Curfews and Supply Chain Operability

Infrastructure Australia has noted that rapidly changing land use and development can place pressure on urban transport networks. The increasing density of people living in our largest cities places pressure on legacy networks, while greenfield development requires new infrastructure and services.

Failure to coordinate land use and transport planning can contribute to congestion and crowding in some areas, or a lack of adequate services in others. In urban environments around Australia, regulations prevent the efficient and timely movement of freight – slowing the replenishment of grocery store shelves, medicines in pharmacies and other goods expected to be available

The National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy noted the importance of the ‘last mile’ of the freight journey as consumers increasingly order goods online. The Strategy notes, “..restrictions on access, curfews preventing 24-hour operations, and availability of parking and kerbside space in dense commercial and residential areas affect speed and convenience of delivery…”.

It is important to note that in response to unprecedented pressure on the supply chain during COVID-19, National Cabinet agreed to remove noise curfews to enable 24/7 delivery of goods to ensure supermarket supplies were able to meet community demand. The removal of restrictions improved the flow of goods and enabled supply chains to respond to demand.

ALC commissioned further research and a community sentiment survey into the impacts and perceptions of delivery curfew timeframes. Removing curfews will:

• Improve supply chain capacity
• Reduce emissions with fewer hours idling
• Ease congestion with fewer heavy vehicles in peak hour
• Reduce the number of heavy vehicle movements in cities and urban areas in busy periods
• Reduce operating costs for freight and logistics operators
• Improve efficiency (Less wait time to load/unload)

Key findings included:

• About 7 in 10 of the research participants support ‘…using loading docks whenever they need…’ while about 6 in 10 support ‘…removing curfews…’
• Only 1 in 7 research participants feel as though transport noise levels have increased since the beginning of COVID-19.
• Among those who note increased noise levels, they attribute it to activity other than trucks, very few research participants (2 per cent) feel as though noise levels have increased due to trucks
• More than 60 per cent of respondents said they would be in favour of removing curfews to enable smooth movement of freight goods
• Noise concerns are not a primary issue, with only 1 in 7 respondents feeling that transport noise levels have increased since the beginning of COVID-19
• Only 6 per cent are aware of temporary changes to curfew regulations due to COVID-19
• Only 2 per cent feel as those noise levels have increased due to freight transport, like trucks.

In terms of managing curfew regulations, the research found:

• 72 per cent of research participants feel the state government is best placed to manage the regulation of freight and the supply chain, with 71 per cent of these supportive of this change
• In contrast, just 7 per cent of participants feel local government should manage these regulations.

Ongoing advocacy efforts, supported by this comprehensive community research saw the NSW Government announce that it would move to permanently lift curfews in industrial and business zones in 2022 as part of a package of COVID-related reforms. Other states have extended their temporary arrangements and ALC continues to push for permanent change

Many jurisdictions have extended measures implemented during the pandemic, to relax freight curfews and delivery restrictions, demonstrating the benefit of maintaining these provisions in perpetuity as there has been minimal impacts on communities. ALC members acknowledge their social licence to operate and by providing businesses with certainty, further investment in green fleets, training of staff and business optimisation can occur.

In June 2021 ALC undertook research with CT Group on constituent sentiment to the permanent relaxation of curfews. Key research findings:

• More than 60% of respondents said they would be in favour of removing curfews to enable smooth movement of freight goods
• Noise concerns are not a primary issue, with only 1 in 7 respondents feeling that transport noise levels have increased since the beginning of COVID-19
• Only 6% are aware of temporary changes to curfew regulations due to COVID-19
• Only 2% feel as those noise levels have increased due to freight transport, like trucks.

In terms of managing curfew regulations, the research found:

• 72% of respondents feel the state government is best placed to manage the regulation of freight and the supply chain, with 71% of these supportive of this change
• In contrast, just 7% of respondents feel local government should manage these regulations

The NSW Government recently made the decision to keep the temporary planning measures pertaining to curfews in perpetuity providing certainty for business and enabling more efficient operations of distribution centres and the ability to optimise freight routes and modality. The onus is also on the supply chain to demonstrate best practice when it comes to managing relationships with neighbours through noise mitigation, adoption of new technologies such as quiet pallet jacks and upgrading of fleets to zero emission vehicles.

Recommendation

1. Remove any curfews or operational requirements on key freight infrastructure and facilities