Isuzu Trucks Supports VIC Government Freight Plan

Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) welcomes the Victorian Government’s new freight plan, Delivering the Goods. This plan outlines new priorities to improve existing freight and logistics systems within the nation’s fastest growing state.

The plan confirms Freight Victoria as the authoritative body on matters of Victorian freight distribution and management. Crucially, it also outlines the increase in freight volumes across Victoria, based on population expansion seen across the state in recent times. As Victoria’s population continues to soar, freight volumes are forecast to increase by 600 million tonnes by 2051. This positions the state as one of the country’s leading exporters of goods, accounting for a goods value of over $25 billion. The new approach in Delivering the Goods will serve as the blueprint towards encouraging economic growth, a move that IAL Director and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Taylor, explained will strengthen Victoria’s freight sector. “This plan is the first step towards addressing gaps that affect the landscape of freight transport in Victoria and, as a result, the broader future of Australian freight distribution,” he said. According to the Victorian Government, establishing Freight Victoria as the one-stop shop will streamline collaboration between producers, freight and logistics networks, and the government. In a recent Isuzu Comment piece to the media, Mr Taylor said that while coordinating freight movements between the four major transportation modes (air, sea, rail and road) isn’t a new concept, technological improvements have significantly increased the amount of data being captured at every point of the supply chain. “The most pertinent challenge for the transport and logistics industry is how we can work together to share that information in a way that boosts the sophistication and improves the flow of freight down the entire supply chain.” The new freight plan aims to achieve a $40 billion increase in Victoria’s gross product by 2040 through the development and coordination of existing infrastructure initiatives, such as the West Gate Tunnel and Murray Basin Rail projects. Developed to meet long-term goals, the plan also aims to refine current heavy vehicle training and licensing processes over the next five years to improve both regional and international goods movements. The movement of goods from and into regional Victoria via road, rail, sea and air has underlined the state’s economic growth, with scores of small to large businesses across various industries employed in the wider distribution process. The plan will also see the allocated $137.6 million from the 2018/19 Victorian Budget kickstart the development of major freight projects like the Freight–­Passenger Rail Separation Project and the Port Rail Shuttle Network. Mr Taylor said, “Infrastructural and technological changes have demanded efficient supply chain practices in the industry. A regulatory body like Freight Victoria will hopefully work towards increasing efficiencies within the sector.”