The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has welcomed the Australian Government’s future fuels discussion paper and its commitment to a $24.5 million Freight Energy Productivity Program.
Chair of the ATA David Smith congratulated the government on recognising the need for a future fuels strategy to address barriers to the roll out of new vehicle technologies.
“New, low emission transport technologies will not become reality if they are not viable commercial options for trucking operators,” he said.
“We need to accelerate the development, production and viability of low and zero emission heavy vehicle technologies, and that requires targeted government investment and actions to remove barriers that prevent industry from adopting these technologies.
“The Government has identified electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure as a priority initiative, and the Government has recognised that long-haul trucks will need dedicated charging infrastructure.”
He added, “New competitive grants to support trucking businesses to invest in efficiency improvement for diesel vehicle fleets, vehicle modifications, or new vehicle technologies is an important recognition of the need to support industry to reduce emissions.”
The ATA has strongly advocated for governments to reduce barriers on new technologies and accelerate the uptake of technologies including electric and hydrogen trucks.
“The Government also needs to support the increased use of high productivity freight vehicles, which use less fuel to move the same amount of freight as a larger number of smaller trucks,” Smith said.