The government has more than doubled the roads budget to upgrade major highways, ensuring the trucking industry has improved working conditions.

As well as improvement to roads, there are plans to build more places for truck drivers to stop and take a break, catch up on sleep and conduct safety checks or reconfigure their vehicles.

These measures will continue expanding under round three of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program throughout 2012 – 2014.

Round three will build on the 236 projects delivered under rounds one and two of the program, it will develop rest areas, technology trials and road network enhancements.

Other reforms impacting the trucking industry include, the creation of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, which sets out truck drivers pay and conditions and the replacement of state-based regulations with a national regulator providing one-set of nationwide laws.

This article first appeared in ILN's sister publication ConstructionIndustryNews.net.