Even if you don’t drive or operate a heavy vehicle all parties across the supply chain share equal responsibility to comply with their own Heavy Vehicle National Laws.
This framework lays out each party’s legal responsibilities in the transportation supply chain, with a significant emphasis on enhanced safety results. This alters the way your company approaches and manages heavy vehicle safety and operation to help preserve the rule of no overloading of vehicles.
Everyone, from your employers and management teams to your consignors, dispatchers, loaders, contractors, partners, and drivers, is responsible for ensuring that your business is compliant and operating safely on and off the road.
Various Roles and Responsibilities under Chain of Responsibilities includes things such as but not limited to:
- Operator/Manager/Scheduler Responsibilities:
- Ensure that drivers’ rosters and schedules do not require them to exceed driving hours or speed limits.
- Ensure drivers do not work while fatigued or in violation of their work or rest hours
- Maintain vehicles and ensure proper functioning speed limiters are installed
- Ensure vehicles are not loaded to exceed weight or dimension limits and are properly restrained
- Ensure drivers moving freight containers have a valid container weight declaration
- Consult with other stakeholders in the supply chain on a frequent basis to help identify risks and concerns.
- Consignor/Consignee Responsibilities:
- Ensure loads do not exceed weight or dimension limits and are appropriately restrained
- Check that operator carrying freight containers have a valid container weight declaration
- Your delivery requirements must not require or encourage drivers to:
-Exceed the speed limits
-Drive while impaired by fatigue
-Exceed regulated driving hours
-Fail the minimum rest requirements
- Consult with other parties to identify risks and issues
- Loading Manager/Loader/Packer Responsibilities:
- Make reasonable arrangements with other off-road parties to manage loading/unloading times
- Ensure vehicle loading/unloading does not cause delays and inform drivers of delays of more than 30 minutes
- Ensure that loading a heavy vehicle does not cause or contribute to a driver driving while fatigued
- Ensure loads: Do not exceed vehicle weight or dimension limits, make sure the truck doesn’t go above the weight limit and follows the load restraint guidelines
- They’re positioned and fastened in such a way that they don’t become unstable, move around, or fall off the vehicle.
- Prior to the travel, provide drivers with accurate weight information.
- Ensure that the load documentation is correct, and that the products put in a freight container do not cause the container’s gross weight or safety to be compromised.
- Driver/Owner-Driver Responsibilities:
- Follow your job and rest requirements for fatigue management.
- Keep accurate work records and a work diary as required by law.
- Changes in conditions (such as delays) should always be reported to your base.
- Make sure your truck doesn’t exceed any weight or size restrictions.
- Make sure your cargo is fastened securely.
- All maintenance issues should be checked and reported.
- Follow all speed restrictions and traffic laws.
- Subcontractors should likewise follow their prime contractors’ legal standards and be able to demonstrate compliance.
- Identify and report any hazards or risks that may be related with the transportation job.
