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ATA calls for fairer increases to truck charges

The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) is calling on governments not to increase truck road user and registration charges by more than the expected inflation rate of 1.5 per cent in 2021-22.

ATA CEO, Andrew McKellar, released the ATA response today to the governments’ proposal to increase charges by 2.5 per cent, which many trucking businesses can afford.

“More than a third of the trucking businesses we surveyed told us their business activity was still down compared to immediately before the bushfires and the start of the pandemic,” McKellar said.

“Trucking businesses also have great difficulty passing charge increases on to their customers.”

McKellar added that the proposed increase of 2.5 per cent was based on an inflation forecast from May 2019.

“Treasury’s inflation forecast for 2021-22 is 1.5 per cent. Truck charges should not go up by more than this forecast,” he said, adding that the ATA would continue arguing for measures to make charges fairer and more affordable, and to improve the cashflow of businesses.

“We need a ban on payment times longer than 30 days, the extension of price regulation to truck tolls and port access charges and changes to allow businesses to pay truck registration charges by monthly direct debit.

“In addition, some ATA members have raised serious concerns about the misuse of primary producer registration concessions.”

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