NORTHEAST livestock transporter Rob Whiteley said he could not wait any longer for the various state governments to agree on uniform national weight tolerance allowances for the livestock transport industry.
The Wodonga and Corryong based carrier who operates a fleet of eight B-Double cattle crates (plus subbies) said he has been forced to begin a replacement program changing over his standard fleet of steel constructed trailers to new lighter weight aluminium crates in order to deliver further economies for transporting livestock.
Taking delivery of his first two new trailers this week at a change-over cost of about $60,000 each, Mr Whiteley said the present load tolerance levels were a joke, with the volume loading allowing tolerances in both Victoria and Queensland being rendered useless because NSW remains inflexible, still operating on a maximum axle-based system.
For Mr Whiteley, whose work is centred mainly on NSW governed roads, the benefits gained in Victoria, Queensland and SA cannot be implemented through the volume loading initiative.