Fuel recovery cost order welcomed by key Tasmanian figures

A ruling aimed at easing cost pressures for transport operators has been welcomed in Tasmania.

The Fair Work Commission has ordered that transport contract rates be reviewed twice monthly when diesel prices remain above $2 per litre, following an application by the Transport Workers' Union.

The decision places an obligation on major clients at the top of supply chains to ensure transport operators are compensated for rising fuel costs, particularly in sectors reliant on owner-drivers and subcontractors.

Co-owner of Livestock transport business Page Transport, Geoff Page, said the ruling was a very good thing.

“The smaller operators that were being told by some of the large suppliers and retailers to go away are at least now going to be forced to the table,” Mr Page said.

“It’s a very good initiative and should be encouraged.”

While he welcomed the order, TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman was concerned that consumers would bear the extra costs.

“Farmers who are growing commodities under contract, like potatoes for processing – for example – need a mechanism to pass those costs onto processors.

“When prices were set during potato negotiations last year for this year’s harvest that’s going on at the moment, they were set when diesel prices were below $2 a litre.

“While there’s acknowledgement that will put a lot of cost pressure on farmers, there’s not necessarily a willingness for that cost to be able to be passed onto the processor.”

The Transport Workers' Union of Australia pushed heavily for the Fair Work Commission to enact the fuel cost recovery order.

“This is a historic order that, for the first time, puts obligations on the wealthy clients at the top of our supply chains to pay their fair share to the transport industry,” TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said.

“Over the last few weeks, drivers and transport businesses have outlined the dire circumstances they are facing with diesel costs, many already having to park up their trucks or rely on personal loans just to keep going.

“Many drivers in the industry are mum-and-dad operations currently being forced to subsidise fuel costs for the multi-billion-dollar companies they are carting goods for.

“These clients of transport must pay their fair share, and today the Fair Work Commission has recognised that this should happen on a fortnightly basis going forward.”