$49.5 Million package for Adblue supply

We all know the freight task is increasing along with population growth and higher productivity. Western Australia’s major grain handler, Cooperative Bulk Handling has said it expects harvests of 20 million tonne or more to be the norm. The majority of this will be moved by road. The 2018 Regional Freight Network Plan for WA predicted that the regional freight task would grow to 40 billion tonne kilometres per annum by 2030. Ironically that same report claimed that ‘the configuration, condition and road-use profile of a number of the State’s freight roads are already built to a standard to support freight growth to 2031.’

We already encounter examples of roads that are failing or have already failed. The Great Eastern Highway (an important tourist and freight route), the Great Northern Highway, the Tanami, the Albany Highway and the Great Central Road often feature in the roads attracting the most complaint, frequently in colourful terms.

Social media is awash with commentary about the condition on these roads. Admittedly social media is not renowned for factual reporting, but there is a consistency of complaint that is difficult to ignore. Main Roads response to the problem roads is to issue pothole alerts to warn motorists, reduce speed limits and impose temporary road closures. If the road maintenance budget cannot keep up with the current demands, how will it cope with the demands of 2030?

It is easy for armchair engineers to come up with simple answers to complex problems, but many of us have been travelling the same roads over a long period of time and have observed the correlation between roads deteriorating, extra mass and airbag suspension. It is an irresistible conclusion that road construction and maintenance techniques have not kept pace with vehicle technology. More weight and a larger freight task have taken their toll on the roads.

At a basic level the solution lies in either taking the pressure off the roads or building to a higher standard. The latter will increase costs and therefore extend the length of time before a project is completed. Even without added quality, large projects take time. Take for example the plans to seal the entire WA section of the Tanami which is 313km long. Construction of the first 20kms will start in 2023 at a cost of $42.75 million jointly funded by the Australian and WA governments.If only 20kms can be completed each year the project will take around 15 years to complete. During this time there will be other sections of the road in need of maintenance, but will funds be available. The same applies to other large projects.

Notwithstanding the obstacles, especially cost, presented by the ‘build to a high standard’ approach, it should be the ultimate goal. In the meantime, however we need to reduce the burden on the roads. Here are a few suggestions as to how we could achieve that: • Reduce the allowable axle weights to the standard. If necessary rates will have to increase • Support rail in regional areas to get trucks off the road with the one proviso

It is an irresistible conclusion that road construction and maintenance techniques have not kept pace with vehicle technology. More weight and a larger freight task have taken their toll on the roads

that this doesn’t result in funding being diverted away from roads • Consider whether the mining industry should contribute more money to road construction and maintenance. The volume of mining product moving across the network appears to be a large contributor to damaged roads • Main Roads should provide greater transparency about the current criteria for approval of quad road trains carrying 140 tonne payloads.

Some of these suggestions may not be popular but we have to do something drastic to arrest the decline in road conditions.

Month’s second-week theme of ‘mental health’, the NHVR has released regulatory advice providing guidance on mental health and wellbeing in the heavy vehicle road transport industry. This Fitness to Work – Mental Health advice has been developed with input and advice from Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds, OzHelp and Beyond Blue.

The advice explains: • why it’s important to build a mentally healthy workplace • the psychological hazards in the workplace that can lead to mental health concerns and conditions • how to recognise the signs that someone might benefit from support • how to improve mental health and wellbeing in a workplace.

$49.5m package For Adblue supply

The Australian Government has announced a $49.5 million investment over four years in a package to enhance the resilience of the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) market, including AdBlue. The funding will establish an emergency stockpile of Technical Grade Urea (TGU) which is the critical component of DEF.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the Australian Government was taking action to ensure ongoing reliable supplies of DEF.

The package includes: • A government controlled strategic stockpile of 7500 tonnes of TGU

providing an additional five weeks of supply beyond industry stock levels in case of a supply shortage. • A competitive grants program to support sovereign capability and manufacturing projects that will look to produce TGU domestically. • Collection of voluntary data provided by industry to provide market awareness of

TGU and DEF domestic stocks.

For more information on the Federal Government’s fuel strategy visit www.energy.gov.au/government-priorities/ energy-security/australias-fuel-security#tocanchor-securing-diesel-exhaust-fluid-tokeep-australia-moving