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The NHVR has commissioned an independent review into heavy vehicle accreditation schemes to support improved road safety.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the independent review would inform future structural and operational improvements in the schemes.

“Heavy vehicle accreditation schemes have proven benefits for road safety across a number of heavy vehicle sectors, including trucks, cranes and buses,” Mr Petroccitto said.

NHVR has appointed two new Directors in Regulatory Compliance and Productivity and Safety divisions.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said Tony Martin had accepted the Director Regulatory Compliance & Assurance role while Greg Fill was appointed to the role of Director Safety Standards.

“These important roles further strengthen NHVR’s commitment to compliance, assurance and safety in the heavy vehicle industry,” Mr Petroccitto said.

NHVR’s Brisbane and Adelaide offices will be closed for business on Monday, October 2 due to public holidays in Queensland and South Australia.

Our operating hours will return to normal on Tuesday, October 3.

The team at NHVR would like to wish everyone an enjoyable and safe long weekend.

Contact: Rebecca Ho | 0429 310 677

Development of an industry master code of practice for heavy vehicle safety is progressing well with the project receiving $200,000 of Commonwealth Government funding assistance under the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the industry-wide master code will provide consistent and risk-based approaches to improving safety and compliance with the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

The NHVR would support further expansion to new laws that target 165,000 companies that make up the heavy vehicle supply chain.

NVHR CEO Sal Petroccitto said recent media articles about heavy vehicle safety highlighted the progress that had been made to reforming safety laws.

“I believe there is more work to do, but we are already making significant progress to improve heavy vehicle safety,” Mr Petroccitto said.

The NHVR has agreed to extend the current brake testing transition arrangements in NSW to January 31 2018 to allow further industry research.

NHVR Chief Engineer Les Bruzsa said the extension was the result of feedback given to the NHVR by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) and the NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) following heavy vehicle roller brake trials held at Marulan Heavy Vehicle Testing Station in NSW last month.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has thanked outgoing Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development Secretary Mike Mrdak for his contribution to the Australian heavy vehicle industry.

NHVR Chair Bruce Baird said Mike’s leadership, particularly during the formative years of the Regulator, had provided the foundations for significant progress for heavy vehicle reform and safety.

“Mike has been a champion of national harmonisation, consistent laws and heavy vehicle reform both in Canberra and right across Australia,” Mr Baird said.

The NHVR has started consultation on a user-friendly exemption for managing fatigue and driving a fatigue-related heavy vehicle for personal use.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto told today’s NatRoad Conference in North Queensland that the Personal Use Exemption would allow operators some personal use of a heavy vehicle outside their regulated driving hours.

“Under the proposal operators would be able to use a heavy vehicle for personal use for up to one hour at the end of the day or on a day off,” Mr Petroccitto said.

A new notice to reduce red tape for truck and dog operators will begin across South Australia on Monday.

Project Director Annette Finch said the NHVR and South Australia’s Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure would release the South Australia Class 3 Heavy Vehicle 23m Truck and Dog Trailer Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice 2017 (No.1), covering three-, four- and five-axle trailer configurations for operators.

“The previous notice covered only three or five-axle trailers to operate on the dedicated truck and dog network,” Mrs Finch said.

Common truck and dog combinations can be pre-approved under changes to Australia’s world-leading Performance Based Standards (PBS) scheme.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said that a six-month trial to reduce the administrative burden on operators and manufacturers developing high-tech heavy vehicles had been successful.

“Since March we have been trialing a simplified design approval process for specifications pre-approved by the expert PBS panel for six- and seven-axle truck and dog combinations,” Mr Petroccitto said.

The NHVR and Roads ACT have been partnering to return heavy vehicle permit processing to the NHVR during 2017.

Roads ACT will hand back the processing of Class 1 heavy vehicle permit applications for the Australian Capital Territory to the NHVR on 28 August 2017.

This will complete the return of permit processing from the ACT and the NHVR will now process all heavy vehicle permit applications for Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 vehicles in the ACT.

The NHVR has released a Classes of Heavy Vehicle chart to assist operators to match common heavy vehicles with the three categories used under the law.

NHVR Access Manager Roger Garcia said the new chart illustrated common examples from the three different classes of heavy vehicle defined under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

"While the NHVR and operators use common terms such as B-doubles, low loaders or mobile cranes for Restricted Access Vehicles, they are classified into classes under the HVNL," Mr Garcia said.

The NHVR has welcomed today's release of the PBS assessment discussion paper by the National Transport Commission (NTC).

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the Assessing the effectiveness of the PBS Scheme paper highlighted the enormous safety and productivity benefits of PBS vehicles.

"It's almost 10 years since the scheme began, so it's time to look at the future for PBS and ensure these vehicles continue to make a significant contribution towards managing the growth in the Australian freight task, " Mr Petroccitto said.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has thanked outgoing Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) CEO Brett Wright for his contribution to the Australian heavy vehicle industry.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said Brett's advocacy on behalf of HVIA members had led to significant progress for heavy vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.

"Brett has been a big supporter of heavy vehicle reform both in Queensland and more recently at the national level," Mr Petroccitto said.

"He has been a contributor to many of our forums and I've valued his input on many important issues.

JOINT RELEASE
Darren Chester, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
David Littleproud, Federal Member for Maranoa
Sal Petroccitto, CEO National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

Queensland's heavy vehicle safety will be boosted with the roll out of three new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras across the state's road freight network.

Updated checklists, compliance procedures, new codes for installation of roll over systems and falling object protection systems are among the key changes for Vehicle Standards Bulletin 6: National Code of Practice for Heavy Vehicle Modifications (VSB6) released by the NHVR today.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the new version of VSB6 was the largest review undertaken since the bulletin was first released in 1992.

The NHVR has released a new chart showing 39 common heavy vehicle combinations, with details about weight limits, length and vehicle classes.

NHVR National Harmonisation Manager Matthew Bereni said the Common Heavy Freight Vehicle Combinations chart would assist operators to understand some of the key conditions required to access the road network.

"This is a user-friendly tool which will contribute to a better understanding of our industry and will help everyone understand and comply with the national heavy vehicle regulation," Mr Bereni said.

The NHVR will introduce a new self-clearing defect notice for heavy vehicle defects that do not pose a safety risk.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the new category of defect notice would be available from July 1 as part of changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

“This category will allow minor non-safety related defects to be rectified by the operator, including where a vehicle’s number plate is obscured or illegible,” Mr Petroccitto said.

The NHVR and NSW Road and Maritime Services have agreed to extend the current brake testing transition arrangements in NSW until September 29, 2017.

NHVR Director Safety Daniel Elkins said the recommendation for a detailed procedure for conducting a roller brake test was made by the NHVR’s Technical Working Group.

“We now have a better understanding why some heavy vehicles deliver different results and how that relates to the test procedure being used,” Mr Elkins said.

The NHVR Portal will celebrate its 20,000th permit application with extra functions to make it easier for access customers to plan and build their routes.

AccessCONNECT Program Director David Carlisle said the NHVR Portal, which was formally launched in August last year, has processed more than 95 per cent of permit applications from over 7000 registered heavy vehicle operators.

Australia’s first national heavy vehicle health check shows a sound performance by industry in maintaining vehicles, with some room for improvement.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said the results of the National Roadworthiness Baseline Survey would provide further focus on inspection programs and help measure improvements in the mechanical condition of the heavy vehicle fleet.