National Land Freight Strategy According to the National Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, the new national land freight strategy will be the catalyst to a more “streamlined” and “integrated” transport system for the road freight industry. The new strategy was announced on Friday as a replacement to the old system which has been described as “fragmented” by Albanese. There will now be a single national integrated network. Part of the new system will include better utilising the current infrastructure and implementing fairer and more realistic financing solutions that will be sustainable for the upkeep of roads and improving roads infrastructure, thereby improving road safety. This post at Fullyloaded.com.au has more information of the new system:

“Quite simply our aim is to build and maintain a modern, well-planned, efficient and safe freight and logistics network that supports rather than hinders Australia’s future economic development,” Mr Albanese said in a statement. He will work with state and territory infrastructure and transport ministers to develop an action plan to turn the strategy into reality. Mr Albanese said road charging could be made more efficient and pointed to a system in Germany where trucks were charged a distance toll through a black box attached to the vehicle. “There are a number of major freight operators, such as Linfox, who have raised that issue for a long period of time that we can look at the way that charging for use of our road system is made more efficient,” he told reporters in Melbourne. He said the land freight strategy was the next step in tackling the national infrastructure deficit. “What we need to do is do better in terms of coordination to improve productivity.” Source: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1209/albanese-unveils-national-land-freight-strategy

The aim of the new system is not only to improve productivity but also to improve safety. The annual economic cost of road crashes in Australia according to government statistics is enormous. The cost of which has run into billions of dollars every year.  According to records, on average 4 people are killed and 90 are seriously injured every day on Australia’s roads, a startling statistic. Almost everyone has, at some stage been affected by a road crash whether it be directly or indirectly through the injury or loss of a loved one. This high human cost is why an improved safety strategy is much needed on our roads.

According to the governments website this is what the new strategy entails: The strategy is firmly based on Safe System principles and is framed by the guiding vision that no person should be killed or seriously injured on Australia’s roads. As a step towards this long-term vision, the strategy presents a 10-year plan to reduce the annual numbers of both deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads by at least 30 per cent. The strategy outlines broad directions for the future of Australian road safety, planned initiatives for the first three years and a range of options for further consideration as the strategy progresses. The initiatives and options are set out in four key areas – Safe Roads, Safe Speeds, Safe Vehicles and Safe People.