By Juliano Oliveira
Freight companies and truck drivers in Warwick expect border-related sweeping changes as motorists entering Queensland must have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by 15 October.
Under the new rules, drivers crossing into the state must have their second dose (or a booking) by 15 November. In addition, they will be requested to provide a negative COVID-19 test result at the border and maintain a seven-day rolling test regime while operating in the state.
“I reckon it’d be better [the vaccine] once everyone gets it, so we can go back to normal and stop the closures. I don’t know about its effectiveness. I’m just happy for it to happen,” a local industry owner said.
Queensland Trucking Association’s CEO, Gary Mahon, is hopeful that the border situation will change, meaning no need for closures.
“This is a progressive step. I think we’ve probably been working towards it over the last months. But, I mean, as COVID-19 has unfolded, I think it’s inevitable that we’re going to end up with this sort of circumstance,” Mr Mahon said.
“I’ve been talking to truck drivers, and I can confirm that many of them working for companies had already been vaccinated, with rates as high as 90 per cent depending on the company.”
Mr Mahon reiterated that despite accepting and following the rules to be enforced, the industry expected more flexibility from the government.
“We have argued for choice, introduced with the border pass, where a driver would choose to take the vaccine and not have to be tested or go under the testing cycle. We would have preferred to have seen that put in place. But in the end, the government made the decision that the vaccine was mandatory,” Mr Mahon said.
“So we also argued for some relief from the testing, and that has been granted. And that is, if you take the vaccine, you move back to the seven-day cycle, and you no longer have to do the three-day testing coming out of Sydney.”
Queensland Government has set up a vaccination clinic for truck drivers at the Goondiwindi Showgrounds, 200 km from Warwick. The facility is open seven days a week from 6 am to 10 pm and provides AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccinations.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads measured traffic volumes on the Cunningham Highway, between Inglewood and Warwick, in 2020.
On average, 310 heavy vehicles travel on the Cunningham Highway between Inglewood and Warwick each day – this includes 99 small trucks and buses, 64 articulated vehicles and 147 road trains.
