Industry bosses have sounded the alarm over the 12-month shutdown of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge for a $420 million rebuild due to start on February 1.
They fear the closure will trigger major disruption for freight operators accessing Fremantle Port and warned of congestion, delays and rising costs as a result.
During the shutdown of the Swan River crossing, an additional 24,000 vehicles per day traffic will be diverted to the nearby Stirling Bridge. But operators say the alternative route, and surrounding road network, is not built to accommodate the increased load.
“It’s thrown us under the bus pretty close to go time,” said Brian Hack, the Managing Director of EES Shipping, a medium sized, family-owned trucking company based in Cockburn.
To add insult to injury, Hack told Big Rigs there was also talk of a possible curfew for fully laden trucks during peaks hours, 7am-9am, and 2pm-4pm.
“We’ve been thrown this in the Christmas news blackout period. If you want to throw someone to the wolves when they can’t do anything about it, this is the perfect time.
“This is not good for anyone in the industry. Everyone is scrambling to work out what to do.
“People are talking about at least a 25-35 per cent increase in costs.”
Hack said he understood the curfew option had since been shelved but is concerned it may still be still be considered if other measures don’t work.
“What if you go to the port to pick up containers at 6am, get delayed and can’t make the 7am cut-off?
“Does that mean you have to park your truck up for two hours? That’s ridiculous. So, who’s going to get the cost of that? It’s always going to be the end client.”
Hack said there has also been talk of a bridge closure surcharge to help cover the costs.
“But no one knows what it would look like; how much it would be. There is only so long you can absorb these sorts of costs.”
Hack said there is the option of moving more loads into overnight off-peak periods. But there are associated extra costs with staffing night shifts that are unsustainable over an extended period and he said the empty container parks have also told industry they’re not staying open 24/7.
“We still need to work around normal business hours to get a lot of things done.”
Hack said one solution that the industry has offered is opening up the port roads to high productivity freight vehicles (HPFVs) so there are less truck movements each day.
But at deadline for this issue, there had been no interest from the state government in the idea.
“One truck for two [40-foot] containers, that takes half of the trucks off the road,” Hack said.
“They should at least trial it.”
Main Roads is taking other steps to mitigate the potential for gridlock while the upgrades on the Fremantle bridge are underway, modifying various intersections along Stirling Highway and in Fremantle to prioritise key movements, and installing over 18 cameras and Bluetooth devices to monitor traffic conditions in real time.
“It will take a combined effort from all road users, including commuters, local residents and freight operators, as well as people walking, riding bikes and scooters, to navigate this disruption,” Main Roads said.
Main Roads said the state government is continuing to work with the freight industry to discuss options to encourage increased rail usage and off-peak freight operations during the closure.
In a note to members at the end of 2025, Western Roads Federation (WRF) CEO Cam Dumesny said more has to be done for the road freight industry.
“This fight has only just begun and if the government thinks it will be buried in the Christmas-New Year news cycle, they are very sadly mistaken,” Dumesny said.
He said WRF, Container Transport Alliance Australia and Freight and Trade Alliance (FTA) are united and collaborating in opposing the industry “ambush” and instead offering a practical and realistic alternative.
The peak bodies formed an industry group this week comprising of representatives from container terminals, road and rail transport operators, empty container parks, exporters, shipping lines and freight forwarders to discuss the closure implications and work through solutions.
They included greater use of night-time and off-peak deliveries, where possible, increased use of rail when additional capacity is available and improved coordination between terminals, road transport operators, rail operators, empty container parks and customers to smooth freight flows.
Industry also reiterated its continued advocacy for the use of HPFVs to and from the port.
“Rightly, the government is proud of the percentage of container freight moved to/from the Port of Fremantle by rail; it is the largest percentage in Australia,” said the group’s chair John Park, who is also the FTA’s Head of Business Operations.
“However, HPFV access could be designed to not impact on the rail market share, yet deliver significant productivity, safety and environmental performance wins by reducing truck traffic by at least 25 per cent, or more.”
Main Roads and the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure have been approached for comment.
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