THE state government plans to spend $600,000 on consultants to help fix the state's freight problems.
Last year the government set up a team of industry experts to provide advice and design a long-term strategy to assist Tasmanian exporters.
Now that Freight Logistics Co-ordination Team has requested specialised advice.
Two government tenders are being advertised: a $250,000 contract to analyse Tasmanian freight issues and future market demand; and a $350,000 contract to examine supply chains and benchmarking export costs.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources said a strong evidence base was needed before the team could make recommendations.
``The FLCT is an advisory body made up of industry representatives, who work full-time in their respective jobs. It would, therefore, be unrealistic to expect the members to undertake this role without additional support,'' she said.
Initially, the FLCT was also expected to provide a scoping document to the government by the end of last year, but the spokeswoman said that ``given the complexity of the work and issues'' this had not been possible.
FLCT chairman Phil Clark said the team was still on track to deliver its final report to the government on time.
Mr Clark said the team had already provided initial advice to Infrastructure Minister David O'Byrne, and would next meet on February 25.
The two tenders close on January 30.
Tasmanian exporters are confronting a high Australian dollar, fewer but larger ships, fewer ports, the loss of a direct international shipping line and increased Port of Melbourne fees.
The FLCT is being funded out of a $20 million assistance package from the federal government.
