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TCA credits changes for lifting interest in IAP

Transport Certification Australia says flexible pricing and the entry options initiative have increased interest in the Intelligent Access Program

July 30, 2013

The trucking industry has responded favourably to reforms made to the Intelligent Access Program (IAP) earlier this year, with the number of businesses enrolling in the scheme increasing.

Transport Certification Australia (TCA), which administers IAP, says it has seen a notable increase in enrolments since flexible pricing and the entry options initiative took effect in April.

Policy makers scrapped a flat $33 monthly fee in favour of a three-tier pricing system that varies depending on how often a truck operates at higher mass limits (HML).

Entry options allows trucking operators to submit their existing tracking units for certification against IAP standards. If they pass the test, the companies can use them instead of having to pay for new units to be installed.

“In the final three months of the 2012-13 financial year, the average number of vehicles joining the IAP each month rose approximately two and a half times the average of each of the previous nine months. But perhaps even more pleasing was the additional 20 transport operators that enrolled vehicles in April, May and June,” TCA CEO Chris Koniditsiotis (pictured) says.

TCA says there was an average of 20 vehicles per month enrolling between July 1, 2012 and March 30, 2013. The figure jumped to an average of 45 vehicles per month between April 1 and June 30.

Koniditsiotis says the increase is due mainly to operators wanting to access HML and operate vehicles under the Performance Based Standards (PBS) scheme.

“While it’ still too early to fully assess the response by the transport industry to the advancements made to the IAP to make it more flexible and cost effective, it’s clear that the entry options initiative and flexible IAP pricing has raised awareness of the benefits to the IAP,” he says.

Koniditsiotis says TCA is currently assessing 15 different in-vehicle units through the entry options initiative and that the agency is also in talks with more trucking operators on having their units looked at.

“The entry options initiative has opened the door for transport operators to engage directly with TCA, to have their existing systems assessed against national standards,” he says.

Trucking operators pay nothing to have their units assessed.

Under the flexible pricing regime, businesses pay nothing if they take one HML trip per month. Those that use HML up to five times in one month will pay $10. The fee is capped at $33 for unlimited usage.

TCA is due to review the pricing framework at the end of the year to see if it is benefiting trucking operators.

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