Marmion insists Main Roads WA was a prime target of initiative
Western Australian transport minister Dean Nalder is promising red-tape reductions and efficiency gains for the trucking industry as part of a government-wide an anti-bureaucracy initiative.
This aspect of the “Shred the Red” campaign is to come from action driven by Main Roads WA and the Department of Transport.
This includes:
- a new ‘one stop shop’ for the heavy vehicle industry for the processing of permits and over size, over mass movements, rather than having to deal with four separate agencies
- a phone service 138HVO which received more than 27,000 calls in its first six months
- replacing the two most common permits for restricted access vehicles with a single gazette notice, removing a $50 fee and saving industry $250,000 a year
- a new team of traffic escort wardens, allowing police to return to frontline duties
- burying of power lines to improve truck driving safety and reduce costs
- new pullover and layover bays to allow for efficient changeovers
- changes to the accredited mass management scheme to allow loading in a network approach, rather than individual approvals
- extending the online payment system DoTDirect – currently available to individuals – to businesses by the end of this year.
“About 40 billion tonnes of freight are transported by road in WA each year, so it’s important to ensure hurdles are removed so the industry can function efficiently,” Nalder says.
“This approach also helps keep down prices for consumers.
“For instance, obtaining a heavy vehicle permit now takes about 24 hours in WA, compared to up to two months in the eastern states.”
Finance minister Bill Marmion says the formation of a red tape reduction team in Main Roads WA was a prime example of business and Government collaboration to achieve major reform.
“Red tape costs WA up to $12 billion a year, so it is important all sectors of industry and government agencies work together to reduce this impost on the state’s economy,” Marmion says.