With debate continuing about the Government’s proposed carbon price, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has commissioned a major research study into the environmental credentials of the trucking industry.

The study is being prepared by The Centre for International Economics (TheCIE) and will provide evidence about how the industry has improved its environmental performance, before looking at possible future developments, including:

  • alternative fuels;
  • emerging technology and logistics developments that could reduce the industry’s environmental footprint, such as optimal vehicle usage models;
  • issues involved in substituting between transport modes, such as moving freight from road to rail;
  • the impact of policy changes such as increasing the use of safer vehicles with greater capacity; and
  • options for dealing with climate change, including the impact of the proposed carbon price.

The managing director of The CIE, Brent Borrell, will present the findings of the study at the 2011 Australian Trucking Convention at the National Convention Centre, Canberra, on 27 May.

ATA Chief Executive, Stuart St Clair, said the industry had accepted and promoted the use of cleaner engines and cleaner fuel.

“A modern Euro 5 truck, like the prime mover that Volvo has loaned the ATA to tow our safety and careers exhibition, emits a third of the carbon monoxide as a truck from the mid-1990s, a quarter of the nitrogen oxide, and about a twentieth of the particulates. It also uses less fuel. Sometimes this is forgotten in the face of the public perception that trucks are still dirty,” Stuart said.

“It’s time for all new diesel engines sold in Australia to be subject to the same emission standards as trucks, and it’s time for the ATA to fund this study to show the environmental advances we have made and what can be done in the future”.