The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) has told the state’s transport industry to be wary of election promises to take trucks off key Adelaide roads.
SARTA executive officer Steve Shearer has told the industry to beware of election promises that say they will remove trucks from Portrush and Cross Roads in Adelaide’s east.
“Let’s get something crystal clear – don’t let politicians from any side fool you into thinking trucks will ever be removed from Portrush or Cross Roads,” Shearer says.
“Why? Because almost 40 per cent of trucks that come down the South Eastern Freeway to the lights are local Adelaide Hills trucks, servicing nearby communities and the suburbs.
MORE OWNERDRIVER TRENDING STORIES:
- Lindsay Australia announces acquisition of GJ Freight
- World first owner driver and gig worker laws kick in
- January TOTM: Morgans keeps it in the family with new K220
- Floods cause Bruce Highway closures
- SRV Road Freight acquires food and beverage carrier
“It would be mindless to expect them to go back out to Murray Bridge and across to the Sturt Highway via the proposed Hills Bypass. The cost of living in Mt Barker and other hills communities would skyrocket due to the massive increase in transport costs for everything from food to your pyjamas, caviar and the bricks and mortar your house is made of.”
Shearer says the remaining 60 per cent of trucks descending to the CBD at either Portrush, Cross or Glen Osmond Roads could be shifted to the bypass if the state and federal governments fund and build a fit-for-purpose bypass.
He says the bypass would have to take high productivity trucks and allow them to travel the extra 115kms each way safely at their open road speed limits in order to achieve better fuel economy than taking the South Eastern Freeway.
Subscribe to the weekly Owner//Driver newsletter here.