Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard

Comparing the movement of commodities, domestically and internationally, helps to identify potential action areas to support Australian supply chain efficiency, competitiveness and resilience. As part of the Commonwealth international benchmarking project, the Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard was developed as a joint initiative between CSIRO and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (the department).

The dashboard is planned for release in the second half of 2021, and provides modelling and insights on Australian supply chain performance to:

• support data-led decision-making to inform policy, investment and operational outcomes for government and industry
• provide a national picture of supply chain performance across a wide range of metrics, commodities and regions
• provide a comprehensive evidence base for international comparison.

This webinar demonstrates how users will be able to compare supply chain metrics across commodities, different transportation paths or segments in supply chains (e.g. producer to distributor, or distribution centre to port) and in different regions or locations (currently LGAs, states and territories).

The dashboard displays aggregated outputs from the Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT) – a computer modelling tool developed by CSIRO that performs mass optimal routing of vehicle movements between thousands of enterprises. For each origin/destination enterprise pair, the model selects the least-cost travel path as well as the optimal vehicle configuration, allowing for road access and conditions, driver fatigue regulations and vehicle decoupling costs. The model outputs information on freight paths as well as detailed transport costs. Following release of the first iteration, stakeholder engagement is planned to gain feedback to further refine the model to best meet the needs of users.

Presented by CSIRO’s Senior Scientist Andrew Higgins and Ross Slater, Assistant Director at the department’s National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy Implementation Unit.

Options for Managing the Impacts of Aged Heavy Vehicles

The freight industry is critical to the economy, and for many sectors it is heavy vehicles that underpin freight movements and prosperity.

The average age of trucks in Australia and New Zealand is among the highest in the developed world. The oldest trucks are associated with higher environmental and health costs than newer trucks, yet these have been poorly quantified to date. Managing these issues is important to maintaining the freight industry’s social license.

Austroads has published a research report which analyses the impacts of an ageing heavy vehicle fleet and explores measures that have been used to manage this challenge in Australasia and internationally.

Investigation and Development of Bridge Formulae for Inclusion in the Performance-based Standards

This webinar, presented on 29 April 2020, discusses the merits of three options to advance the future of PBS access in Australia as it relates to bridges. It was presented by Angus Draheim, Matthew Bereni and Neal Lake.

Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities

This webinar provides an overview of the Austroads Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities.

It covers:

• the types of heavy vehicle rest areas
• assessing the need and prioritisation for heavy vehicle rest areas
• principles for good heavy vehicle rest area design
• tools used to communicate rest opportunities to drivers.

The webinar was presented on 14 February 2019, by David Green and Mandi Mees.

Establishing Extended Hours Delivery Trials

This webinar outlines the benefits of government working with industry and business to change delivery patterns by extending delivery hours.

The webinar was presented on 22 November 2018 by Samantha Taylor and Dr Darren Wishart.

Operations of Automated Heavy Vehicles in Remote and Regional Areas

This webinar presents challenges around the introduction of automated heavy vehicles to remote and regional areas and the opportunities for future their use in Australia and New Zealand.

It covers the views of international experts on:

• cellular connectivity and digital infrastructure requirements 
• geofencing and managing access 
• physical infrastructure impact and requirements 
• platooning operations and technology advancement.

The webinar was presented on 25 September 2018, by Anthony Germanchev, Dr Ronny Kutadinata and Dr Steve Shladover.

Local Road Access for High Productivity Freight Vehicles

This webinar outlines the contemporary barriers to local road access for high productivity freight vehicles, and some of the options available for local road managers when considering road access.

It covers:
• how road network classification and mapping is progressing around the country
• most common barriers to access as reported by stakeholders
• several case studies demonstrating how others have overcome access barriers
• recommendations to improve local road access nationally.

The webinar was presented on 27 March 2018 by Rob Di Cristoforo.  

Modelling of High Productivity Vehicles in Metropolitan Areas

This webinar outlines the findings of an Austroads project on the modelling of high productivity vehicles in metropolitan areas. The webinar was presented by Dr Ian Espada on 13 February 2018.

National Mass Assessment for Oversize Overmass Vehicles

The webinar provides an overview of the key findings of an Austroads project on the weighing of oversized and overmass vehicle combinations using portable scales. It outlines the vehicles and weighing methods that were used in the field testing and discusses the process of turning the test data into a workable set of Mass Measurement Adjustments. The webinar was presented by Anthony Germanchev and Philip Roper on 12 December 2017.

Investigating the Potential Benefits of Enhanced End to End Supply Chain Visibility

This webinar provides an overview of the tangible benefits to the Australian economy that efforts to improve supply chain visibility can bring. The webinar was presented by Julian Breheny, Rose Elphick-Darling and David McNeil on 15 August 2017.