News
Trans-Australia railway – Open for Business
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n January 21st after a once in 200-year flooding event, the Trans-Australia railway which links Western Australia with the east coast via Adelaide was damaged at multiple locations along a 300 kilometre stretch of the track. Crews worked around the clock to fix the damage, while the State Government worked with industry, retailers and the Commonwealth to ensure the continued supply of freight and essential goods into Western Australia. The track reopened February 15th. Measures undertaken by the State Government included: • Working with Pacific National and Linfox to create a 'land bridge' with
freight transported by triple road trains from Adelaide to Kalgoorlie via the Eyre Highway. Once at Kalgoorlie, containers were loaded onto freight trains and hauled into Perth. • Worked with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator to allow triple road trains to use Eyre Highway and access Kalgoorlie directly. As of Sunday, 55 triple road trains (53.5 metres) have used these exemptions to bring essential goods across the Nullarbor. • Allowed double road trains (36.5 metres) to travel directly from Northam into Perth via Greenmount Hill with a safety escort - 43 double road trains have entered Perth via this route. Woolworths also utilised the option to
DID YOU KNOW – SLOMO
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he Slow Down, Move Over or SLOMO law applies to all emergency service vehicles and first response personnel who need to attend to roadside incidents in Western Australia. The SLOMO law requires drivers to slow down to 40 km/h when approaching specific stationary emergency vehicles which are displaying
flashing lights while attending an incident. Drivers in ALL lanes travelling in the same direction as the lane where the emergency or incident response vehicles with flashing lights are stopped are required to safely slow down and travel at no more than 40km/h when passing. $300 and 3 points for failing to do so.
ADBLUE PRODUCTION UP 800%
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he Transport Industry has welcomed news that domestic production of AdBlue has increased by 800% in the past month, after the Federal Government supported Brisbane company Incitec Pivot to boost production. The Federal Government move followed strong lobbying by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) and their member associations. The result is considered this result a win. However, the ATA are concerned about what will happen if Incitec Pivot continues with its plan to close by December this year and AdBlue is sourced offshore. The ATA also noted the high price of AdBlue despite the boost in supply and are continuing their conversations with government over this issue.
ship goods to Western Australia, with the first ship having left Sydney on February 8 and arriving Fremantle Port by February 22. The shipping option was anticipated to bring in more than 3,500 additional pallets of goods into Fremantle. Deliveries will be able to be made to supermarkets 24/7, under planning law changes made in 2020, which will help ease some of the backlog of supply. WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said, "I'd like to thank the Australian Rail Track Corporation, retailers, industry and in particular our truck drivers for helping keep our freight and supply moving through this unprecedented event. "I'd also like to thank the community for being so supportive and only buying what they needed at the supermarket, making it much easier for us to manage the supply chain issues. "It will take some time to clear the backlog of supplies, so I encourage everyone to remain patient and to continue to only buy what you need over the next few weeks. "We are continuing to allow truck deliveries to supermarkets 24/7, under changes to planning laws in 2020, which will mean we can get more essential goods and supplies back onto our supermarket shelves quicker." WATM • March 2022
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