After more than two decades in the transport haulage business, Narrandera-based Hayllar Transport managing director Bernie Hayllar could not have envisaged the current situation he is facing due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The fuel crisis has put many Riverina transport operators under extreme financial pressure due to the rising costs of fuel.

Mr Hayllar, who runs the business alongside his wife Joanne, is one of those operators who face challenges in the complex day-to-day operations of keeping trucks on the road.

He has backed industry concerns by the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) over a proposed fuel cost recovery shake-up being considered by the Fair Work Commission, which could create a “compliance nightmare”.

The Commission started hearing a major application for a road transport contractual chain order covering fuel cost recovery across the industry.

NatRoad CEO Warren Clark said while the intent to support operators was welcome, the mechanism as proposed was unworkable in practice.

“We want every transport business in this country, from fleet to owner driver, to recover their costs,” Mr Clark said.

“That’s exactly why we’re asking for this to be done properly, because a mechanism that sounds good on paper, but can’t be applied in practice helps nobody.”

Mr Clark said the complexity of modern road freight movements makes accurate cost recovery calculations almost impossible.

Echoing Mr Clark’s concerns, Mr Hayllar knows first-hand that keeping a transport business running often involves juggling multiple loads, customers and delivery points in a single trip, which can make precise cost calculations difficult.

Mr Clark posed the question of how a trucking business could calculate cost recovery on a single pallet of office paper, carried on a B-double with 50 other items, for 50 different customers, dropped at different locations.

“The proposal doesn’t answer that question and until it does, it cannot be enforced and it cannot be complied with,” he said.

NatRoad has also questioned how operators are expected to calculate accurate cost recovery figures before a job even starts, given fluctuating fuel prices, varying road conditions and unpredictable delays.

“Fuel costs can change before you leave the depot,” Mr Clark said.

“City driving means idling in traffic – regional driving means headwinds on the highway.

“How is a small operator supposed to calculate cost recovery for a trip before they’ve even taken it? This needs to be thought through and not rushed.”

Mr Clark said the proposal also failed to reflect the commercial realities of the industry.

“You can’t impose a contractual obligation when no formal contract exists,” he said.

“Much of the road freight in this country moves on a handshake, a phone call, or a quote.

“That’s the commercial reality of this industry, and any workable solution has to account for that.”

NatRoad further warned that mandating standardised cost recovery could distort competition, disadvantaging smaller operators, while favouring larger carriers with economies of scale.

“Competition drives efficiency in this industry,” Mr Clark said.

“We should be encouraging businesses to find smarter ways to manage costs, not designing regulations that punish those who already have.”

NatRoad is calling on the Commission to convene an urgent, industry-wide conference to work through practical and enforceable solutions and resist deciding on a rushed outcome.

“Those who understand how road freight actually moves in this country are the operators themselves and they must be at the centre of this process,” Mr Clark said.

“It is not something that can be resolved through a rushed legal proceeding or imposed from the outside.

“It requires a structured, collaborative discussion with the people who run trucking businesses every day.”

NatRoad is also urging the Commission to avoid repeating past mistakes.

“The history of this industry includes the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, which was a well-intentioned intervention that came within days of pricing thousands of owner-drivers out of work,” Mr Clark said.

Transport operators throughout the region, such as the Hayllars, will be keeping a close eye on the outcome, hoping it delivers fair cost recovery without putting small transport businesses at risk.

This article appeared in Narrandera Argus, 16 April 2026.