At Trucking Australia 23, the Minister responsible for the trucking industry, Catherine King, Federal Minister of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government talked about the challenge involved in decarbonising road transport as being one of the things that the trucking industry is up for. She also commended the take-up of the latest safety technology, as being ‘fantastic to see’.
“Climate change is a challenge that we are grappling with, across the economy,” said King. “Taken together, transport itself represents 19 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and four per cent of those come from the heavy road sector. Given the difficulties involved in environmental issues in this sector, transport is predicted to become our largest source of emissions by 2030.
“With our commitment to net zero emissions, this sector is meant to drive these down, whether it be through hydrogen highways and commitment to funding chargers for electric trucks or through alternative fuels. I know this industry is ready and willing to do its part.
“Euro 6 emission standards can be phased in for new trucks and buses from November next year. In making this change, I’m very conscious of the development costs based on industry needing steer axle mass and vehicle clearance when introducing zero emission vehicles. That’s why the government is working very closely with industry, through the National Transport Commission (NTC)and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), on outstanding concerns around the implementation of Euro 6.”
King recognises some of these steps are difficult but pointed out that the alternative is clearly illustrated by recent adverse weather events, particularly the widespread flooding. For her there is no doubt about the impact of climate change.
“To this end, important work being undertaken by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), responding to the risks posed by severe weather events,” said King. “In February of this year, BITRE released phase one of the road and rail supply chain resilience review, identifying the biggest ricks on our network.
“The critical freight routes across our continent the Stuart Highway and Carpenteria Highway as well as the major highways in Western Australia are all integral to our nation and they are all vulnerable. My department will develop options for strengthening the resilience of road and rail networks.”
The Minister also updated the Trucking Australia audience on the Heavy Vehicle National law (HVNL) reform, something that has been a significant issue for the last decade.
“We have only been in office for 10 months,” said King. “We have decided to make some real progress. Last year infrastructure and transport ministers set a brief to implement a package of goals to completely revise the laws to a more flexible risk-based regime using new technology, with the NTC taking the lead and Ken Kanofski remaining involved. A comprehensive report has been prepared and is going to ministers for consideration.
“There’s a lot of complex interrelated pieces for us to get right, but a draft bill should be coming together by the end of this year. Through this process, governments have agreed to automate, as far as is possible, the systems through which they are giving people access on certain roads, and they are working together towards that end.”
The Minister pointed to discussions on improving access for high productivity freight vehicles and the NTC and the NHVR a developing a new two tier system for managing driver fatigue. Normally, Infrastructure and Transport ministers meet up twice a year, but are now set to move to an out of session voting system. This should enable quicker progress on these issues, which have seen constant delays.
For more stories like ‘Decarbonising Road Transport’ – see below
