Australian Trucking Association launches survey to assess how industry has changed use of ‘A’ or lead trailers since 2007
November 30, 2010
The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has launched a survey to assess how the industry has changed its use of ‘A’ or lead trailers since 2007.
An ‘A’ lead trailer is the first trailer behind the prime mover in a B-double, and is also used in other truck and trailer combinations.
The national charge for registering a tri-axle B-double ‘A’ trailer has increased from $1,065 to $6,372 per year since 2007.
ATA’s Chief Executive Officer Stuart St Clair says some trucking operators were parking up their B-doubles and going back to using semitrailers due to the high registration charges on ‘A’ trailers.
“The high registration charges have also caused financial problems for small trucking companies because they do not have the cash flow to pay such a large amount as a single lump sum,” St Clair says.
“The ATA’s lead trailer survey aims to get the latest information on whether operators have increased or decreased their use of B-doubles and why.
“We will use the results of the survey to lobby for fair registration charges for all trucking operators,” he adds.
A decline in the use of B-doubles would raise safety concerns, he says.
“Research by Australia’s major truck insurer, National Transport Insurance, has found that B-doubles carry 43.4 percent of the articulated road freight task but only account for 21.8 percent of major accidents,” St Clair says.