money down on the State and we get this type of inability to fix small administrative issues like this - the bureaucracy in this instance is plenty of talk and no action.
"This is the best grounding a young driver can get in the industry, the department needs to make an exemption to the existing conditions to provide some assistance to the 'grass roots' livestock transport industry.
"Allowing for a pig trailer on an HR licence and allowing a HR driver to drive an unladen semi-trailer would be a stroke of the pen and allow a career path for young people, it's a fix that could be done tomorrow.
"It would give young drivers the experience they need to move to the next level and would help fill the gaps in the industry at the same time."
Mr Mitchell said the government should be trying to help industry develop "a driver pool" to assist the industry.
"Government intervention in the system has created this problem and the government should urgently listen and act to help the industry," he said.
