Performance Based Standard (PBS) 2B vehicles will soon have access to routes between Toowoomba and the Port of Brisbane, Yatala and Heathwood, Colmslie and the Port of Brisbane, plus routes in Townsville and Dinmore.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads will also assess additional freight routes including the Cunningham Highway between Warwick and the Ipswich Motorway, east coast routes in Gladstone, Mackay and other routes near Goondiwindi and Amberley.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said the reforms to the PBS Standards network would improve productivity, advance road safety and reduce carbon emissions.
“The first round of these reforms allowed PBS-approved trucks to use an additional 470km of freight routes in South-East and North Queensland,” Mr Emerson said. “These class 2B trucks are up to 30 metres – about four metres longer than class 2A trucks – and must meet a set of stringent nationally-agreed safety and performance criteria.
“This is an incentive for the freight industry to utilise the latest technology such as innovative axle steering systems to improve manoeuvrability, state-of-the-art electronic braking and the latest stability and performance measures.
“Meeting these standards and matching the right trucks to the right routes will increase productivity, safety and protect roads and bridges from excessive wear and tear.”
The PBS scheme is a nationally agreed process for assessing new and safer innovative trucks.
“PBS transport operators on the first approved route between Toowoomba and the Port of Brisbane will save an estimated 230,000 litres of fuel and 490 tonnes of reduced greenhouse gas emissions every year, for zero cost in road upgrades,” Mr Emerson said.
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