Each year transport infrastructure moves more than 80 million tonnes of Australian agricultural output between farms, storage, processors and markets, and transport makes up 40% of a farmers’ production costs.
That why it’s imperative that access to quality, affordable transport options is available to ensure we grow the Queensland agricultural industry and keep those doing the transporting safe.
It’s also why AgForce has developed the #connectqld campaign; so that the people who use Queensland roads the most are given a voice to tell us where the problems are.
Leo Neill-Ballantine, Chair of AgForce Queensland’s Transport Committee, knows the State’s roads better than most, having clocked up thousands of kilometres driving trucks delivering the food and livestock that ends up on our plates. He said the #connectqld campaign is vital to ensuring the transport network is operating at its best.
“We need to make sure that it isn’t only our high-quality products that get to their destination on time and in one piece, but our farmers and transporters too,” Leo said.
“When a section of road or a bridge isn’t up to an acceptable standard this has flow-on costs, such as extra vehicle maintenance or needing to find an alternative route, which all adds up.
“We know there are a lot of terrible roads and bridges out there, so now is the time for those living in regional, rural and remote Queensland to have their say.
“If you use the road network regularly, we want to hear from you. Without your input, we’re just looking at numbers on a page and not getting the real story.”
AgForce is calling for everyone who travels across Queensland’s extensive road network to report road infrastructure they consider to be in poor or inadequate condition by completing their online roads survey to report the problem.
“The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete, and you can click the exact location of the problem area on an interactive map,” Leo said.
“You can specify whether the issue is with a section of road, a bridge, an intersection, level crossing, whatever. You can even take a photo on your phone and upload that to the survey; it’s easy and only takes a few seconds.
“It isn’t only investment into new infrastructure that’s important, but maintenance too.
“We need to make sure products get from the paddock to the plate as efficiently as possible while ensuring the safety of everyone on our roads too.”
Access the AgForce Roads Survey 2019 to report a road problem here
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