General dimension conditions

An eligible vehicle must not exceed 2.9m in width after the fitment of the mudguards.  

Any width more than 2.5m must only be caused by the fitting of wide tyres and mudguards.

An eligible vehicle must be fitted with tyres having a tyre section width of not less than 375mm on at least one axle.

Conditions from MDL Schedule 8

An operator of an eligible vehicle must comply with the following conditions from Schedule 8 of the MDL.

Note: These conditions apply to the Class 3 vehicles operating under this Notice, despite the MDL otherwise, only applying them to Class 1 vehicles.

The applicable conditions from MDL Schedule 8 are:

• From Part 1:
  • Division 1 

    • Section 2(1) – Warning signs and flags; and

    • Section 5 – Side and rear markers and warning lights; and

    • Section 6 – Headlights; and

    • Section 8 – No travelling in low visibility; and

    • Section 9 – Minimum following distance; and

    • Section 10 – Allowing overtaking; and

    • Section 11 – Assessing routes.

• From Part 3:
  • Division 2
    • Subdivision 3 - Relating to warning signs.

Warning signs and flags

Warning signs and flags must be attached to the front and rear of the eligible vehicle.

A warning flag must:

• be 450mm long and 450mm wide;
• be bright coloured red, red and yellow, or yellow; and
• be mounted on each side of an eligible vehicle.

Warning sign requirements

The warning sign on an eligible vehicle must be at least 1,200mm long and at least 450mm high. The length of the sign may be split into two parts, in which case the combined length of its parts must be at least 1,200mm.

A warning sign on the eligible vehicle must:

• have a face showing the word OVERSIZE, in black capital letters and in typeface Series C(N) complying with AS 1744 Forms of Letters and Numerals for Road Signs. Note: AS 1744 Forms of Letters and Numerals for Road Signs may be purchased from Standards Australia;
• have letters at least 200mm high and at least 125mm from the top and bottom of the warning sign.

If the length of the warning sign is split into two parts:

• the word OVER must be on the left part, and the word SIZE on the right part
• there must be no border between the two parts
• both parts must be mounted at the same height.

A warning sign on an eligible vehicle must be fitted horizontally. The lower edge of the warning sign must be:

• above the bottom bumper bar; or
• if there is no bumper bar, at least 500mm above ground level.

The face of a warning sign on an eligible vehicle must have:

• a yellow surface complying with Class 1 or 2 of AS 1906 ‘Retro-reflective Materials and Devices for Road Traffic Control Purposes’
• a black border that is at least 20mm wide and, unless the sign is made with a box edge, the outermost edge of which is at least 10mm in from the edge of the sign
• its manufacturer’s name or trademark, and the brand and class of material as used for the warning sign’s surface, permanently marked in letters at least 3mm but no more than 10mm high on any visible part of the sign.

A warning sign on an eligible vehicle must be made of stiff, flat, weatherproof material, for example:

• zincalume that is at least 0.8mm thick
• aluminium that is at least 1.6mm thick.

However, it may be made of flexible, weatherproof material if the sign is:

• held taught
• clearly visible
• unlikely to become dislocated, furl or otherwise difficult to be read by other road users.

Warning light and side and rear marker requirements for night travel

If travelling at night:

• side markers must be displayed: not more than 2m apart along the total length of each side of the vehicle; and
• a warning light must be attached to the vehicle if it is wider than 2.5m or longer than 22m.

Headlight operation during the day

An eligible vehicle must operate with its headlights on and in the low beam position during the daytime when travelling on a public road.

No travelling if low visibility

The driver of an eligible vehicle must not travel on a public road if:

• visibility is less than 250m in the daytime; or
• the headlights of a vehicle approaching within 250m could not be seen at night.

If visibility is reduced to a distance less than described above, the driver must leave the road at the nearest safe parking area and wait there until visibility improves before recommencing travel.

Minimum following distance

On a public road, the driver of an eligible vehicle must drive at least 200m behind another oversize vehicle travelling in front of it, except when driving on a multi-lane road, in a built-up area or while overtaking.

Allowing other vehicles to overtake

On a public road, the eligible vehicle driver must, at regular intervals, when reasonably practical and safe and in line with the road rules, move off the road to allow other vehicles to overtake it, unless there is a separate lane for overtaking vehicles.

The driver should assess a route for its capacity to allow for overtaking when conducting the pre-assessment of the route before travel.

Assessing routes before travel

Before driving on a public road, the driver or operator of an eligible vehicle must be satisfied that the route has been assessed and that the vehicle can be driven without:

• disrupting telecommunication, electricity, rail, gas, water or sewage services; and
• damaging roads, structures, rail crossings or trees.

The following routes are approved for travel for vehicles eligible under this Notice.

An eligible vehicle may travel on all roads in Tasmania other than a non-approved road mentioned below. An eligible vehicle operating on a road in Tasmania is required to comply with any road, travel or vehicle conditions stated for that road. For example, a fertiliser spreader vehicle must not be used on a structure with a signed load limit if the mass of the vehicle exceeds the mass indicated on the signed load limit.

Bridgewater Bridge travel restriction: An eligible vehicle wider than 2.5m must not travel on the Bridgewater Bridge.

Prior to commencing any journey, operators should review traffic alerts, road closures, travel delays, and other traffic advisory information for participating jurisdictions.

Table 1 provides details and links to official traffic advisory services for each participating jurisdiction. For more information about a particular service, contact the relevant jurisdiction or department via the contact details listed on the service webpage.

Access permit applications are required for heavy vehicles that don’t comply with the conditions set out in a notice and when accessing routes that aren’t covered on an approved network.

The following pages provide useful information and resources for submitting access permit applications:

• Do I need a permit?: Information and resources for determining whether a road access permit, or a Notice is required to operate on Australian roads.
• Access permit application process: Information, resources, and instructions for submitting a valid access permit application.