Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan

Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan

Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan 2020-2025 (PDF, 4.5MB)

This plan outlines our intent to deliver safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle movements supporting a strong and prosperous Australia.

 

Objectives

The three objectives of the Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan are:

  1. Provide access certainty and consistency.
  2. Partner with local government to build capability.
  3. Promote safer and more-productive vehicles that are better for the environment and communities.

Actions and delivery

The Plan does not include our full work program; instead it sets out actions over a five-year period based on priorities requested by our stakeholders.

We have already made significant progress in delivering these actions, in partnership with the Commonwealth Government, state and territory transport agencies, local governments and customers. At 30 June 2023:

  • 10 had been fully delivered (with ongoing improvements as required)
  • 16 had been incorporated into the NHVR’s core business
  • 5 were in progress

Key highlights for 2022-2023

Achievement Benefit

Delivered 19 national notices and 20 state and territory notices, in partnership with state and territory transport agencies and road managers.

Notices create permit-free networks and maximise the use of roads, thereby delivering significant productivity benefits for industry, and eliminating the need for road managers to undertake repeat route assessments for vehicles and movements they consider to be safe.

Partnered with the Commonwealth Government and local government road managers to progress Phase 2 of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP).

  • Identifying and validating Local Government Heavy Vehicle Priority Routes (over 1,900 routes identified).
  • Undertaking targeted asset assessments on key routes (over 70 assessed, 125 in progress and over 300 planned in Phase 2).

The assessment results give road managers the information they need to improve access and productivity, and give industry the ability to choose the best route for their heavy vehicle movements.

The network benefits delivered include opening access across previously underrated or uncategorised assets, which enables drivers to use shorter, safer routes.

With this asset information, road managers and local governments will also be able to better manage road asset data for heavy vehicles, and will have access to a more comprehensive, free national database of bridge assets in the NHVR Portal.

Commenced a multi-year program of work, to migrate all authorised networks from multiple jurisdictions into a single, self-service application within the NHVR Portal.

Consolidating all gazetted and pre-approved networks will allow industry to route against those networks in the first instance.

Authorised networks from Victoria, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory were migrated in FY22-23. Migration of authorised networks from Queensland and New South Wales are scheduled for FY23-24.

Partnered with industry and road managers to progress heavy electric vehicle trials and research into increased axle masses from these vehicles.

The data will inform uptake scenarios, potential consequential impacts to government (e.g. accelerated infrastructure wear) and industry (e.g. battery efficiency), and enable government and industry to co-design policies, regulations, infrastructure, technology and incentives to accelerate next generation sustainable mobility and meet our climate targets.

To support this work and inform stakeholders, we have also published a Future Heavy Vehicle Roadmap. The roadmap captures key future safety and environmental developments at their highest level, the identified regulatory barriers, and timeframes for when full commercial deployment of the developments is expected.

Continued supporting local government through the provision of tools, guidelines and training.

Continued to provide specialist strategic and technical input to projects at all levels of governments, to build the social license of freight, support the updating of planning and design standards for modern heavy vehicles,

Promotes efficient and informed decisions to fulfil HVNL obligstions, modernisation and consistency of infrastructure, policies and standards, to improve industry operations and enable use of modern heavy vehicles, which are safer, more sustainable and more productive.

Key focus areas for 2023-2024

  • Progressing the notice delivery program, and continued expansion of pre-approved and gazetted networks.
  • Continuing delivery of Phase 2 of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project.
  • Continuing delivery of the PBS Marketplace Review and PBS 2.0 project.
  • Continuing the National Spatial Program.
  • Developing the next Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan.

Annual Scorecard

The following tables show our progress as at 30 June 2023.

Objective 1: Provide access certainty and consistency

Goal 1: Provide value to government and industry through the targeted elimination of access permits

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Encourage road managers to expand gazetted and pre-approved networks through enhanced data sharing solutions for historic access permit approvals. Delivered (with ongoing improvements)

We have delivered customised reporting and mapping tools to road managers through the NHVR Portal.

The Road access volume report provides road managers with an analytical view of access permit data in the form of tables and heat maps. Access permit data can be filtered by various vehicle and permit attributes (e.g. vehicle type, requested route, approved/refused, date).

This information provides road managers with the evidence and insights to expand gazetted and pre-approved networks.

We will continue to enhance the Road access volume report to provide road managers with more sophisticated analytical capabilities.

This action has been delivered.

We are now focusing on delivering the National Spatial Program, which will deliver transformative functions to complement the Road access volume report, such as providing road managers self-service capabilities to update gazetted and pre-approved routes with local conditions in near real-time. This feature will enable road managers to apply insights obtained from the Road access volume report to accelerate expansion of heavy vehicle networks.

This action has been delivered.

We have commenced developing the Historic Access Reporting Tool (HART). This tool will complement the Road access volume report, by providing road managers with more granular and dynamic filtering functions on vehicle type, mass and dimension that is linked to a spatial map.
We are continuing the National Spatial Program, to allow the NHVR to share data sets directly to councils and jurisdictions.

Continue to deliver and maintain national, state and territory notices prioritised by safety and productivity benefits to government and industry. Core business

In 2020-2021, we delivered 13 national notices and 16 state and territory notices, in partnership with state and territory transport agencies and road managers.

Creating end-to-end permit-free networks and maximising the use of roads is critical to delivering significant productivity benefits for industry, and eliminating the need for road managers to undertake repeat route assessments for vehicles and movements they deem to be safe.

We will continue to partner with our government and industry partners to improve access and productivity through the targeted elimination of access permits through notices.

See Notices and permit-based schemes for more information.

In 2021-2022, we delivered 17 national and 14 state and territory notices in partnership with state and territory transport agencies and road managers.

We are now producing more intuitive, user-friendly operator’s guides online for access notices.

Incorporating feedback from key industry stakeholders, the mobile-responsive, electronic version has replaced the previous PDF version – but it can still be printed if operators want to carry a paper copy in their trucks.

This provides industry and road managers improved confidence that restricted access heavy vehicles are operating on approved networks and in accordance with any conditions of access.
In 2022-23, we published 19 national and 20 state and territory notices in partnership with state and territory transport agencies and road managers.
We have commenced developing a Rapid Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool (CBA). The Rapid CBA will assist the NHVR and its stakeholders to quantify potential cost-benefit outcomes related to permit elimination. Outputs will inform prioritisation and discussion of trade-offs between different future potential notices and networks.
 
Publish and maintain a prioritised notice development and maintenance program on the NHVR website with key milestones and status updates. Core business We are working with government and industry stakeholders on three new priority national notices for the livestock, grain and transport of baled commodities sectors.

We delivered two national notices that allowed increased freight capacity on alternative road networks, during a period when regular rail and road freight routes were cut by unforeseen natural disasters. These priority notices demonstrated our responsiveness and commitment to enabling supply chain resilience.

The National Class 3 Supplementary Access (Western Australia Assistance) Exemption Notice 2022 (No.1) provided access for Class 3 vehicles that are road trains up to 53.5 metres in length and the equivalent of Higher Mass Limits. The notice supported a number of routes, including from Port Augusta west, via the Eyre Highway and also the Lincoln Highway connecting to the Eyre Highway.

The National Class 2 Supplementary Access (Northern Territory Assistance) Authorisation Notice 2022 (No.1) provided access for road trains up to 53.5m long to specified routes from South Australia to Queensland via New South Wales, to join the Road Train Type 2 Network through Queensland to Darwin.

We are continuing to work with government and industry to develop priority national notices for the livestock, grain and transport of baled commodities sectors. We published a Discussion Paper on the Review of Livestock Mass, Dimension and Loading Arrangements in June 2022.

We are working with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to develop a notice for ADF vehicles, to provide access enabling logistical support in response to civic emergencies (e.g. natural disasters).

We have continued to deliver new national notices allowing increased freight capacity on alternative road networks, during a period when regular rail and road freight routes were cut by unforeseen natural disasters.
The National Class 2 Supplementary Access (South Australia Floods) Authorisation Notice 2023 (No.1) and National Class 3 Supplementary Access (South Australia Floods) Exemption Notice 2023 (No.1) provided access for road trains up to 36.5m in length and equivalent to Higher Mass Limits. The notices ensure flood-related road closures and damage did not cut off North-West Australian communities from food and essential supplies, enabling access to, from and between the Northern Territory and Western Australia via South Australia.
We have completed the review of livestock loading schemes. The review’s outcome is to amend the definition of livestock to include other types of animals,such as goats or chickens. We are discussing with the industry on how best we can do this.

Similarly to the livestock review work, the Grain Harvesting Management Schemes review yielded very few opportunities to improve the schemes. We improved the VIC Scheme by removing the condition for eligible vehicles to be enrolled in the GHMS (consistent with NSW). For NSW, we disapplied the requirement to travel to the nearest grain receiver for vehicles qualifying for access to higher level networks e.g. HML and PBS (consistent with VIC). 

Due to the divergence of schemes between the states, we deem that any further work will produce very little gains, and hence the NHVR is stopping any further work harmonising both the livestock and grain schemes.

Establish a national working group to guide notice prioritisation, development and maintenance. Delivered We have established the National Notice Advisory Group, which provides a forum for us to discuss and progress the development of notices with state and territory transport agencies. This ensures national outcomes are supported with consideration of localised needs. This action has been delivered. This action has been delivered.

Goal 2: Provide greater access and certainty for PBS vehicles

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Continue to exempt a greater range of PBS vehicles from access permit requirements on existing equivalent prescriptive gazetted networks or PBS-specific networks. Core business

We have partnered with state and territory transport agencies to develop a PBS Notice for Tier 1 PBS Vehicles (PBS Level 1-4). This will enable lower-risk PBS vehicles that meet the PBS Tier 1 bridge formulae to access approved networks without a permit.

The road manager consent process began in May 2021.

We have also started work on an enhanced PBS Tier 3 Notice and PBS Truck and Dog Notice, to provide access under notice for a more diverse range of PBS vehicles. 

We published the National Class 2 PBS (Performance Based Standards) Tier 1 Authorisation Notice (No.1) in October 2021. This notice provides the many common PBS vehicle types with permitless access to a wide network.

In November 2021, we published the National Class 2 Performance Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice 2021 (No.1) (previously PBS Tier 3 notice). This notice provides permitless access on a specialised network, to a much broader variety of PBS vehicles at higher payloads. This notice complements the Tier 1 notice. In June 2022, a new South Wales schedule was added to the notice. One of the biggest benefits for operators is that there are now shared vehicle templates between New South Wales and Victoria.

We will continue to work with road managers who have not consented to either of the PBS notices, to ensure efficiency and productivity benefits can be offered to both governments and industry.

We have developed a Class 3 Truck and Dog Notice and started the road manager consent process. This notice will provide similar access to the existing PBS Truck and Dog Notice, but will reduce regulatory and administrative burden for industry by eliminating some PBS Scheme processes from eligibility requirements.

We have delivered the National Class 3 20m Long 3-axle Truck and 4-axle Dog Trailer Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice 2022 (No.2). This notice enables these vehicles to ‘exit’ the PBS Scheme and operate on approved networks in all participating jurisdictions. This notice is an important first step in moving ‘mature’ combinations out of the PBS scheme and into the ‘normal’ regulatory framework (e.g. PBS design and vehicle approvals no longer required for eligible combinations).

We are working with the Department of Infrastructure and Transport to include South Australia in 2023 under the National Class 2 Performance Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice 2021 (No.1). Networks and restricted structures, developed using common PBS design templates to New South Wales and Victoria, have already been provided to the NHVR. At the same time, we have worked with road managers to expand the list of eligible PBS vehicles under the notice.

We will continue to work with road managers who have not consented to the PBS notices, to ensure efficiency and productivity benefits can be offered to both governments and industry.

89% of all road managers have now granted consent to the National Class 2 PBS (Performance Based Standards) Tier 1 Authorisation Notice (No.1).

98% of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria road managers have now granted consent to the National Class 2 Performance Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice 2021 (No.1). We have commenced evaluating the next group of vehicles to be considered for exiting the PBS Scheme.

Encourage road managers to expand gazetted and pre-approved PBS networks through enhanced data-sharing solutions for historic PBS access permit approvals and PBS vehicle designs. Delivered (with ongoing improvements)

We have delivered customised PBS access permit reporting and mapping tools to road managers through the NHVR Portal.

The Road access volume report provides road managers with an analytical view of access permit data for PBS vehicles in the form of tables and heat maps. PBS access permit data can be filtered by various vehicle and permit attributes related to PBS vehicles (e.g. PBS vehicle level, PBS vehicle class, requested route, approved/refused, date).

This information provides road managers with the evidence and insights to expand gazetted and pre-approved networks for PBS vehicles of all levels and classes.

The Road access volume report will continue to be enhanced to provide road managers with more sophisticated analytical capabilities relating to PBS access permits.

This action has been delivered.

We are now focusing on delivering the National Spatial Program, which will deliver transformative functions to complement the Road access volume report, such as providing road managers with self-service capabilities to update gazetted and pre-approved routes with local conditions in near real-time. This feature will enable road managers to apply insights obtained from the Road access volume report, to accelerate expansion of PBS networks.

When delivered, this will also support the recently released notices providing PBS vehicles with permitless access.

This action has been delivered.

We have commenced developing the Historic Access Reporting Tool (HART). This tool will complement the Road access volume report, by providing road managers with more granular and dynamic filtering functions on vehicle type, mass and dimension that is linked to a spatial map – including filtering functions specific to PBS vehicles.

We are continuing the National Spatial Program, to allow the NHVR to share data sets directly to councils and jurisdictions.
Enable tailored access to parts of the road network that would otherwise have been deemed unsuitable through data-sharing of PBS vehicle technical assessment results. Delivered

We have partnered with PBS Assessors and the PBS Review Panel to deliver PBS technical performance results to road managers through the NHVR Portal.

The PBS Technical Results Sheet provides information to road managers on the vehicle performance values for each of the standards, supplied by PBS Assessors as part of the PBS Design Approval application.

It also provides road managers with an explanation of the standards for different PBS levels, so they can better understand the performance of PBS vehicles, as well as the rigorous assessment undertaken by the NHVR, PBS Assessors and industry when designing and approving PBS vehicles.

This information is designed to help road managers understand the benefits of PBS vehicles and make informed access decisions regarding the specific PBS vehicle seeking access.

This action has been delivered. This action has been delivered.

Goal 3: Facilitate access and productivity through understanding the capacity and capability of key freight roads and structures

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Develop and deliver the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project. In progress

We are partnering with the Commonwealth Government and local government road managers to deliver the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project.

The Project assists local government road managers across Australia to undertake Tier 1 and Tier 2 assessments of on-road assets, such as bridges and culverts, so that they can improve access and productivity.

The assessment results give road managers the information they need to make informed, efficient, safe and productive access decisions, and give industry the ability to choose the best route for their heavy vehicle movements.

100 assets were assessed in 12 council areas in the Pilot Phase, and 231 assessments are underway for 69 councils for Round 1. The information is available through the Assets layer in the NHVR Portal. Registered government and industry users can access this information through their NHVR Portal accounts.

See Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project for more information.

We have completed Phase 1 of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project. Outcomes included completing 394 asset assessments and related engineering reports for 74 local councils, to better understand their capacity. The network benefits delivered include opening access across previously underrated or uncategorised assets, which enables drivers to use shorter, safer routes.

With this asset information, road managers and local governments will also be able to better manage road asset data for heavy vehicles, and will have access to a more comprehensive, free national database of bridge assets in the NHVR Portal.

The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project is now in Phase 2 delivery, concentrating on:

  • Identifying and validating Local Government Heavy Vehicle Priority Routes (over 1,900 routes identified).
  • Undertaking targeted asset assessments on key routes (over 70 assessed, 125 in progress and over 300 planned in Phase 2).
  • Developing a framework for bridge family assessment.
  • Developing rapid asset assessment functionality in the NHVR Portal.
  • Delivering additional road manager education and training relating to assessment of heavy vehicle access and bridges.
Build a national map of key freight roads and structures that provides a central platform to consistently store, manage and view asset information. Delivered (with ongoing improvements)

We are developing a Digital Asset Management tool (DAM) through the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project.

Industry and road managers can access it through the NHVR Portal. It currently:

  • identifies assets, displays basic data and provides links to asset assessments (if available) 
  • supports route planning for industry
  • provides asset report for more than 100 vehicle configurations.

We will make more data available through the DAM as assets are assessed and we receive the information.

We will continue to enhance the DAM to provide road managers with a progressively more sophisticated facility to store, manage and assess asset information, and to automate assessment for low-risk access requests (subject to the quality and currency of data provided by local government).

See Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project for more information.

The Asset Module (previously referred as DAM) was released in the NHVR Portal with basic functionality, including:

  • Asset icons displayed in the NHVR Portal Route Planner Map.
  • Provision of data for over 3,000 local government assets nationally. The information includes results of the bridge asset assessments undertaken by the SLGAAP (where relevant), along with existing asset information provided by local government.

This asset information will improve heavy vehicle access application processes, by enabling operators to better plan their routes and enhance the speed and consistency of road managers to make safe and productive access decisions.

This action has been delivered.

The Asset Module, delivered through the SLGAAP, is a self-service asset information system available via the NHVR Portal.

There are now almost 4,000 local government assets populated.

We will continue to refine the Asset Module as the project progresses (e.g. we have already updated data for 1,134 assets).

Ongoing engagement continues with local government to further populate the inventory.
Advocate for dedicated annual funding to continue the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project beyond the initial funded program. Delivered

The Commonwealth Government has allocated a further $12.1m over three years (2021-2024) to continue the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project.

We are currently planning for the next phase, to be delivered over three years.

This action has been delivered.

The funding from the Commonwealth Government has enabled us to commence Phase 2 of the SLGAAP.

Phase 2 aims to develop a comprehensive framework and operational resources to assist local road managers with heavy vehicle access management through a better understanding of bridge and culvert asset capability. The program will develop a strategic heavy vehicle route-based approach to asset assessment, focusing on:

  • Strategic asset locations for external engineering consultants to undertake funded technical engineering assessments.
  • Bridge families methodology/guidelines to assist in providing a baseline understanding of capability across similar assets.
  • Developing rapid assessment capability to support access decision making in the NHVR Portal.
  • Identifying priority heavy vehicle routes on local government roads, and delivering assessments on more than 50 of these routes, which comprise up to 400 assets.
  • Comprehensive training and educational resources to better understand asset capability and better support road managers will also be developed and piloted.

This action has been delivered.

The Commonwealth Government announced a further funding commitment of $22m for the extension of SLGAAP in the 23/24 budget following on from the Phase 2 program (completion in 24/25FY).

Goal 4: Facilitate greater access and productivity through movement data

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Work with road managers to understand how to use movement data and to develop policies enabling greater access and productivity through technology. In progress

We are partnering with state and territory transport agencies to progress a consistent approach to the use of technology to improve access and productivity.

Our position on technology and data is that their application as a condition for access should be related to genuine safety or infrastructure protection reasons and, in return, industry benefits from productivity gains and access certainty that would have otherwise not have been provided.

Forums such as the National Heavy Vehicle Access Policy Working Group, National Telematics Framework Working Group and National Notice Advisory Group will help develop policies, information and solutions that provide road managers with a better understanding of access-related technologies and best-practice approaches to the application of telematics for access and productivity improvement reasons.

We have partnered with road managers to deliver a number of notices that provide industry with increased access and improved productivity, in return for their voluntary monitoring, using lower cost and lower assurance applications as an alternative to the Intelligent Access Program.

A significant example includes the National Class 2 Performance Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice in Victoria, which provides access for certain higher productivity PBS vehicles to roads and bridges at masses that they would not normally have been allowed.

The benefits being provided to industry under these notices include: an expanded network covering over 3000 kilometres of Victorian state and local roads; an expanded list of eligible vehicles exempt from permit requirements (including at greater mass and dimensions); and reducing the regulatory burden from seeking consent from road managers to undertake route assessments.

The data analytics and visualisations, which are being provided to road managers in a deidentified form, are assisting them to be aware of movements across their road network to support better decision-making, infrastructure planning, maintenance and funding applications.

We have completed consultation on the Discussion Paper: The application of telematics conditions for risk management and productivity enhancement.

The NHVR is reviewing stakeholder feedback with next steps yet to be determined.

Funding is being provided through the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, to the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association, to evaluate the use of telematics data to encourage safer driver behaviour in the livestock transport industry and reduce the incidence of truck roll-over crashes, thereby improving overall supply chain efficiency.
Progressively adopt a range of technology solutions, with assurance levels appropriate to the safety and infrastructure risk of vehicle. Core business

We are partnering with state and territory transport agencies to progress a consistent approach to the use of technology to provide more flexible solutions that increase access and productivity.

We will continue to work with our government stakeholders to ensure that, if telematics technology is required for safety and infrastructure protection reasons by a road manager, appropriate access and productivity incentives are offered back to industry.

Evaluate and develop digital tools that enable analysis and visualisation of de-identified movement data collected for access purposes. In progress To be scheduled.

We have worked with state and territory transport agencies to harmonise telematics conditions on mass and/or dimension authorities made under the HVNL, and at the same time, transition away from use of the Intelligent Access Program (IAP) to lower cost and lower assurance applications (such as the Telematics Monitoring Application). A key achievement is progressing the elimination of IAP for HML access in New South Wales and Queensland.

The transition away from IAP for freight vehicles improves access and productivity for industry at lower cost, while at the same time, providing greater assurances to road managers on public safety and infrastructure protection.

Lower assurance telematics conditions, made under notices released by the NHVR, is assisting to increase voluntary telematics uptake and availability of de-identified data.

Road managers and industry, who have previously not been able, can now visualise and analyse de-identified telematics data to improve planning and commercial operations.

We are currently evaluating the Telematics Analytics Platform to determine how data collected by lower assurance telematics applications can be used to inform our regulatory activities.

Objective 2: Partner with local government to build capability

Goal 1: Develop an education and support program on heavy vehicle performance and route assessments

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Continue to deliver and expand the range of education and training material available to road managers. Core business

Through the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project, we are developing a Local Government Asset Assessment Toolkit. This will support road managers and provide a standard approach to heavy vehicle assessments.

We have also partnered with the Commonwealth Government, state and territory transport agencies and Austroads to provide road managers with information and guidelines to improve understanding of heavy vehicles and road freight.

We have developed a Road Manager Toolkit (previously Local Government Asset Assessment Toolkit), which contains a suite of free resources to assist road managers to make heavy vehicle access decisions across bridges and culverts. The resources include: webinars, fact sheets, decision processes, templates, and an Asset Assessment Framework. This will continue to expand as Phase 2 of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project is delivered across the next three years.

We have commenced the development of new online modules similar to the Approved guideline for granting access eLearning module. These new modules will provide comprehensive information to road managers on the different types of vehicles, coupling types, mass limits, the PBS Scheme, access objectives, access management, vehicle standards, and the Australian Design Rules.

We have delivered the eLearning module to assist road managers and the heavy vehicle industry in understanding the Approved Guidelines for Granting Access.

The following additional eLearning modules have been delivered to further support road managers:

  • Introduction to heavy vehicles - provides comprehensive information about different types of vehicles, coupling types, mass limits, vehicle standards, the ADRs, and the NHVR's compliance and enforcement activities.
  • Performance Based Standards - provides a detailed overview of the PBS Scheme, including its benefits, the pre-advised, design and vehicle approval processes, access, quad-axle group combinations, the PBS Standards, and common PBS vehicles and configurations.
Continue to facilitate forums, workshops and online training for council engineers. Core business

We have delivered a program of online technical training sessions to improve local government knowledge and understanding of heavy vehicle mass and dimension, performance, and route assessment.

Our engineers have provided training to road managers on the following topics:

  • Overview of the NHVR and HVNL
  • Application of bridge formulae and HVNL exceptions
  • Overview of PBS vehicles
  • Overview of Class 1 OSOM/SPV vehicles
  • Overview of Class 1 Agricultural vehicles
  • Route assessments
  • Structural assessments.

We will continue to develop and deliver technical information and training sessions to road managers to improve their knowledge and capabilities.

We have continued our program of online training sessions for local government. Some of the topics we have delivered this year include:

  • The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project.
  • Basic Vehicle/ Bridge Interactions.
  • Asset Assessment Framework.
  • Tier 1 Assessments.
  • Engineering Reports on Assets.
  • Vehicles and Route Assessment.
  • Applying Conditions for Heavy Vehicle Access.
  • NHVR Portal Digital Asset Management.
  • Pre-approvals for key routes.
  • NHVR Maps and Next Generation Route Planner.
The recorded webinar series continues to be a valuable reference tool, being viewed more than 1,250 times to date.

A series of webinars was delivered to explain the regulatory and technical aspects of the National Class 3 20m Long 3-axle Truck and 4-axle Dog Trailer Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice 2022 (No.2) – the most complex notice the NHVR has released to date. This online training assisted road managers to understand the purpose of the notice, the vehicles and their on-road performance, and the engineering research and outcomes to support the change.

As part of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP), we have commenced developing tiered eLearning modules for road managers to better understand asset capability in relation to heavy vehicle access and to improve knowledge of bridges and culverts. The Foundation Course is under development with 3 of 6 modules completed.

Onboarding sessions were delivered to 33 participating councils to inform them about the aims, benefits and objectives of the project, and provide an overview of asset assessment processes relating to heavy vehicle access across bridges and culverts.

Workshops with regional council groups to validate Local Government Heavy Vehicle Priority Routes were held in South Australia and Queensland. Further workshops were planned across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Other workshops under the project to support local government capability uplift is continuing, including additional topics on:

  • Reference vehicles and bridge families.
  • Sourcing bridge capability assessments.
  • Understanding and accounting for plausibility gaps.
  • Holistic decision-making that considers risk.
  • Linkages between the SGLAAP, NHVR Portal and National Spatial Program.
Continue to facilitate engagement opportunities between road managers and industry to build relationships and to enable collaboration leading to mutually beneficial outcomes. Core business

We have partnered with governments and industry to deliver significant safety and productivity outcomes across Australia.

Grain Producers South Australia and farmers on the Eyre Peninsula assisted us to identify improvements to the National Class 1 Agricultural Vehicle and Combination Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice 2019 and to develop a solution that is now benefiting farmers across Australia. A new performance measure was developed for tow mass ratio and speed, enabling industry to tow more than previously allowed. This innovative method, which can be tested using everyday equipment, was accepted by state and territory transport agencies as a safe alternative to previous prescriptive requirements.

In conjunction with the Crane Industry Council of Australia, Concrete Pumping Association of Australia and Australian Drilling Industry Association, we partnered with Transport and Main Roads, Transurban and Brisbane City Council to improve access for SPVs in South East Queensland. Under the renewed National Class 1 Special Purpose Vehicle Notice 2021, SPVs can now access the Clem 7, Airport Link and Legacy Way tunnels, provided they meet all the requirements of the Notice and specified dimension limits.

We established an engagement hub as part of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project. The hub includes a comprehensive interactive mapping tool that allows road managers and industry across Australia to identify bridges and culverts with restricted heavy vehicle access. This collaborative process assisted us to prioritise assessment of assets of value to governments and industry.

We will continue to work together with government and industry stakeholders to develop collaborative solutions that improve safety, access and productivity.

We received requests from industry and peak associations to investigate the safety implications of compliance with tag trailer tow mass ratio requirements in the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Regulation. The 

Regulation prescribes a 1:1 tow mass ratio (i.e., the mass on the trailer axles must not be more than the mass on the towing vehicle).

The NHVR completed engineering investigations into the effects of tow mass ratio for rigid trucks towing tag trailers under varying payload scenarios. Similar engineering methods to PBS assessments was used. The findings support removal of the requirement (i.e. no safety risk from exceeding 1:1 tow mass ratio). Using this evidence, the NHVR will engage the National Transport Commission to amend the Regulation and remove the tow mass ratio requirement. The effect on industry is that they will have greater productivity without impact to safety or infrastructure.

We were approached by Port of Brisbane Corporation (road manager) to assist with the introduction of quad-quad super B-doubles into the port area under a permit based scheme (instead of case-by-case basis). In partnership with port operators and Truck Engineering Australia, we conducted engineering testing to ensure these vehicles could safely travel the network. We were able to justify the safety performance of these super B-doubles. We are now finalising the policy to implement the scheme.

The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project delivered a workshop with the Council of Mayors (Southeast Queensland) and industry, where assets were prioritised from a regional perspective. During Phase 2 project delivery, more workshops are planned to engage directly with both road managers and industry to inform asset selection.

The approach for Phase 2 includes the analysis of strategic heavy vehicle routes in the local government network to support the prioritisation of assets for engineering assessment. This dataset is being mapped to visually represent the connecting local routes to the wider state networks. It is intended this information will be visually added to the NHVR Portal as a map layer for both road managers and transport operators to view when journey planning and making access decisions.

Funding is being provided through the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, to Flinders Ranges Council (FRC), for the Heavy Vehicle Network Route Assessment project. The project brings together FRC and industry to deliver an assessment and risk analysis of the FRC road network. Heavy vehicle safety and productivity will be improved by allowing travel on roads that have been assessed and judged to be safe and compliant for specified combinations.

In partnership with industry and Queensland road managers, new reforms have been introduced, seeing Special Purpose Vehicle permit applications reduce by over 30 per cent compared to FY22 and 47 per cent compared to FY21, significantly reducing administrative burden on industry, the road managers and NHVR.

The NHVR assisted Port of Brisbane Corporation with the introduction of more productive 42.5m B-triples into the port area to support industry. We also supported the development of the Australian (and possibly world) first double-stacked B-double combination, in close collaboration with the Port of Brisbane Corporation, O’Phee and Drake Trailers and Qube. This innovative combination will significantly increase productivity over the existing Super-B and PBS A-doubles. We designed and led the engineering testing to ensure these vehicles could safety travel the network and were able to justify the safety performance.

Funding is being provided through the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative to partner with industry and road managers to deliver the following projects:

  • A static rollover threshold (SRT) calculator. The online tool which will enable easy calculation of SRT for PBS and non-PBS vehicles, in terms of payload height and speed, to enable safe and productive operation.
  • Barunga West Council Network Level Heavy Vehicle Route Assessment & Risk Analysis. A report will be produced, supported by data, on carriageway suitability. It will allow for the assessment of roads to determine suitability for possible gazetting of council roads.

The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project continues to work with both road managers and industry to identify and validate key routes and assets for assessment during Phase 2 of the project.

Key engagement and collaboration events include:

  • South East Queensland Council of Mayors, and regional stakeholders workshop.
  • Legatus Group of councils, South Australia.
  • Queensland Road Manager Forum.
  • Regional council meetings facilitated by Victorian Department of Transport & Planning.
  • Austroads Road Asset Data Standard Project.
  • Australian Local Government Association Road and Transport Congress.
  • Local Government NSW Annual Conference.
  • Australian Trucking Association Conference.
  • Brisbane Truck Show.
  • Australian Local Government Association General Assembly.

Approximately 1,900 key routes were identified, and 500 assets across 64 councils were nominated for assessment. Prioritisation is now complete and the process of validation with local government underway followed by a to focus on assessment of routes of greatest benefit.

We continue to enhance and maintain the project Knowledge Hub, to provide useful resources to road managers and transport operators who wish to better understand bridges and culverts. These resources include webinars, fact sheets, decision processes, templates, and a revised Asset Assessment Framework.

Continue to encourage the implementation of Heavy Vehicle Access Liaison Officer in participating jurisdictions. Delivered

A Heavy Vehicle Access Liaison Officer has been implemented in South Australia, following the successful Queensland example.

In consultation with other state and territory transport agencies, it has been decided that Heavy Vehicle Access Liaison Officers are not required in their jurisdictions at this time.

This action has been delivered. This action has been delivered.

Goal 2: Equip road managers with route assessment products

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Develop an on-demand and self-paced eLearning program on the revised Approved Guidelines for Granting Access. Delivered

We have developed an online training program for the Approved Guidelines for Granting Access.

This interactive training program provides road managers with key information about the Heavy Vehicle National Law, NHVR and best-practice approaches to route assessment.

This action has been delivered. This action has been delivered.
Centralise availability of route assessment tools and guidelines with the NHVR Core business

We continue to partner with the Australian Road Research Board to provide the Restricted Access Vehicle Route Assessment Tool (RAVRAT) to road managers for free. The RAVRAT is embedded in the NHVR Portal.

Through the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project, we are developing and will embed a Rapid Assessment Tool (RAT) for Tier 1 structural assessments in the NHVR Portal. The intent of the RAT is to help road managers efficiently and consistently undertake Tier 1 bridge assessments for a range of reference vehicles. The RAT will also be accessible by industry, so it can better plan journeys.

We have partnered with the Commonwealth Government, state and territory transport agencies and Austroads to develop Options for a National Heavy Vehicle Access Assessment System (NHVAAS). The purpose of this project is to define and evaluate options for a central NHVAAS that supports road managers to make efficient, informed, and consistent access decisions. 

At the request of Transport for New South Wales, our engineers completed testing and a report on PBS acceleration capability to assist in access decisions over rail level crossings. Other jurisdictions have expressed support for this tool, as it will help them make better access decisions and negotiate access over rail lines with third parties.

As part of the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project, the prototype Asset Rapid Assessment Tool (ARAT) is currently being developed in the NHVR Portal with the initial build planned for mid-2022. Further testing with participating road managers will then occur followed by a staged release from early-2023.

The ARAT, will allow road managers to enter in specific details of the vehicle requesting access and compare it to a reference vehicle – providing bridge assessment results in minutes. This enables road managers to make more informed and consistent decisions, and deliver more timely access turnaround times for industry.

We developed a new online tool to perform the necessary calculations to ensure road train axle spacings comply with the requirements of the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Regulation. This tool supports the National Class 2 Road Train Authorisation Notice 2022 we delivered this year, and enables operators of complying road trains to safely travel on the extensive gazetted network delivered in conjunction with the notice.

Transport for New South Wales and the Department of Transport (Victoria) sought our advice on acceleration performance of 30m PBS A-doubles, compared to 26m B-doubles, across rail lines. We completed simulations on the acceleration capabilities, and undertook data analysis and reporting, which confirmed that both vehicles could safely cross rail lines. We undertook this engineering work to provide operators and road managers the evidence to expand PBS networks. The outcomes of this work are currently being reviewed by third party rail owners.

We are continuing to progress the development and testing of the prototype vehicle/bridge comparison tool (ARAT) and its integration with the NHVR Portal. A trial commenced with testing of the tool by local government road managers.

We received requests from industry and road managers to assist them understand axle spacing requirements for truck and dog notices. A calculator was developed to support industry comply with eligible axle spacing limits and vehicle dimensions. From the road managers perspective, the calculator assists them to validate compliance with Level 1 and Level 2 bridge formulae, providing assurance of infrastructure protection.

We have commenced developing two tools to assist road managers undertake informed, efficient and consistent route assessment:

  • Freight PASS (Productivity and Safety, Sustainability), an interactive tool that will enable road managers to understand the comparative benefits and disbenefits of different freight vehicles for a nominated freight task, contributing to nationally consistent, evidence-based and efficient decision-making.
  • Pavement Impact Comparison Calculator to quantify ESA, SAR4, SAR5 and SAR12 pavement wear between different freight vehicles.

We have delivered the Road Manager Online Information Hub. The Hub, informed by consultation with local government, is a central location on the NHVR website that links to all relevant sources of road manager support and information the NHVR provides. The Hub will assist to provide advice and guidance to road managers and better enable them to fulfil their roles under the HVNL.

Develop nationally consistent route assessment and network classification guidelines Core business
Continue the provision and enhancement of route assessment products Core business

Goal 3: Deliver digital and data solutions to enable improved government and industry decision-making

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Develop an access permit data hub that analyses and visualises historic access permit outcomes by road for different vehicle types Delivered (with ongoing improvements)

We have delivered customised reporting and mapping tools to road managers through the NHVR Portal.

In addition to the Road access volume report, the Permits and Permit Finder functions provide road managers with additional filtering capabilities and more granular information to better understand and manage heavy vehicle access and road freight operations (e.g. maximum and average dimensions and mass, customer name, permit ID).

This information supports timely, consistent and transparent access decisions, and also provides road managers with the complementary information and tools to preserve valuable administrative and operational knowledge (e.g. eliminate loss of knowledge through staff turnover).

The Road access volume report will continue to be enhanced to provide road managers with more sophisticated analytical capabilities.

This action has been delivered.

We are now focussing on delivering the National Spatial Program, which will deliver transformative functions to complement the access permit data hub, such as providing road managers self-service capabilities to update gazetted and pre-approved routes with local conditions in near real-time. This feature will enable road managers to apply insights obtained from the access permit data hub, to accelerate expansion of heavy vehicle networks.

This action has been delivered.

We have commenced developing the Historic Access Reporting Tool (HART). This tool will complement the Road access volume report, by providing road managers with more granular and dynamic filtering functions on vehicle type, mass and dimension that can be visualised on a spatial map.

We are continuing the National Spatial Program, to allow the NHVR to share data sets directly to councils and jurisdictions.
Develop a national mapping solution for heavy vehicle access related services In progress

We have started a National Spatial Program, which will deliver a nationally consistent mapping solution and intelligent route planning platform for road managers and industry, using consistently sourced data.

The first phase will be delivered incrementally, beginning in late 2021.

See National Spatial Program for more information.

We have been building the technology solutions to support the National Spatial Program. These solutions include:

  • Using the OpenStreetMap application as the base for our mapping platform, with the ability for anyone to contribute to enriching road and asset data much faster than before.
  • Developing a self-service map for road managers to update road ownership in near real time.
  • Upgrading the route planner to help industry more efficiently plot routes, by snapping to heavy vehicle networks, among many other intelligent routing capabilities.

Successful go live of the next generation Route Planner occurred on 31 March 2022 to all NHVR Portal customers, delivering the foundation for dynamic and intelligent network maps. It continues to be monitored and allows customers to switch back to the 'original' route planner if needed.

Meetings with jurisdictions to agree that the authorised network maps will be hosted and the back end maintained within NHVRs servers. Core network management functionality is being transferred into the NHVR Portal architecture. This is expected to be completed by December 2022.

The NHVR commenced a multi-year program of work, to migrate all authorised networks from multiple jurisdictions into a single, self-service application within the NHVR Portal. Consolidating all gazetted and pre-approved networks will allow industry to route against those networks in the first instance.

Authorised enforceable networks from Victoria, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory were migrated in FY22-23. Migration of authorised networks from Queensland and New South Wales are scheduled for FY23-24.

We have completed the tooling allowing road managers to accurately claim or transfer road ownership of roads through the NHVR Portal. Rollout including training sessions with state and territory transport agencies, local government and third parties was conducted in FY22-23. Over 5,000 ownership changes have been made for over 20,000 road segments. The tool is helping to increase transparency and ensure consent requests are allocated correctly.

Core network management functionality has been developed which delivers self-service tools in the NHVR Portal for road managers to plan, manage and publish changes to network maps. Integrated workflow ensures changes which reduce network access are reviewed and published ahead of taking effect. This tool is being rolled out to each state and territory in line with completing the migration of their authorised networks into the NHVR Portal.

Objective 3: Promote safer and more productive heavy vehicles that are better for the environment and communities

Goal 1: Incentivise the uptake of modern vehicles with the latest safety and environmental technologies

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Develop a Vehicle Safety and Environmental Technology Uptake Plan to accelerate and incentivise the uptake of safety and environmental technology in the heavy vehicle fleet Delivered

We have released the Vehicle Safety and Environmental Uptake Plan (Vehicle SETUP), which contains five work packages to encourage operators to incorporate newer, more technologically advanced vehicles into their fleets by:

  • removing regulatory barriers that limit the adoption of advanced technologies
  • offering productivity gains as an incentive for the adoption of advanced technologies
  • providing education to industry on the safety, productivity and environmental benefits of new vehicle technology.
This action has been delivered. This action has been delivered.
Implement the Vehicle Safety and Environmental Technology Uptake Plan Core business

The Vehicle SETUP program of work is designed to incorporate multiple phases over several years that will deliver the work packages. It will be delivered in consultation with government and industry.

As work is further progresses, information will be made available on our website.

The Vehicle SETUP program of work is designed to incorporate multiple phases over several years that will deliver the work packages. It will be delivered in consultation with government and industry.

As work progresses, information will be made available on our website.

We have completed consultation on our Safer Freight Vehicles Discussion Paper, which identifies the in-service implications of the proposed Commonwealth Government regulatory changes to facilitate increased uptake of safer and cleaner heavy vehicles in Australia, and our initial proposals on how in-service issues could be resolved. Feedback is assisting us to partner with industry and governments to progress the Vehicle SETUP program of work.

We have commenced developing a Future Heavy Vehicle Roadmap, to provide a blueprint of how the Australian heavy vehicle industry, including regulators, can plan for forthcoming changes in safety and environmental technologies (including from international markets). The roadmap captures key developments at their highest level, the identified regulatory barriers, and describes a potentially prioritised approach for reform work.
Develop policies enabling greater access and productivity for vehicles fitted with modern safety and environmental technologies Core business

This action is being delivered as part of the Vehicle SETUP program of work.

This action is being delivered as part of the Vehicle SETUP program of work.

We have partnered with industry and road managers to progress heavy electric vehicle trials and research into increased axle masses from these vehicles. The data will inform uptake scenarios, potential consequential impacts to government (e.g. accelerated infrastructure wear) and industry (e.g. battery efficiency), and enable government and industry to co-design policies, regulations, infrastructure, technology and incentives to accelerate next generation sustainable mobility and meet our climate targets.

To support this work and inform stakeholders, we have also published a Future Heavy Vehicle Roadmap. The roadmap captures key future safety and environmental developments at their highest level, the identified regulatory barriers, and timeframes for when full commercial deployment of the developments is expected.
Support the increased harmonisation of Australian vehicle standards with international standards to allow for the latest designs from origin markets and the fitment of safety and environmental technology from those major market designs Core business

This action is being delivered as part of the Vehicle SETUP program or work.

This action is being delivered as part of the Vehicle SETUP program of work

To reduce emissions, the Commonwealth Government has adopted new ADR 80/04, mandating Euro VI standards for all newly approved heavy vehicle models supplied from 1 November 2024, and all existing models supplied from 1 November 2025. We assisted progression of this reform, and are partnering with industry and governments on progressing mass limit reforms to minimise impacts to industry and encourage uptake.

Through our involvement in the ADR 80/04 reforms, we enabled electric and hydrogen vehicles to operate at the same steer axle mass as ADR 80/01 or later complying vehicles. Previously, electric and hydrogen vehicles were precluded from mass concessions offered to internal combustion engines.

We have been assisting the Commonwealth Government with proposals to increase width limits from 2.50m to 2.55m or 2.6m, for heavy vehicles fitted with advanced safety features, including advising on the required ADR and HVNL amendments to support any change. To modernise and future-proof the PBS Scheme, we are investigating 2.55m and 2.60m wide vehicles in our review of the Low Speed Swept Path and Tail Swing standards.

Goal 2: Deliver PBS 2.0 – a modern approach to the PBS scheme

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Complete the review of the standards in the PBS scheme under the PBS marketplace review In progress

We are implementing Phase 1 of the review of the PBS scheme standards.

The revised Frontal Swing (FS) standard was implemented in April 2020. The update increases the frontal swing limit of rigid trucks and prime movers from 0.7m to 0.85m. This reduces the time and cost for PBS operators to obtain exemptions from the FS standard.

The revised Directional Stability Under Braking standard was endorsed by Infrastructure and Transport Ministers in May 2021. The updated standard improves safety and productivity through the adoption of advanced technologies. Implementation will commence from 2021-2022 and will include a transition period.

We will commence the review of further PBS Scheme standards while the above activities occur.

We are continuing to implement the remaining standards in Phase 1 of the review. This includes Pavement Horizontal Loading (PHL), which will provide an updated performance standard that introduces a new method to assess and limit the impacts of the horizontal forces applied to the pavement from PBS vehicles. We are undertaking the final engineering exercises to support implementation (anticipated to be completed in mid-2022). The revised Directional Stability Under Braking Standard is planned to be implemented in-line with the PHL standard.

We have commenced Phase 2 of the review of the PBS Scheme standards. This includes the review of Low Speed Swept Path (LSSP) and Tail swing (TS). We are currently developing options and consultation with external stakeholders will commence in 2022.

The revised Directional Stability Under Braking standard is now intended to be delivered ahead of the updated Pavement Horizontal Loading standard. We are working with industry on the transitionary provisions for introduction of the standard.

The final engineering exercises related to the review of the PHL standard are complete. We are now working work with transport agencies to obtain Infrastructure and Transport Senior Officials Committee approval, and to finalise requirements for implementation, in accordance with the 2021 ministerial approval.

We have completed a preliminary review and initial consultation on the Low Speed Swept Path and Tail Swing standards, including potential options for the revised standards. The performance of wider vehicles has been incorporated into engineering investigations. Initial feedback is supporting development of material for more detailed public consultation in 2023.

We have commenced a separate yet integrated project to review the ‘baseline’ of the heavy vehicle fleet (i.e. a performance snapshot). The original baseline benchmarking project, conducted in the early-2000s, established the performance of the fleet at that time, and was utilised to parameters in a number of standards. A fleet baseline review is necessary to commence the review of other standards in the PBS Scheme.
Continue to implement improved systems and processes that incentivise industry uptake and accelerate growth in the PBS scheme Core business

In May 2021, the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting approved the Generic Tyre Data Approach within the PBS Scheme. This approach moves away from the prescriptive nomination of tyres on PBS Vehicle Approvals, to an approach that enables industry to use any tyre, subject to passing the relevant modelling and tests.

The Generic Tyre Data Approach provides industry with greater flexibility and cost savings while maintaining safety and productivity outcomes. We will be engaging with stakeholders in 2021-2022 to determine implementation and transition arrangements, to allow stakeholders time to prepare for the change.

We will continue to review the administrative, regulatory, procedural and policy aspects of the PBS scheme to determine how we can ensure the scheme is best positioned to support the next generation of innovative vehicles and further promote industry uptake.

The Generic Tyre Data Approach is now in the implementation phase. Key stakeholders have been engaged and we are currently working through the proposed method of assessment, which includes a flexible scaling method for tyre assessment. This work is anticipated to be finalised in 2022.

We have commenced the phased delivery of PBS 2.0, the NHVRs vision for a revamped PBS scheme that focuses on flexibility and continued innovation. Work to develop a discussion paper, that explores potential options (including NHVR’s preferred approach), is underway and is anticipated to be ready for external consultation in 2022.
After extensive consultation with stakeholders, we introduced the generic tyre approach on 1 December 2022. The generic tyre approach for PBS vehicles allows industry to use any tyre of the size/s listed on their 

vehicle approval for the relevant axle position, provided the load rating is appropriate for the axle mass. It provides greater flexibility for those operators already realising the proven safety, productivity and sustainability benefits of the PBS scheme, and removes barriers for operators wishing to join the scheme.

The NHVR has completed extensive consultation with industry and road managers on the Performance Based Standards 2.0 Discussion Paper. The Discussion Paper presented our vision for the future of the PBS Scheme and explores opportunities and options to promote innovative approaches to heavy vehicle safety and productivity, while reducing regulatory, administrative and cost barriers for the NHVR and its stakeholders. We are currently reviewing submissions with a view to determining next steps to progress the PBS 2.0 project.

Goal 3: Promote awareness of planning and design for modern and safer vehicles

Action Project status Key achievements and progress in 2020-2021 Key achievements and progress in 2021-2022 Key achievements and progress in 2022-2023
Support and encourage governments to update planning and design standards to support modern heavy vehicles Core business

We have provided advice to the Commonwealth Government for its National Urban Freight Planning Principles, which was endorsed by Ministers in May 2021. The Principles will guide land use decision-making across all levels of government to improve planning for freight in Australia’s metropolitan areas.

Funding is being provided through the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative for the Road Design for Heavy Vehicles – Technical Training proposal. The intent is to develop and deliver a pilot training program that provides road designers, engineers and road safety experts with practical heavy vehicle advice.

The NHVR have partnered with the Institute of Public Works Engineers Australasia-NSW, Transport for NSW, Local Government NSW and 14 NSW local councils, to develop freight strategies to better manage freight at the local government level.

The NHVR have partnered with the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, National Transport Commission, Australian Local Government Association and Austroads to develop a National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles. The Framework aims to support the development of networks for efficient heavy vehicle movements, characterised by consistent access requirements across jurisdictions. This coordinated approach will assist road managers to deliver positive outcomes for productivity, safety, environmental sustainability and community amenity.

In partnership with industry and road managers, we have supported the Commonwealth Government review into the resilience of Australian road and rail supply chains. This review highlighted the importance of freight to communities, identified the most critical and vulnerable supply chains, and will help to inform action by the NHVR and governments on how to effectively and efficiently mitigate supply chain risk.

We are partnering with Australian and New Zealand transport agencies to deliver Austroads project NEF6396: Opportunities to Increase Freight and Supply Chain Resilience through 'Life-Line' route Investment. This project will develop tools and guidelines enabling road managers to identify roads that may not deliver highly positive outcomes in traditional project evaluations due to low traffic volume but are high value to the communities and regions they support, to support future infrastructure bids.

We are continuing to support the development and delivery of the National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles, as directed by ministers and the non-legislative reform proposals from the HVNL Review.
Support and encourage governments to update planning and design standards to support modern heavy vehicles Core business

We have provided advice to the Commonwealth Government for its National Urban Freight Planning Principles, which was endorsed by Ministers in May 2021. The Principles will guide land use decision-making across all levels of government to improve planning for freight in Australia’s metropolitan areas.

Funding is being provided through the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative for the Road Design for Heavy Vehicles – Technical Training proposal. The intent is to develop and deliver a pilot training program that provides road designers, engineers and road safety experts with practical heavy vehicle advice.

In partnership with the Australian Trucking Association and Safe System Solutions Pty Ltd, the Road Design for Heavy Vehicles training course has been developed and delivery has commenced. The course provides practical training for those working in road design, to assist them to understand and best manage heavy vehicle needs on the road network. Course topics include: swept paths, sight distances, geometric design elements, rollover prevention and other road safety issues.

We continue to provide specialist strategic and technical input to projects at all levels of governments, to support the updating of planning and design standards for modern heavy vehicles. Key projects include:

  • Assisting the Commonwealth Government to determine the heavy vehicle productivity and safety metrics for the National Service Level Standards Framework for Roads.
  • Reviewing freight plans and strategies to ensure alignment with the NHVR’s productivity agenda, including the New South Wales Future Transport Strategy, and the Brisbane Industrial Strategy.
Advising governments on their infrastructure upgrade plans, such as the Huon Highway Corridor Study and Princes Highway Upgrades at Cann River, and west of Colac.

We continue to provide specialist strategic and technical input to projects at all levels of governments, to support the updating of planning and design standards for modern heavy vehicles. Key projects include:

  • Partnering with Australian and New Zealand transport agencies and industry to progress Austroads project NEF6392: Future Freight Vehicles and Buses – Implications for Road Managers. This project seeks to understand the impacts and responses needed to support next generation sustainable heavy vehicles.
  • Partnering with Australian and New Zealand transport agencies to progress Austroads project NEF6394: Designing roads for large freight vehicles. This project seeks to review road design guidelines and provide recommendations to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and future-proofed for modern and emerging heavy vehicles.
  • Advised governments on infrastructure planning and investments to improve freight safety and productivity, such as the Transport for New South Wales South East and Tablelands Regional Transport Plan and Department of Transport and Main Roads (Queensland) Inland Freight Route Investment Strategy.
  • Contributed to the World Road Association’s report on best practices, monitoring and regulation to reduce overloading and associated infrastructure damage on road networks.
  • Assisted the Productivity Commission’s Australian Maritime Logistics System Inquiry; and Independent Review of the Ports and Maritime Authorities Act and Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy.

Consultation and strategic alignment

We worked with governments and industry to develop the Plan, to make sure it aligned with their heavy vehicle and road freight objectives.

This involved:

  • pre-submission consultation with 55 stakeholders
  • a webinar with 178 registered participants
  • 9 workshops with the Commonwealth Government, all state and territory transport agencies, and all local government associations in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria
  • 23 formal submissions. 

The Plan also takes into account the Commonwealth Government’s National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, Review of Oversize Overmass Access Arrangements (OSOM Review), state and territory government freight plans and strategies, and work by the National Transport Commission and Austroads.