ACAPMA News
Bid for bigger trucks on western roads
Posted Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:21pm AEST
A truck lobby group has unveiled plans to get heavier vehicles onto roads in the west of New South Wales, to make freight transport more efficient.
The National Road Transport Operators Association will hold talks with local councils and the Roads and Traffic Authority to discuss the proposal.
Director John Morris says while the trucks are larger than B-doubles, they are safer.
He says it will help to meet increasing demand for road freight.
"The idea is we are working on a line at this stage say on the Newell Highway, north, south and anywhere west of there," he said.
"There's other smaller areas these vehicles can be used but as, say, the rural sector around here, around western NSW improves with our season, just the regional freight task will be huge."
The NRMA says plans to introduce heavier vehicles must not jeopardise other drivers' safety.
Mr Morris says a trial, held in Dubbo, is one of three planned for regional New South Wales.
"The idea of that was to educate our local governmnet people who have got to approve these routes," he said.
"We put the applications directly into the councils as well as the roads and traffic authority."
"The idea of these trials is to show what's available and the extra freight we can carry on these safer vehicles on the highways."
Extracted in full from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/11/2924875.htm
