Australia’s trucking industry has called on governments to focus on fixing roads rather than slowing traffic, warning that reducing default rural speed limits would damage productivity and deliver limited safety gains.
Releasing the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA) submission to the Federal Government’s consultation on rural road speeds, Chair Mark Parry said the proposed reduction of the unsigned default limit from 100 km/h to 80 km/hwould have a disproportionate impact on freight operators, especially in regional and remote areas.
“There are more effective ways to improve road safety,” Mr Parry said. “According to the consultation paper, reducing speed limits would generate $2.20 in benefits for every dollar it would cost. But for the same dollar, we could get $9.60 in benefits by placing more warning signs at dangerous locations on rural roads, or $6.60 in benefits through line marking.”
Mr Parry said the ATA supports investment in proven safety measures rather than blanket speed reductions that penalise regional productivity.
“Maintaining non-urban roads better and upgrading them would support the industry’s productivity, reduce maintenance costs and improve the resilience of the road system as Australia’s climate gets worse,” he said.
The ATA submission highlights concerns from members about delays in meeting delivery curfews, longer journey times for time-sensitive freight such as livestock, and the cumulative effect of slower travel on driver hours and costs.
Citing a Sydney Morning Herald report that compared the proposed speed change to “adding the duration of a Taylor Swift track” to a 30-minute trip, Mr Parry said that analogy misses the point.
“There aren’t many 30-minute transits on non-signed roads in rural and remote Australia. Truck drivers work all day, not just for half an hour. The productivity impact of reducing the speed limit would be significant and is understated in the paper,” he said.
The ATA also questioned the consultation’s cost modelling, noting that it:
- assumes truck driver wages have not increased in real terms since 2013,
- uses a 9.25% superannuation rate instead of the current 12%, and
- bases the cost of freight delays on a survey of inter-capital and metropolitan freight, not regional or rural operations.
Mr Parry said governments should instead focus on addressing known black spots and investing in maintenance and upgrade programs that deliver the greatest safety return per dollar spent.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has consistently promoted the message that “We All Need Space” and education remains key to improving road safety outcomes. However, the ATA’s latest submission reinforces that speed reductions alone are not a substitute for better-designed and well-maintained roads.
“Improving the quality of rural roads will save more lives and deliver better outcomes for the economy and communities that depend on freight,” Mr Parry said.
