The National Road Transport Association has met with the federal government to discuss the looming shortage of diesel exhaust fluid.
Diesel exhaust fluid – commonly known by the trade name AdBlue – is refined from urea. When China started closing down its exports, it exacerbated a global shortage of the fluid.
NatRoad has been fielding calls from members reporting retail shortages of the fluid, which ensures diesel-powered trucks comply with national emission standards.
NatRoad Chief Executive Officer Warren Clark said the situation is serious and the federal government needs to move fast.
“We will be making sure that the Transport Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, is briefed on the potential impact on the national supply chain and on our members,” Clark said.
“Our industry isn’t the only one that will be affected, but we will be hit first and hardest,” he said.
He stressed that these issues go beyond NatRoad and the trucking industry, and called on the government to convene a task force of industry groups to look at options to mitigate the situation in the immediate term.
“It is time for leaders – industry, government, supply chain and major consumers – to work together to manage the challenges,” he said.
He continued that if we learned one thing from COVID-19, it’s that a lack of co-ordination only compounds problems.
“While those issues reflected different health rules in different jurisdictions, the ball is squarely in the Federal Government’s court in terms of finding an alternate source.”
Source: National Road Transport Association