etruck.com.au

Our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been talking up improvements in the freight transport sector in the last couple of weeks and says the transport priority for the Council of Australian Governments this year will be road transport.

In a speech in Adelaide he quoted a report by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, published last year, which states the freight task will triple between now and 2050. This is quite a call and should wake up a few slumbering agencies to get their finger out and ensure the Australian freight system can cope.

All of the inititiatives announced will talk about fantastical infrastucture devlopments with better roads and state of the art rail freight, all of which will make a minor dint in the problem. Without genuine change in the way we regulate road freight ,the governments will be thrown out of office as the roads are filled to the brim with congestion unknown today.

There is a solution which will work and not cost the billlions on top of billions they will pour into rail and roads. There is a hitch, the government will need to be brave and take on the motorist’s fear of big trucks. Not many governments we have known, would have the bottle to take the bull by the horns and get real increased productivity on the roads.

Compromises will have to be made by the general public if they want fresh bread in the supermarket.Efficient road freight can do the work, it just needs some help, like nationally consistent legislation and a sensible approach to running bigger, heavier and long vehicles on our roads 24 hours a day.

Is the current government brave enough to be sensible? I doubt it. Will economic growth be contricted if freight transport cannot cope? Absolutely. So come on Kevin, get some cojones!