THE ATA and other road user groups have met with the COAG Reform Plan (CRRR) project board to discuss its progress on considering future taxes and charges for truck operators.
According to the ATA, CRRP is looking at alternatives to the road user charge and high registration charges currently imposed on the industry.
The CRRP is conducting a feasibility study of mass-distance-location pricing, which would involve fitting every truck with a GPS transponder linked back to a road pricing agency. Trucks would be charged on the basis of their weight, the distance they travel and the roads they use.
The ATA says CRRP is also considering its proposed model of fuel based charging, which it claims would reduce registration charges to $400 per truck or trailer but increase the road user charge paid by operators through fuel taxes.
ATA chief executive Stuart St Clair says the meeting was an important chance for the trucking industry to provide its views to the CRRP project board.
“It was clear from the discussion that the CRRP project board will not automatically recommend a charging system involving putting a device on every truck,” Clair said.
“They recognise that mass-distance-location pricing would involve very high compliance and administrative costs. If it doesn’t stack up on a cost benefit basis, they won’t recommend it.”
CRRP is due to submit the final report on its feasibility study to governments in December 2011, with an initial assessment of high level options due by December 2010.
Add a comment