Media releases

The NHVR has today released its 2023 Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy Action Plan which sets out the key safety priorities for the next 12 months.

The Action Plan supports the delivery of the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy 2021-25, which outlines the regulator’s ambitions for achieving better heavy vehicle safety outcomes and reducing the number and seriousness of crashes involving heavy vehicles.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has partnered with AFAC, the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services, to deliver a fatigue exemption notice enabling emergency service agencies to manage vehicle operations more effectively while preparing for emergencies.

There are only four weeks left for the heavy vehicle industry to apply for crucial project funding through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI).

The Australian Government will provide approximately $4 million towards Round 8 of the HVSI, to support tangible, implementable industry-led heavy vehicle safety projects that address an existing issue for the transport and logistics sector and all road users.

Submissions close at 5pm AEST Monday 20 February 2023.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is urging operators to check their brakes after recent intercepts in the Blue Mountains region found that 5.2 per cent of heavy vehicles inspected had a brake defect, 14 per cent of which were major.

NHVR Director of Operations Central Region Brett Patterson said that the results of these intercepts, which took place at the Mount Boyce Safety Station late last year, were particularly concerning given the road environment in the Blue Mountains.

Four new Performance Based Standards (PBS) combinations are now eligible to operate in Victoria under the National Class 2 Performance Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice 2022 (No.3).

These new vehicles include B-triples general freight, B-triples volumetric, AB-triples general freight and AB-triples volumetric.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said that, since the notice was introduced in Victoria and New South Wales, it had replaced thousands of Class 2 permits, saving administrative time and cost and improving productivity.

After thousands of driver records were found destroyed in a chemical bath of weed killer, a former transport company director has been convicted and fined in a South Australian court, following a lengthy investigation by South Australia Police.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) will be introducing changes to the Performance Based Standards (PBS) scheme Vehicle Approval (VA) document to reduce administrative burden for industry and provide a better customer experience.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the changes would remove some of the unnecessary complexity in getting a PBS vehicle approved, meaning we can get safer, smarter, more productive vehicles on our roads sooner.

The National Class 3 20m Long 3-axle Truck and 4-axle Dog Trailer Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice 2022 (No.1) released today will allow operators to use this combination on approved networks without having to go through the Performance Based Standards (PBS) approval process.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the notice was an important first step in moving ‘mature’ combinations out of the PBS scheme and into the ‘normal’ regulatory framework – helping to get safer and more productive vehicles on the road.

Heavy vehicle safety services in New South Wales have a new home following the official opening of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Parramatta headquarters. 

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway opened the new office today as part of the transition of state-based heavy vehicle services to the NHVR.