The Australian Trucking Association has welcomed the Coalition’s proposal to automatically reduce fuel taxes when global oil prices spike, saying a clear trigger would give trucking operators greater certainty when managing one of their biggest business costs.
Under the proposed Fuel Price Shield, fuel excise would halve automatically when the two-week average price of Brent crude was above US$100 a barrel. The proposal would reduce the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero while the measure was operating.
ATA Chair Mark Parry said the tax relief measure was critical to trucking operator sustainability and that the automatic nature of the proposal was particularly important.
“Trucking operators are doing it extremely tough right now, with the average retail price of diesel exceeding 270 cents per litre last week. For an industry that’s integral to keeping Australia’s economy going, it’s unacceptable,” Mr Parry said.
“Operators need certainty. If fuel prices spike, they shouldn’t be left in the dark wondering what support will be available to them and when it will take effect.
“An automatic trigger would give that certainty. Operators would not have to wait for a government to make on-the-fly decisions. Once the trigger was reached, they would know the mechanism would apply.
“Trucking businesses would save about 27 cents per litre at the pump when they fill up and their fuel tax credits would increase from 21.3c to almost 27 cents per litre, which they’d claim when lodging their business activity statement.”
The proposed measure would remain in place until the eight-week average price of Brent crude fell below US$100 a barrel or three months had passed.
Mr Parry said the Fuel Price Shield was one measure that could alleviate pressure on operators, but that businesses and consumers needed to be ready to pay more.
“Trucking businesses need to have open conversations with their customers about the need to raise freight rates or increase their fuel levy if they have one,” he said.
Mr Parry said the ATA was arguing before the Fair Work Commission that it should re-enliven its fuel cost recovery order to help operators recover their rising fuel costs.
“In a separate case, we are arguing that trucking businesses should be paid within 30 days of invoicing. At a time when fuel prices are skyrocketing, operators can’t afford to wait months to be paid.
“Delays in payment from large customers place significant cashflow pressure on even medium sized trucking businesses,” he said.
