Access to the heavy vehicle law review

The NHVR has made a number of recommendations to the National Transport Commissions review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, including the issues paper Easy Access to Suitable Routes.

NHVR Strategist Fiona Brophy said the NHVR’s response was based on the current and past permit approval system.

“We’ve looked at a range of significant reforms to the process for heavy vehicle operators to obtain access, which incorporate the latest updates to the NHVR Portal, while also allowing for education and training for road managers on their role,” Fiona said

“That’s as well as a major focus on national notices and pre-approvals to deliver easier access to the most suitable routes.

“The NHVR believes that we can have safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle movements supporting a strong and prosperous Australia. 

“That can be achieved through developing collective awareness of heavy vehicle impacts on infrastructure, understanding of the infrastructure capacity to handle the movements and well-formed understanding of the demand for movements.

“In our submission we’ve outlined that we believe assessing permits using consent parameters, rather than by individual vehicle, is the cornerstone to improving heavy vehicle access on Australian roads.

“Establishing consent parameters would be part of a framework that would allow road managers to set limits for mass or dimension, or even no-go zones, where infrastructure cannot withstand certain heavy vehicle movements.

“Reducing permit numbers will allow the NHVR and road managers to provide greater focus on complex or unusual applications.

“Our access system should also better recognise newer and modern vehicles, including Performance Based Standards vehicles, which utilise the latest safety and performance technology.”

The NHVR has outlined the four components for a modern heavy vehicle access system as:

• risk based access framework
• dynamic national network maps
• shared movement data
• targeted infrastructure funding.

Click here to see the NHVR’s submission

For all other NHVR submissions relating to the HVNL visit www.nhvr.gov.au/about-us/nhvr-submissions