Toowoomba has been supported in its push to be the nation's heavy transport hub, with the proposed establishment of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator's head office.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland south west regional manager Roger Gorrel said the move to set up the national headquarters in Toowoomba had great merit.
It came after State Opposition Leader Annastacia Palasczuk said it made sense that the headquarters should be outside the south-east corner because most heavy vehicle activity was taking place in regional Queensland.
"It is a great opportunity for the region to be seen as a transport hub," Gorrel said.
He went on to say that Toowoomba already had a sufficient volume of heavy vehicle traffic to warrant being the independent national regulatory body's headquarters.
A Lockyer Valley heavy transport company boss, who did not want to be named, stated that “for the Toowoomba economy, it would be a bit of a godsend really.”
The new National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will be established from January 1 next year, reports The Chronicle.
It will be an autonomous body responsible for regulating all vehicles in Australia larger than 4.5 tonnes.
The body will be established under the Heavy Vehicle National Law Bill 2012 which was passed in the State Parliament last month.
It will have a Queensland base, which could be controlled from Brisbane or other regional centres that include Ipswich, Rockhampton, Mackay or Townsville.
Under the regulatory goals, the body will have a common set of laws for heavy vehicles for all states and territories, a national safety monitoring and reporting system, nationalised registration system along with providing fast responses to industry needs and being a single point of contact for heavy vehicle regulation.