The ATA commissioned study into the environmental credentials of the trucking industry will be prepared by The Centre for International Economics (TheCIE). The aim of this study is to demonstrate how the industry has improved its environmental performance.
It will also look at possible future developments including alternative fuels, emerging developments that have the potential to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint, the issues involved in switching transport modes (eg. 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 tax.
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 in Canberra on 27 May.
ATA Chief Executive, Stuart St Clair, commented, “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.
“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.”