What is the Operator Rating system?
The Operator Rating System (ORS) is a new system that aims to provide a fair and accurate indication of the safety of an operator’s fleet and the operator’s compliance with land transport safety legislation.
The ORS will let operators know how well they're complying with legislation, help customers find and support operators that have good safety records and allow the NZ Transport Agency and NZ Police to target regulatory activities where they are most needed.
Why do we need an ORS?
The commercial road transport sector is very competitive, and non-compliant operators can undermine regulatory and safety performance when they are making decisions about maximising loads, just-in-time delivery deadlines and maintenance costs. Without effective enforcement, those who operate within the law face unfair economic pressure from operators who do not comply.
The ORS will help improve land transport safety by enabling better targeting of risky operators and encouraging all operators to lift their performance against transport standards and regulations.
The expected benefits of the ORS include:
- a reduction in heavy vehicle crashes and associated social costs due to the improved compliance that will result from targeted enforcement
- fairer and more effective enforcement throughout the transport industry, which will lead to a level playing field for the industry
- operators improving their standards and allowing consumers to make informed choices, as a result of operators being encouraged to do so by the publication of ratings
What is the legal basis for the ORS?
The Land Transport Rule Operator Safety Rating 2008 (OSR Rule) sets out the key aspects of the ORS and how the system should work. Section 158(b)(vii) of the Land Transport Act 1998 provides for the Minister of Transport to make a Rule of this nature.
Who gets rated?
The OSR Rule allows for ratings to be assigned to transport service operators and approved taxi organisations. In effect, this means that we can rate any holder of a transport service licence. However, in the initial phase the system will only rate holders of Goods Service, Passenger Service and Vehicle Recovery Service licences. Approved taxi organisations will be included in the rating system at a later stage.
Rental Service Licence holders will not be rated as it is recognised that in most cases the vehicles in question will be operated by the person or company renting the vehicle and not the rental company itself. Similarly, drivers of rented vehicles are generally not employed by or influenced by the rental company.
Operators must have at least one COF in the rating period to receive a rating.
What do the ratings look like?
The ratings are similar to hotel or restaurant ratings, with stars being allocated based on performance as follows:
What information are the ratings based on?
Operator safety ratings are based on the number of safety events recorded. Safety events are:
- the number, and severity, of faults found during certificate of fitness (CoF)
- the number, and severity, of faults found during roadside inspections
- the seriousness of any offences in which the operator’s vehicles are involved
Crash history will also be recorded, but it won't be part of the rating calculation.
Why aren’t crashes included in the rating?
When a crash occurs, the police will attend, and after assessing the scene and talking to witnesses they will record details of how they believe the crash occurred, including assigning fault for the crash. However, at this stage fault or guilt has not been attributed through the natural justice process and it’s unfair to use this in the rating.
If a driver or operator’s actions are believed to have caused a crash, an offence notice will be issued and the driver or operator can then defend the charge in court. If the outcome is that the driver or operator is found guilty, this will be included in the rating and reflect their liability for the crash.
How are the ratings calculated?
Operator safety ratings are calculated using an algorithm, which is a series of mathematical steps which produces a final score, with the score corresponding to a star rating of 1 to 5.
The algorithm steps are shown in the diagram below.
How were the event scores assigned?
COF faults are ranked based on the component that is faulty and how unsafe the vehicle becomes if that component doesn’t work properly, regardless of the actual nature of the fault. For example, any brake fault will be ranked the same, whether the brake is worn, seized, contaminated and so on. COF fault ranks range from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) – so for example, faulty brakes are ranked highly while missing certification doesn’t pose a high risk to safety so is ranked low. The ranks were assigned by a team of heavy vehicle specialists from the NZ Transport Agency’s (NZTA) Vehicles team, who also manage the VIRM and other vehicle standards and rules.
RID faults are also ranked based on the faulty component and the relative risk to safety of that component being faulty. Ranks are assigned based on the recommended action for that fault as specified in the Categorisation of Defects handbook used by Police and NZTA vehicle inspectors. Unsafe or "pink sticker" components have a high bearing on safety and so carry a high score of 9. Defective or "green sticker" components have a moderate bearing on safety and so carry a medium score of 5). Components that are non-compliant but not unsafe, and have a recommended action of "Green 2 (ordered to comply)" have a minor bearing on safety and score the lowest at 1. The recommended actions for roadside faults, and therefore their ORS scores, were assigned by a panel of experts from NZTA, CVIU, the Road Transport Forum and the Bus and Coach Association.
Offences are scored in ORS based on the risk to safety of the offending behaviour and range from a score of 20 for the least safety risk to a score of 100 for the greatest safety risk (this includes 3rd and subsequent offences and offences causing injury or death). The types of offending that carry the highest scores fall roughly into the categories of dangerous driving, drink driving, speeding, unsafe load or vehicle, and fatigue (reflected through work-time and logbook offences.) The scores for offences were assigned by a panel of experts from the Ministry of Transport, NZ Police, NZTA, the Road Transport Forum, and the Bus and Coach Association.
How are the ratings going to be used?
The NZTA and NZ Police will use rating information to help us target our advisory and enforcement activity so that those who need the most assistance and checking will be focussed on more closely. We will still check high-performing operators to ensure they are remaining compliant, but they are likely to receive less attention.
Operators will be able to use the rating information to see where they need to improve their performance and increase their safety or maintenance. They can also publicise their ratings and use it in their marketing to promote themselves as safe operators.
Customers will be able to use the published ratings to help them choose a transport service provider that they are confident is safe and legislatively compliant. Companies and government agencies that contract transport services may require operators to have a certain ORS rating before they can tender for contracts. There is also interest in the ratings from agencies such as ACC and the NZ Insurance Council who may take it into account in their levy and premium setting.
When does information start being collected?
NZTA started collecting information on which to base ratings on 1 July 2010, so COFs that are conducted now will be included in the first four ratings, along with any roadside inspections or offences that have happened since then.
When does the system come into effect?
Ratings are based on six months’ worth of data, so the first ratings were determined at the end of 2010.
The NZTA had initially planned to publish operator safety ratings when two years’ worth of data had been collected, ie late 2012 but in early 2012, announced that the scheduled publishing of operator safety ratings generated by its Operator Rating System (ORS) will be delayed until 2013.
Why has the publication of ORS ratings been delayed?
Issues have identified that need to be resolved so the NZTA has decided to take more time to refine the ORS to iron out any issues to ensure the ORS’s benefits are maximised for all stakeholders.
How will operators find out what their rating is?
The NZTA will send each rated operator a proposed rating which shows the star rating and the events that make up the rating. These will be sent by mail or email depending on the operator’s preference. Operators then have an opportunity to get any errors corrected before the ratings are published. If the operator makes no objections then the rating will be published 20 working days after they receive their proposed rating notification.
How and where are the ratings published?
Ratings must be published on the NZTA website. The published rating will show enough information to identify the operator (for example, their company name and TSL number) and will show their star rating. The information that makes up the rating will not be published, although NZTA may add some context by publishing information about the fleet size and number of events included in the rating.
If an operator is disputing their rating, they will show on the website as "under review", and operators that have not been rated (because they haven’t been in business for long enough or haven’t had a COF in the rating period) will show as "unrated".
What if errors are made with the rating information?
Operators are encouraged to address as soon as possible any errors or concerns with decisions made at COF and roadside inspections. This means the operator needs to take the issue up with the inspector concerned (see “Do agents need to do anything differently?” below). Errors with offence information can be addressed via the Police Infringements Bureau as normal.
If the operator discovers an error or anything missing from the information that makes up their proposed rating, they can apply to the NZTA to get this corrected through the Errors and Omissions process. They must do so in writing, within 20 days of receiving their proposed rating.
Can operators appeal a rating?
If, after applying to NZTA to get an error corrected, the operator is still unhappy with the outcome, they can apply to a Review Panel. The Review Panel is made up of one representative each from NZTA, the transport industry, and the legal profession. The review panel will consider the operator’s submission and make a decision on whether the rating should stand, or be recalculated.
What sort of offences will be included in the rating?
Any offences that have a direct bearing on road safety will be rated. This includes offences/ behaviours like dangerous driving, drink driving, speeding, unsafe load or vehicle, and fatigue (reflected through work-time and logbook offences). It does not include offences that are administrative in nature, like failing to keep a complaints register, or that relate to roading and infrastructure management, like exceeding axle weights.
Are RUC offences included?
Failure to pay adequate RUC for the weight of the vehicle is not a direct safety issue and is therefore not included in ORS, but loading a vehicle beyond the certificate of loading is a safety risk. These offences will be included in ORS, and depending on the circumstances, a RUC infringement may also be issued, but the RUC offence will not be included in the rating.
Why are operators’ ratings affected by the behaviour of their drivers (eg by including offences)?
Ensuring businesses take responsibility for their employees is an important aspect of creating a workplace safety culture. The people who own and manage businesses have a lot of influence over the workplace culture and the behaviour of their staff. Under the ORS there is an expectation that operators will not facilitate or tolerate driver offending and this will be reflected through their rating.
What can operators and drivers do to improve their safety and get a good rating?
- Keep up a preventative maintenance programme that proactively identifies faults and fixes them straight away.
- Get to know the VIRM used at COF and the Categorisation of Defects handbook used at roadside inspections.
- Identify and fix faults before COF – don’t use COF to find the faults.
- Make sure service providers are striving to pass COF first time every time.
- Do a pre-trip walk-around inspection of the vehicle and fix any faults found.
- Take up any concerns about inspection results with the inspector as soon as possible.
- Make sure that the correct TSL label is displayed in the vehicle at all times.
- Set achievable schedules and rosters, so that drivers can adhere to the speed limits and work time requirements.
- Ensure that drivers understand the importance of sticking to the speed limit, taking the required breaks, and completing their logbooks correctly.
- Make sure that drivers are appropriately licensed and trained for the type of driving they do.
- Put in place a safe driving policy for their business, to improve driver safety and reduce offending by addressing fatigue, distraction, speeding and drink driving, and promoting the use of safety belts and other safety features.
- Address any offending by drivers.
