Kim Hassall
One of the most important impacts since December 2025 was the diesel fuel price hikes caused by the middle east conflict. Diesel fuel prices at the end of December 2025 was around $1.80 per litre, and this jumped to $3.30 by the end of March 2026. This hike triggered government relief by cutting the diesel excise by the value of the road user charge and fractionally increasing the Diesel Fuel Credit. This relief was significant however even with the discounted fuel price the impact on a typical owner driver’s semi-trailer still saw operating costs running at 24.9% above the operating levels at the end of December 2025.
Operators certainly needed an escalation process to prove hardship, especially with such significant impacts affecting their operations. Now pick your escalation clauses carefully. Why so then? Some 30 years ago it was not uncommon to use Transport CPI (TCPI) as a major road transport escalator. But alas, some 20 years ago the ABS started publishing a road transport Producer Price Index (PPI). Now is there a difference? Over the last year what would have been the difference between these two transport escalators?
Transport CPI June 2025 to June 2026 Change – 0.1%
Road Transport PPI June 2025 to June 2026 Change +17.6%
Not that Road Transport PPI is a perfect escalator for trucking transport but this example shows it is more reliable than transport CPI which is based on the sedan car and public transport fares. For comparative purposes the USA PPI for road freight was 16.0% over the last 12 months.
What if you are an ancillary operator? That is your truck(s) serves your own products or the truck is a tool of trade for your business. Such examples are a farmer with a truck, a landscape gardener carting his bobcat. In Australia ancillary trucks comprise 52% of the heavy trucks in Australia, a fact that few realize.
Freight rates, do not apply to ancillary operators, however costs do. As such, ancillary operators’ freight cost increases still need to be recovered. This can be a much more difficult process for an ancillary operator that usually do not work with specific escalated agreements. These operators still need to know their cost structure and the overall cost impacts for running their trucks just like the ‘hire and reward’ operators. So ancillary operators still need cost and impact data to negotiate with their own customers.
Whether you are a ‘hire and reward’ or ‘ancillary’ operator make sure you know your costs and the cost profile of your operation. This, at least, is a baseline for negotiating your own cost recovery level.