* Australia - Trucking industry calls for more road maintenance

The Australian Government should spend more on road maintenance as it works to boost the economy, rather than trying to bring forward more new road projects...

Canberra,Australia -Logistics Magazine (Sydney,NSW) -27 January 2009: -- ... according to the Chairman of the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) Trevor Martyn... Mr Martyn made the comments while releasing the ATA’s pre-budget submission to the Government... The submission warns that bringing forward more major projects in an attempt to jump start the economy could simply result in cost blowouts when construction starts in a few years’ time... In the ATA’s view, the Government should now spend more on road maintenance, which would generate an immediate boost to the economy: maintenance projects can get started very quickly... Under AusLink, the previous Government allocated $300 million per year to maintenance, but this figure was inadequate from the start...