Read more at The Leader

Also read this article from The Sun Herald.

Half of all trucks inspected by VicRoads in a key Melbourne freight corridor in the past year had a serious safety fault, or a problem with the driver.
A VicRoads memo, sent on January 12 to road safety groups around Victoria by a senior enforcement manager, paints a concerning picture of truck safety.
Of 8828 inspections in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs in the year to January, 3943 trucks were found to have safety faults.
”Almost one in two are found offending,” wrote Darrell Gascoyne, VicRoads’ Metro North West manager of transport safety services.

Read the full article online at The Age.

Community consultation is central to the development of the WestLink route and this survey is an important part of early consultation activities underway to make sure community issues are understood and considered.

The online survey is not designed to discuss specific routes or designs for the road and tunnel – that will happen later in the planning process when a series of route options are released to the community for comment in mid-2010.

The $10m two-and-a-half-year WestLink planning study will develop a route involving a tunnel connection from Port of Melbourne precinct to West Footscray and will also consider a further long-term connection to the Western Ring Road.

The survey will take around 15-20 minutes to complete online at www.linkingmelbourne.vic.gov.au. The survey is one of the research activities being carried out for the WestLink Social Impact Assessment, a key part of independent specialist investigations for the project.

Hard copies of the survey are available and can be obtained at the Victorian Transport Plan Info Hub at 61 Irving Street Footscray or by calling Linking Melbourne Authority on 8562 6800. More info here.

Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas announced the money will be used for the planning investigation of Stage 1 of the Truck Action Plan, including strengthening works on Shepherd’s Bridge over the Maribyrnong River. This funding boost shows a commitment to the Truck Action Plan and sees the State Government taking responsibility for getting trucks off residential streets of the inner west.

Stage 1 of the plan is the construction of a dedicated truck route from the Melbourne Port to the Westgate Freeway. The Government is yet to make a decision of the final route of this truck bypass. However VicRoads has narrowed the route down to 2 similar options which will see the route taking Whitehall Street, Francis Street (between Whitehall and Francis Street) and Hyde Street south to Stony Creek where 2 new on and off ramps will be constructed from the Westgate Freeway.

Today’s announcement is a concrete step forward in the construction of the route which MTAG has been campaigning for. The truck bypass will remove thousands of trucks off residential streets, a very welcome move for long suffering residents along Francis Street, Sommerville Road and Williamstown Road.

So while today’s announcement is very welcome the Truck Action Plan is  still dependent on Federal funding. Expected costs for Stage1 are $380 million. The State Government is calling on the Federal Government’s Infrastructure Australia for the remaining funding. Expected construction, once commenced,  will take 2-3 years.

Click here for today’s Media Release:

The meeting is open to anyone and we would encourage you to come along. Its a great chance to meet with the MTAG organisers, find out what MTAG has been up to and to  discuss the truck issues in our neighbourhood.

We always encourage newcomers to get involved in the truck campaign. You don’t need any previous experience to get involved, just a willingness to help get the trucks off our residential streets.

Date: 17 November 2009
Location: Uniting Church Corner of Mackay and Gamon Streets Yarraville
Time: 7:30
The meeting will be followed with light refreshments.

Contact: Martin Wurt – 0411 063 071

MTAG has long argued that Chalmers should not be included in the ‘local trucks’ exemption given their depot is only meters from Millers Rd and a convenient entry to the Westgate Freeway. MTAG’s view is in line with the Victorian Transport Association, which recommends that trucks use the Westgate Freeway and Bolte Bridge calling it ‘The Easy Way’ Freeway Benefits Program download pdf

Recently, Chalmers moved its operations west of Cemetery Rd (which intersects Francis St) taking them outside the curfew boundary. Chalmers has, however, kept using Francis St and ignored our calls to respect residential health, safety, and amenity. Instead, amazingly, Chalmers’ general manager Craig Webster called for B Triples to be allowed to use Francis St in this local news piece.

Provocatively he also states that his trucks will continue to use Francis St after the on/off ramps linking the Westgate to the port are built.

This spurred MTAG into action and, with the help of local member Wade Noonan we sought a ruling from the Minister, which unequivocally states that Chalmers’ operations are now outside the local truck zone and its trucks are not allowed to use Francis St in curfew hours. Vic Roads has acknowledged this ruling and has had meetings with Mr Webster to inform him that Chalmers trucks must now use the route to the port via the Westgate during curfew hours. Vic Roads has backed this action with policing and some fines but it is not enough and Chalmers trucks continue to break the law.

It seems that Chalmers’ main issue is the fact that currently, if it uses the Westgate route its trucks have to pay a small toll on the Bolte Bridge. MTAG has therefore sought a meeting with Chalmers to try to find ways we can lobby together to hurry the completion of the Westgate on/off ramp project, which would mean that Chalmers trucks could access the port without using Francis St and without paying tolls. Mr Webster has ignored our emails and messages.

Chalmers has also belligerently continued to ignore the curfews obviously making some kind of calculation that the savings made on tolls by using Francis St outweigh the amount it will have to pay in fines given the limited resources Vic Roads allocates to policing the curfews.

We need action from MTAG members on this. We need you to write to local member, Wade Noonan, wade.noonan@parliament.vic.gov.au and to Minister Tim Pallas requesting greater resources for policing curfews. We also call for citizens to report curfew breakers, here’s how:

Any truck exiting from Chalmers’ depot west of Cemetery Rd in Francis St and heading east is breaking the curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday and between 2pm Saturday and 6am Monday. Any truck heading west along Francis St and crossing Cemetery Rd is also a curfew breaker. If you can get details (time, direction, licence plate, description) and use the form below to upload to us. We will forward to Vic Roads and have them prosecute the breach. A photograph is also good if you have your mobile phone handy.

It is time we demanded corporate responsibility from companies like Chalmers, which has ignored community health, safety, and amenity for too long.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

We are about to undertake a series of four large superload moves from the wharf to rural Victoria.

The superloads are quite heavy and large and so are the dimensions of the vehicle used to transport them, this is one of the biggest. For this reason we like to ensure that safety is our number one priority and will only give permits and escort the loads at times of minimal traffic density to reduce risk, hence most moves are made between 11pm at night and 3am in the morning. I can assure you my staff would prefer to be in bed at time but for safety reasons it is not always possible.

The loads we are too move will weigh 720 tonnes, will have two prime movers pulling and three prime movers pushing and be attached to a platform trailer of 32 axles, 256 tyres with the total length of 130 metres. Width will be near to 7 metres wide. As you can understand the logistics for such a move is considerable and VicRoads have been in the planning for some time.

We expect that we will be running along Francis Street on Saturday the 24th as a tentative date and will be there at around midnight, I am hoping that it will be done with the least disruption to residents as possible and apologise in advance.

We have to use Francis Street as a preferred option to the Westgate Bridge due to the mass forces involved.

If we could have found another suitable route we would have done so as you know I understand community expectations regarding amenity.

If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them, I am hoping that the community will understand on this occasion.

If you receive any complaints on the night please refer them to myself and I will deal with them personally, I would even suggest that you may wish to watch the move yourself as it will be quite a sight.

From 2001 to 2008, the Government promised a freight strategy to deal with the huge growth of truck movements, propelled by a booming population, declining manufacturing and increasing import levels. By 2007 things had gotten so bad that former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer noted, in a report for the Victorian Government, that there was ”no clear direction regarding an overall freight strategy”.

Logistics consultant Kim Hassall last year helped the Department of Transport finally put out its long overdue freight strategy, Freight Futures.

Ironically, the key solution Hassall and most in the freight industry have now embraced is bigger trucks – or ”monster trucks” as critics like to call them. The Government has opted for another name for the bigger model of trucks involved in its two-year ”trial”: high-performance freight vehicles.

Article in today Age online.

Also online from Handy shipping guide.

Voices have been raised in the State of Victoria lately as residents wait anxiously for some sign that truck numbers transiting to and from the coast are reducing.

The Governments original target, now supposedly abandoned, of 30% of all cargo to be carried by rail seems unrealistic. At the moment it is estimated that the figure is closer to 2%. The inception of the incredibly extensive Victoria Transport Plan is seen by many locals as long on promises but short on achievements.

State Truck Numbers Reaching Critical Mass