Damage to the Goulburn Valley Hwy, which industry groups said was adding thousands to truck maintenance costs.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Northern Victoria’s freight and transport industry said deteriorating regional roads were adding thousands of dollars to the cost of running a truck, with drivers reporting damage to their vehicles.
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Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria president Russell Borchard said the Victorian government wasn’t keeping up with road maintenance, and the bill was being passed down the supply chain.
“State government isn’t looking after our roads, and it’s increasing the maintenance bill for our drivers, sometimes as much as 10 to 20 per cent,” Mr Borchard said.
“Drivers are having steering issues, cracked rims, damaged shock absorbers. Truck parts just aren’t lasting as long.”
Mr Borchard said the Hume and Goulburn Valley highways were among the worst affected corridors, and rising maintenance costs, on top of fuel prices and inflation, were ultimately passed on to consumers.
“People have had enough. They pay their taxes, but aren’t being taken care of,” he said.
Potholes on the Goulburn Valley Hwy near Wahring, one of several sections flagged by drivers.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The association raised its concerns at a meeting with the Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ros Spence last week, in a joint approach with Regional Cities Victoria, the VFF, Rural Councils Victoria and the Victorian Tourism Industry Council, calling for long-term, sustained road investment rather than year-to-year funding.
FOOTT, a waste and logistics company operating throughout Victoria and Southern NSW, said the scale of the deterioration was becoming a safety issue.
“We have semi-trailers and heavy vehicles on regional roads every day, and the size of some of the potholes our drivers are seeing is concerning,” FOOTT chief executive officer Andrew Yeoland said.
“We haven't had a major incident, thankfully, but it is not hard to see how one could happen if our roads are allowed to keep deteriorating.”
Yarrawonga resident Jennifer Hogg said pothole strikes on the Goulburn Valley and Murray Valley Hwys and in Yarrawonga, have left her with three shredded tyres and a damaged rim, costing her almost $2500.
“I am only one of hundreds of people who have been impacted by the state of our roads. It is a miracle that people have not been injured,” she said.
Her 90-year-old mother Joan’s car remains off the road for repairs, leaving the pair, both pensioners, without transport for medical appointments.
Freer’s Panel Works and 24 hour Towing have reported that they attended 73 jobs on the Goulburn Valley and Hume highways in seven days, putting on extra staff to cover the demand.
Their usual demand for that area is under 10 incidents per week.
RACV’s My Country Road campaign, run with the Australian Automobile Association, assessed almost 20,000 kilometres of regional roads for crash history, condition and design, and flagged the Echuca Road/Murray Valley Hwy corridor between Mooroopna and Echuca as high-risk.
RACV said more than half of the state’s road trauma occurred on regional roads and wants investment lifted to bring safety ratings to at least three stars.
A pothole on the Goulburn Valley Hwy, one of the routes Yarrawonga pensioner Jennifer Hogg said had left her almost $2500 out of pocket.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said the finding reinforced the case for state investment in the corridor.
The issue has drawn political debate.
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said her office received almost 100 reports of dangerous road conditions in a single week over the school holidays, including blown tyres, bent rims and vehicles written off.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell made a similar case in an open letter to the minister, naming a string of roads needing repair, including Echuca Rd, Murchison-Tatura Rd and sections of the Hume and Goulburn Valley highways.
Both MPs said this year’s budget had cut the amount of road area funded for repair.
A Victorian Government spokesperson disputed that funding had gone backwards.
“Over the past two years we have invested nearly two billion, the largest investment in Victoria’s history, to rebuild and repair the roads that people depend on every single day, with 70 per cent of that funding directed to regional Victoria,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the 2026-27 budget committed a further $1.04 billion statewide, including works planned for the Hume region, with the Department of Transport and Planning using road condition data, inspections and community feedback to target upcoming maintenance works.
Motorists and drivers can report road hazards to VicRoads on 131 170.
In wet weather, potholes can be filled with water, masking their depth. These potholes on the Goulburn Valley Hwy were at least three inches deep.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
