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Transport (Issue 32)

By on April 4, 2007

New Owner Driver Premium Public Ruling

A new public premium ruling has been released aimed at simplifying the declaration of payments to owner drivers for WorkCover premium purposes.

The ruling takes effect from 1 July 2007 and has been developed by the Victorian WorkCover Authority (VWA) in consultation with the Transport Industry Council whose membership includes, among others, representatives from the Victorian Transport Association, the Transport Workers Union, VECCI, Ai Group and Victorian Trades Hall Council.

The ruling provides a simpler alternative to the application of what is acknowledged as complex law to each individual case. It is largely a proxy for the law which if adopted by an employer will be adhered to by the VWA in determining rateable remuneration for premium calculation.

While is some cases the ruling provides concessions compared to previous treatment by the VWA of payments to owner drivers, in other cases it identifies circumstances of legally declarable remuneration which had previously been treated as exempt by the VWA.

It is important to note that exceptions to this ruling do apply, including where the vehicle is commercially registered and has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) or 4.5 tonne or greater.

Preamble

This Premium Ruling is for the express purpose of providing hirers who engage owner drivers with an alternative to applying all the usual tests required by the law in order to determine which owner drivers should be included for premium calculation purposes.

It is an approximation of the law and is intended as a simplified method of evaluating a hirer’s entire fleet of owner drivers. This ruling may not be used by a hirer for premium purposes in conjunction with any other method including a case by case application of the law.

Any wages (i.e. remuneration) determined appropriately in accordance with this ruling will be accepted by the VWA as the correct remuneration. Work based injury claims will be accepted where the application of the ruling determines a person to be a deemed worker and premium has been paid on this basis.

The ruling assumes that the vehicle is owned, leased or otherwise independently provided by the driver for the transport of goods and material as directed by the hirer and the hirer has made no direct contribution to the capital or running expenses of the vehicle.

Note: “hirer” means the principal who has contracted with the owner driver for the owner driver’s services.

The ruling can be accessed either on the VWA’s website: www.workcover.vic.gov.au under the tab “Insurance and Premiums” at the heading “Public Rulings” or at the website of Industrial Relations Victoria at www.irv.vic.gov.au where you should follow the link to “New rights for Owner Drivers”.

Alternatively, contact the CMPA for a copy of this ruling. If you have any queries concerning the ruling, please contact the WorkCover Advisory Service: Phone: 03 9641 1444 or Toll Free: 1800 136 089

Mass Limits Charts

Mass Limits Charts are available from the VicRoads website which show the permitted mass between:

  • General Mass Limits
  • Road Friendly Suspension
  • Mass Limits
  • NHVAS Concessional Mass Limits
  • NHVAS Higher Mass Limits for Victoria

These charts can therefore be used at every quarry and legally be referred to and quoted.

The introduction to the chart states that it was developed in response to requests for a ‘one page’ document showing the mass limits for common types of heavy vehicle configurations.

The chart shows the mass limits for ‘standard’ or general access vehicles (General Mass Limits), for vehicles accredited under the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (Concessional Mass Limits), and vehicles (fitted with Road Friendly Suspensions) operating at Higher Mass Limits.

Download the charts from:
www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/home/
heavyvehicles/news/

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