Mandate UHF Contact Channels for Every Active Worksite

Every day, Oversize/Overmass (OSOM) pilots and truck drivers travel through active roadworks zones without any reliable way to contact the traffic control crews ahead of them.

That might not sound like much — until you’ve got a 5-metre-wide load crawling through a 3.5-metre lane while a road crew scrambles to move cones, trucks, and barriers out of the way.

Right now, many roadwork sites don’t monitor Channel 40 or 29, the standard UHF frequencies used by OSOM pilots and truckies across Australia. Instead, they use internal or company channels, leaving us no way to give them advance warning that an oversize load is coming.

That gap in communication isn’t just inconvenient — it’s dangerous.

It puts workers, drivers, and the public at risk.

It causes delays, confusion, and near misses that could easily be prevented with one simple change: make communication mandatory.

We’re calling for a national safety standard requiring all active roadwork and traffic-control sites to:

1️⃣ Monitor UHF Channel 40 (south of the Hawkesbury River) and Channel 29 (north of the Hawkesbury River).

2️⃣ Display a contact sign or notice before each worksite listing the operating UHF channel or direct contact number.

3️⃣ Add these details to the Live Traffic app so pilots and operators can call ahead safely.

4️⃣ Include communication compliance in all state roadwork contracts.

This reform would save time, protect lives, and strengthen communication between OSOM operators, truck drivers, and road crews nationwide.

We’re not asking for special treatment — just common sense.

One channel, one standard, one clear line of communication to keep everyone safe.

Sign this petition to show your support for a safer, smarter, better-connected Australian road network.

Together, we can make sure that when a wide load’s rolling through, everyone’s ready for it.