Heavy vehicle access permits might not sound like an everyday concern for most Australians, however failure to prioritise access reform comes with significant risks to our supply chain, economy and the wider community.
Debates on issues impacting our industry such as road safety, industry standards, the driver shortage, productivity, rising costs and the need to reduce emissions are often conducted without consideration of an important element of context.
The elephant in the room has been the increasing size of the freight task, which will make all these challenges much harder to solve.
In NSW, the government expects the amount of road freight will increase by 57 per cent above 2020 levels by 2040. The interstate road task is expected to increase by 84 per cent by 2040.
As growth in freight is linked to growth in the economy and the size of the population, this challenge will be faced by all states and territories.
We face the prospect of interstate freight on our highways being projected to almost double in the next 20 years. The need to move freight as efficiently as possible and with the least number of vehicle trips will become a clear and pressing task for industry and governments.
The reality is we don’t have enough drivers to move today’s freight task, let alone the significant growth in freight expected by 2040.
Industry can’t solve this buried under red tape, high costs and a permit system designed for a bygone era.
At the NatRoad Connect 24 event in Coffs Harbour, Transport Minister Jo Haylen launched a refreshed NSW Heavy Vehicle Access Policy, recognising road freight as an essential industry.
While it might seem an obscure public service document to some, the roadmap is a critical tool to drive reforms. It’s recognition from the government that optimising the use of road infrastructure to enable access for high productivity vehicles will ultimately deliver better outcomes for the whole community.
Reducing access red tape on operators allows freight to be moved as efficiently as possible, with better outcomes for the road network, for safety, productivity and the environment.
The new NSW Heavy Vehicle Access Policy will drive reforms to improve end-to-end networks, encourage innovation in vehicle design, prioritise and streamline access approvals, as well as progress-related reforms (such as delivering better rest areas).
Governments and their agencies are also working towards the development of a National Automated Access System.
Inspired by the Tasmanian Heavy Vehicle Access Management System model, the idea is to automate access decisions and cut away red tape.
However, we must also remember the real merit of the Tasmanian system is a change in thinking away from permits to network-based access. It isn’t just a matter of putting a layer of automation over the top of the broken permit system.
The Kanofski recommendations, intended to put heavy vehicle law reform back on track, envisaged the number of permits under a National Automated Access System should be slashed by 90 per cent within five years. Also critical to making this goal achievable is ensuring more is done to improve access by notice.
NatRoad has strongly advocated for governments to prioritise delivery of the National Automated Access System with enough funding to get the job done.
We were pleased to see the Australian Government support the development of Tasmania’s HVAMS model. Now we need a national delivery plan with committed funding to ensure the new system becomes a reality.
Getting back-end access systems fit for the 21st century also means we can talk about ending red tape and the high-cost burdens on operators.
One startling example is Victoria’s approach to charging up to tens of thousands of dollars for bridge assessments. This is a clear handbrake on improving efficiency and lowering emissions.
In 2024, it is just not defensible to say to operators that emissions need to come down, and then impose eye watering costs on proposals to do it.
Fixing access is the reform that unlocks a wide range of benefits and positions our industry to better meet the challenge of a growing freight task.
Warren Clark is the CEO of NatRoad.
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