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• Transporter - Sugarcane Infield – Wheel
• Transporter - Sugarcane Infield – Tracked
• Transporter - Sugarcane Infield – Excess Length
For each category of infield sugarcane transport equipment there are three options of road access
allowable under conditional registration. These include;
• Limited access registration — vehicles are predominantly restricted to worksites and
designated areas.
• Zone access registration — vehicles are allowed to travel on road for distances of
20 kilometres (km), 40 km, or 80 km depending on their areas of operation in Queensland.
• Unrestricted access registration — appropriate vehicles will be allowed unlimited access, but
may still have conditions that apply to the time of operation.
Mallee System
As transport regulations vary from state to state, licensing of infield transport that travel on public
roads may be required. This will involve the mallee industry working with the WA Department of
Transport and other transport regulators in each of the states to define appropriate guidelines for
conditional registration.
In the regions where mallees are grown, oversize farm machinery is commonly driven on public roads,
such as contract grain harvesters that are overwidth, and towing long combs, that travel the northsouth
extent of the Queensland to Victoria grain belt. These also tend to be the regions where vehicles
are permitted the greatest overall length. This may be in contrast with the sugar industry which is
located along the eastern seaboard often in close proximity to urban and semi-rural lifestyle
properties. However there will be need to consult with the various transport regulators, especially with
regard to technical issues, for example, the use of high speed tractors towing large capacity trailers in
road train configurations.
3.2.5 Discussion
In sugarcane systems the cost of infield transport varies up to $9 per tonne according to distance and
speed when these factors are analysed individually. Haulout fuel use is about 50% of harvester fuel
usage.
Modelled estimates for mallee indicate that infield transport will cost about 75% of the per-tonne cost
of harvesting, and haulouts will use about 60% of the fuel used by the harvester. These proportions
reflect the assumptions that the two haulouts combined are almost as capital intensive as the harvester
and there are two haulout operators for every harvester operator. Harvesting will also be particularly
energy intensive (due to the chipper) and a haulout does not need to operate under full load while
returning empty to the harvester or waiting while the other haulout is being loaded. Monitoring of all
fuel use should be considered when a commercial system is developed.
The mallee industry should consult with the transport regulators in all states to define appropriate
guidelines for conditional registration if required.
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