The NHVR’s Performance Based Standards (PBS) scheme is a key pillar to delivering safe and efficient movement of freight across the country. We are committed to its ongoing success and ensuring it continues to deliver safety and productivity benefits for the heavy vehicle industry.
We are currently experiencing some operational challenges due to the significant increase in application volumes and departure of senior PBS team members. This has impacted our ability to assess and process applications within acceptable timeframes.
We understand the impact that increased processing times has on all parts of the industry, and we are implementing initiatives and working with stakeholders to improve our service delivery.
So far, we have allocated additional resources and streamlined our procedures to improve data consistency, automate processes and remove double handling of vehicle data. We have also been working closely with PBS Certifiers and Assessors to issue approvals more quickly.
Longer term, we will continue to transition PBS services into the NHVR Portal and introduce more efficient processes for low risk applications.
While we make these improvements, we understand that operators need certainty around when applications will be issued.
For complete and accurate Vehicle Approval applications, the NHVR’s processing time is currently 25 business days. This timeframe will improve as additional remediation actions are implemented, and we aim to reduce turnaround as quickly as possible.
Moving forward, we will provide Certifiers and Assessors with a weekly update on processing times and volumes, and we have asked them to keep their customers advised of any changes.
We thank you for your patience during this period.
For more information about the NHVR’s PBS scheme visit www.nhvr.gov.au/pbs
Peter Austin
Director
NHVR Vehicle Safety & Performance