Peak bodies argue case for toll relief

WITH heavy vehicles having to pay up to three times more to use some of Sydney’s toll roads, Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) says trucks have become “cash cows” for the state’s toll operators.

In its submission to the NSW toll review, RFNSW highlighted the impact excessive tolls are having on many NSW transport operators.

“It is well known that Sydney holds the dubious honour of having the most extensive, and expensive, urban toll road network in the world. High tolls in NSW continue to have negative impacts on road freight businesses, workers and their families,” RFNSW said in the submission.

“Heavy vehicle tolls have progressively been increased across most routes, particularly across the Sydney road network, at the rate of up to three times the rate of light vehicles.

“RFNSW believes this is unfair and discriminatory. It is instructive to note that in 2017, a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry recommended that the NSW Government identify and publish the evidence to support the decision to charge trucks three times more than light vehicles, but this has not occurred to date. The fact is, trucks have become ‘cash cows’ for NSW toll operators.”

While RFNSW has welcomed reforms to the state’s toll roads put forward by the new Minns Government, which includes a cap on tolls from January 1, 2024, RFNSW says more must be done to ease financial pressures on trucking operators who are already struggling to pay toll fees that are constantly on the rise, along with other administration costs, such as port surcharges.

“Current tolling fees are unfair and inequitable for our RFNSW members, many of whom are small to medium-sized, family-owned and operated businesses, who must be given incentives for their frequent, and costly, road toll usage, if they are to continue operating,” the submission said.

According to RFNSW, its members are paying tens of thousands of dollars in tolls every month. The transport body pointed to one such example being family-owned and operated transport company Vellex, which is based in western Sydney. Its toll fees currently sit at around $100,000 each month.

RFNSW said long-term reforms need to be implemented. In the submission, it says these reforms could include:

• Off-peak/time-of-day tolls discounts.

• A ‘per-km’ distance-based tolls.

• Incentives for truckies to use toll roads, such as reduced registration fees and/or specific cash back schemes.

• Tolls based on a heavy vehicle’s mass.

• Tolls based on a heavy vehicle’s environmental features (the cleaner the truck, the lower the toll).

• An independent pricing regulator, such as IPART, overseeing the current tolling system, to ensure transparency and equity for road users.

The National Road Transport Association lodged an eight-point “log of claims” with inquiry, calling for a “fairer go” for truckies on the state’s motorways. They include slashing the cost recovery “toll multiplier” between cars and trucks from three-times to two-times, exemptions for Euro VI or zero emissions heavy vehicles and toll discounts for off-peak or multiple journeys.

NatRoad CEO Warren Clark said tolls on heavy vehicles on most of the privately-operated network are set using a “three times the cost of passenger cars” multiplier.

“It’s simply too much and the multiplier is well above the cost of road upkeep and damage incurred by trucks,” Clark said.

“There is no priority placed on transport planning outcomes and creating liveable urban communities by seeking to incentivise goods movement on motorways.

“There is no understanding of commercial realities – higher tolls on trucks are justified by claims of the higher value of time savings, which do not stack up to scrutiny.”

Clark said the lesson of the pandemic and related supply chain crisis was that trucking is an essential industry.

“Private toll road operators (with government agreement) are directly contributing to making a difficult business environment even worse, with impacts on the viability and safety of small business operators,” he said.

The NSW government is expected to release an interim report before the end of the year and a final report in 2024.

Roads Minister John Graham, who campaigned on a promise to ease the toll burden on truckies, said that the reform process on pricing would start before the next term of government.

The NSW Government is set to introduce a $60 a week toll cap for private motorists from January 1, and a reduction in the truck toll multiplier for heavy vehicles on the M5 East and M8 corridors from the start of next year, for two years.