The Australian Government should support the trucking industry by adopting three proven solutions to reducing the industry's carbon emissions, ATA CEO Mathew Munro said today.
The Government today released its 2035 emissions target, a 62-70 per cent reduction in Australia's total emissions compared to 2005. The Government also released its Transport and infrastructure net zero roadmap and action plan.
Mr Munro said the climate science was no longer in dispute.
"The earth is warming. Carbon emissions are to blame. The community is calling for action: locally, nationally and internationally," he said.
"The ATA is putting forward a strong plan to reduce the trucking industry's carbon emissions and contribute to Australia's climate target. Our plan would reduce emissions by 35.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years.
"We are very pleased that the Government's transport roadmap recognises that increasing the uptake of high productivity freight vehicles between now and 2030 must be part of the net zero pathway for heavy vehicles.
"Australia leads the world in using advanced truck and trailer combinations, and the transport roadmap locks in a key part of our plan: increasing the use of Australia's unique high productivity freight vehicles.
"In fact, the ATA's emissions modelling shows that increasing the use of high productivity vehicles and allowing heavier zero emission trucks on more of the road network would reduce emissions by 13.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050.
"To deliver this, we need targeted infrastructure investment, road access upgrades and a regtech solution, the National Automated Access Scheme, to reduce road permit requirements.
"The ATA has previously called for incentives to produce low carbon fuel and policies to support business to use it.
"The Government has delivered on the need for production incentives with its $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program.
"The Government should put in place a low carbon fuel standard to support businesses to purchase the low carbon fuels that will be produced in Australia.
"Under the low carbon fuel standard, fuel suppliers would have to reduce the life cycle emissions intensity of the fuel they sold against declining benchmarks.
"They could meet their obligations by selling low carbon fuel or by deploying EV fast chargers or green hydrogen refuelling stations.
"Fuel suppliers would be able to spread the cost of meeting the standards across their whole customer base," he said.
Mr Munro said the key barrier to the take up of electric trucks and other low carbon technologies was the up-front capital cost.
"That's why we need a voucher scheme to cover half the price gap between comparable low carbon and conventional technologies. It should be available for the purchase of battery electric and fuel cell hydrogen electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, power axles, ePTOs and vehicles with H2 combustion engines," he said.
"Our low carbon fuel standard and voucher scheme proposals are Australian versions of successful programs that are running right now in California, the world's fourth largest economy. We know they would work."
Mr Munro said the ATA's plan was set out in detail in its submission to the Productivity Commission's net zero transformation inquiry. The ATA released the submission today.
"In addition to our recommendations, the submission opposes increasing taxes and charges on Australia's hard working trucking businesses," he said.
"It demolishes the myth that increasing charges on road freight would result in more freight being carried on rail.
"Previous work by the Productivity Commission has demonstrated that the split of freight between road and rail would not change much even if charges on road freight increased substantially," he said.
