Farm vehicle proposals welcomed

The core proposal in the Review of Agricultural Transport Legislation document is a new E class X registration which would allow unlimited mileage at up to 40km/h, without a warrant or certificate of fitness, or excessive driver licensing requirements.

It’s enthusiastically welcomed by industry representatives.

“This is an overwhelming victory in the simplification of operating agricultural vehicles on the road,” Mid Canterbury farmer and Federated Farmers representative on the Agricultural Transport Forum, David Clark told Rural News.

While the proposals won’t meet every farmer’s every wish, they are a “significant step forward” from the current morass of regulations and amendments which confused even those charged with enforcing them, he says.

“It takes away the confusion of whether you are a farmer or contractor, and means you’re not captured by the working time rule.

“In consulting on this, Federated Farmers was very aware Government would not compromise [on] road safety and this proposal achieves that, while still meeting most of our aims.”

Clark says if farmers identify points in the proposals that could be done better, let the federation know and/or attend one of the five consultation meetings (see panel).

“We’ll go through [any points] very carefully and listen to the feedback from our members at the five meetings. So far the feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly supportive.”

That’s echoed by Rural Contractors Association executive director Roger Parton.

“This is a huge leap forward...,” he told Rural News. “It will take a lot of pressure off the agricultural sector and allow it to operate as it needs to without overly restrictive legislation, but without putting at risk road safety.”

Parton says the increase in registration fee, from $23 to $46 under E class X, is because time licences have gone.

Abolition of E class B registration for trucks and utes is “a separate issue”.

“This review is just about tractors and self-propelled agricultural vehicles.”