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TCA presents IAP at ATA Council meeting
Tuesday, 18 July 2006
The Intelligent Access Program (IAP) was on the agenda at the July Australian Trucking Association Council meeting.
TCA’s Chairperson, Mr Steve Golding, welcomed the opportunity to discuss with transport industry leaders the capabilities of the IAP and how it will benefit the transport industry.
“The IAP is a national reform ready to meet and manage the challenges of Australia’s growing freight task while also providing the mechanism to respond to industry’s demands for greater access”, said Mr Golding at the ATA Council meeting.
“The IAP builds on the existing restricted-access regime. Transport operators need to focus on what the IAP can offer to them. The IAP is a powerful negotiating tool which transport operators can use to negotiate improved road access that will assist them in achieving their business and operational needs, in return for demonstrating to the road authorities that they are complying with the agreed access conditions”, said Mr Golding.
In addressing the ATA Council meeting, Mr Golding asked industry not to simply sit back and wait for regulators to prescribe IAP uses (otherwise known as Applications), but rather, to be proactive in developing Applications which will suit their particular business requirements.
“TCA’s role is to administer the IAP and to certify and audit IAP Service Providers, while the actual application of IAP is managed by the road authorities. TCA is in effect the ‘wholesaler’ of the IAP, and the road authorities are the ‘retailers’, who apply the IAP to specific uses,” explained Mr Golding.
“Every player in the transport industry knows its business needs and the road access that is required to meet those needs. If a regulator has identified restrictions on access resulting from, for example, bridges or other infrastructure constraints, then an operator affected by these restrictions should consider how the IAP might be used to address a particular concern and thus to achieve an easing of the restriction.
“IAP Applications developed by the road authorities are offered to all transport operators, and we are aware that some IAP Applications may suit some transport operators but not others.
“A transport operator must know its business and make a business decision to determine whether it’s worth participating in a specific IAP Application”, he said.
TCA recently announced that the IAP will be launched by the end of 2006. Mr Golding said over the coming months, TCA will be working closely with the transport industry to ensure that operators derive the maximum benefit from the IAP and understand how they can participate in the program.
“TCA will establish an industry advisory group consisting of representatives from Australia’s leading trucking associations and transport operators, and will appoint a national liaison officer to work with transport operators and help them identify how the IAP can assist their business”, said Mr Golding.
Ends –
View the media release
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