<p>Australian Trucking Association New South Wales (ATA NSW) has defended the use of the F3 freeway by trucks after the NRMA suggested freight should find a different route north.</p> <p>The debate was raised after two separate accidents caused extensive delays to commuter traffic in Sydney’s north on consecutive days this week.</p> <p>Nine people were injured and northbound commuter traffic delayed for up to two hours after two trucks collided late yesterday (Wednesday, January 30).</p> <p>It followed 10-hour delays to commuters using the freeway on Tuesday after a waste-paper truck caught fire and blocked all southbound lanes.</p> <p>The state’s peak motoring group, the NRMA, yesterday demanded that the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) require that more freight be shifted by rail.</p> <p>NRMA director Kyle Loades acknowledged the incidents were completely separate but said something needed to be done.</p> <p>"The NRMA endorses putting as much freight on rail as is possible but there are certain types of distribution that will always have to be made by road," Mr Loades said.</p> <p>But ATA NSW manager Jill Lewis said trucks were still the fastest and most efficient form of freight distribution available.</p> <p>“It takes about 14 hours to deliver a cargo from door to door between Brisbane and Sydney by road, compared with 28 hours by rail,” Ms Lewis said. </p> <p>“We have to work with NSW Government to find the solution.</p> <p>“More roads, more lanes or having all lanes opened at the same time, because if anything is certain, there’ll be more trucks on the road in the next five years.”</p> <p>Ms Lewis said more emphasis needed to be put on rail but only for freight that did not require the efficient convenient services of a truck. </p> <p>“Sure, rail needs to be improved too, but for things like food and medicines and building materials, we’ll always need a truck,” she said. </p> <br />
