NatRoad, a player in abolishing the RSRT, is campaigning for the NSW government to overturn the NSW Industrial Relations Commission’s determination.

Spokeswoman Catherine Russell said if the determination were to impose rates state-wide, would have a similar impact to the RSRT.

“It was put in place in 1984 to set minimum rates in Sydney and now it applies for all of NSW,” she said.

“80 per cent of freight moves through NSW or arrives there, so it’s a big deal.

“What has been proposed is a 30 cent increase to the base rates that apply, which makes it uncompetitive for owner drivers.”

Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell said the GCCD was some of the worst parts of the RSRT “by stealth” and she was writing to the NSW Premier Mike Baird to alert him of this.

“If a minimum rates order were to come in, it has to be done incredibly carefully and has to affect all parts of the industry equally,” she said.

“I’m not confident a NSW Industrial Relations Commission determination has the capacity to treat everybody equally.”

In her inquiry into the RSRT, Ms Carnell has also called for education for road users about how to drive around heavy vehicles, “given the vast majority of multi-vehicle accidents involving trucks are not the fault of the truck”.

“The rest of us understanding how to drive around trucks will do more to improve road safety than anything else,” she said. 

“Truck accidents have actually come down, not up.”

Ms Carnell outlined only six per cent of all public road fatalities were the fault of a heavy vehicle and media representation needed to be adjusted to reflect this.

“We’ve seen road safety campaigns about how to drive cars around bicycles – I think there needs to be one for big rigs,” she said.

Improving drivers’ knowledge of trucks was among the unexpected issues raised by the inquiry – including a need to address the sustainability of the industry through apprenticeship schemes.

Ms Carnell said hearing the impacts of the RSRT was difficult and urged the government to heed her warnings on similar legislation.

“We had a range of people on the phone indicating they were contemplating taking their own life – they were at that level of hopelessness,” she said.

“As much as it was difficult, we also felt incredibly honoured to hear their stores.”

Ms Carnell doesn’t have the solution to issues the RSRT attempted to solve, but she does suggest a code of conduct for the road freight industry under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Ms Russell said the possibility of this code would be a discussion for the first Owner Driver Working Group, established in July.

“We needed to make sure owner drivers had a really strong voice and could come together and get and agenda going,” she said.

“We’ve pulled together an action list of 10 items to pursue throughout the year.”

As harrowing as the events of the RSRT have been, Ms Russell said the unity that emerged within the owner-operators’ corner of the industry had been a silver lining.

“They can be a notoriously hard group to engage with – people who are owner drivers are on the road, trying to run the business, and are time-poor,” she said.

“If the RSRT did anything, it brought a whole community of people together.”