Victoria Ports Minister Luke Donnellan has backed the use of high-productivity trucks to boost the movement of freight to and from the Port of Melbourne.
Arguing for a more efficient system for moving freight in the state, he said truck utilisation for port containers is just over 1.2 teu per truck, involving about 1.6m truck movements a year to and from the port. With the forecast increase in container volumes, this could balloon out to four million truck movements by 2035.
However, by improving truck utilisation to two teu per truck by 2035, annual truck movements would be at a more manageable three million annually. This made it imperative to target truck efficiency, with high-productivity vehicles the principal focus.
“We recognise that a growing freight task in Victoria – and perhaps more importantly, a growing export freight task – means we have to find smarter ways to move more freight more efficiently,” he said.
