Management of the Freight Network

The audit examined the effectiveness of Freight Futures—A Victorian Freight Network Strategy (the strategy), the government’s long-term plan for managing the capacity, efficiency and sustainability of the freight network.

The Department of Transport (the department) is responsible for implementing the strategy, and shares responsibility for its actions with VicRoads and the Department of Planning and Community Development.

Measuring and communicating success is important for accountability and effectiveness. The department had not worked out how it would measure and report on the strategy’s progress and outcomes in late 2008, and this remains the case.

Good information provides clarity about the issues and helps frame actions that are effective in addressing problems and mitigating the risk of unintended impacts. The strategy confirmed that to properly plan for the future, the department should improve its understanding of all aspects of the freight task. In this regard, the department has not made satisfactory progress.

The strategy focused most on the capacity and efficiency problems for freight carried through the Port of Melbourne and on Melbourne’s major roads in large trucks.

Other important issues, such as the movement of light commercial vehicles, had less comprehensive coverage. The department decided to focus on heavier goods vehicles because these carried more than 90 per cent of Victoria's road freight by weight.

Although light commercial vehicles make up 15 per cent of all vehicle kilometres travelled in Victoria and are the major freight contributor to urban congestion, the department had not made satisfactory progress on this and needs to form clear plans to address the problems associated with them.

We also expected, but did not find, clearly documented priorities and appropriate plans covering all the actions in the strategy.

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