WEIGHT restrictions on local government roads are holding producers back.
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"Poor access is the biggest issue facing my industry, which has a direct impact on the freight rates farmers pay," said Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association (LBCA) chief executive Emma Higginson.
LBCA president Jock Carter said upping weight restrictions on local roads would deliver a 10 per cent boost to farmers supply chain efficiency.
Local councils in NSW class their roads with the tightest cap on load limits - known as concessional mass limits (or CML) - which limits truck weight to 64 tonnes.
State-managed roads, highways and major thoroughfares are capped at 68t.
That equates to a difference in cargo weight of about 10pc - between 40t for CML and 44t for Heavy Mass Limits (HML).
"Growers can be five kilometres from a highway, which allows the heaviest trucks, (but) can't access the benefits of that 10 per cent difference in payloads because the council road that links to the highway is not rated for HML," Mr Carter said.
Profits depend on an efficient supply chain, but back roads that link grain sites and saleyards to farmers' front doors aren't rated to carry as heavy a load as major routes.
If only a small section of the route is not rated for heavier loads, a lighter truck has to ply the full distance.
Lighter trucks mean more trips and more trips mean more costs.
Heavier trucks are more efficient, carrying more with less time and effort.
Freight companies ultimately pass costs on to customers - including primary producers.
However, councils only bump up the weight limits when push comes to shove, usually after lobbying from industry or State government to upgrade roads to allow bigger, more efficient trucks to service business Mr Carter said.
He has a simple remedy.
He argues councils could default to heavier limits and work their way back, only restricting trucks to concessional limits when roads have been identified as incapable of bearing the load.
"Let's assume everything is HML, then council can identify where the problems are," he said.
"HML is low hanging fruit for freight task. It would deliver big gains with minimal investment."
He believes most roads now can carry heavier loads.
"Victoria runs HML from farm gates mostly.
"The easy answer for local council engineers (who designate weight limits on roads) is to be conservative.
"They think upping weight limits is to go out on a limb, taking a risk.
"Setting HML limits on all roads would force them to justify why a road should have lighter weight limits."
Mr Carter said councils should recognise setting HML as the default would reduce costs for council.
"If there is groups of growers or freight carriers lobbying to get HML limits on a road, then council has to review each application separately, which is a lot of work."
Tamworth Mayor Col Murray spoke on this issue two weeks ago at the LBCA annual conference.
He said local government engineers focus only on the status quo, ignoring problem solving.
"Nobody ever gets the sack," he said.
"They don't operate with the economic imperatives of industry.
"(They) don't have to please customers or make a profit to pay bills."
However, he said the current government's policies had given him some optimism for the future.
"We are seeing a glimmer of hope that a top-down push from State government is beginning to filter through."