Road managers
Accessibility tools
In relation to access to the road network, the two key types of heavy vehicles are General Access Vehicles and Restricted Access Vehicles.
General Access Vehicle
General Access Vehicles (GAV) comply with mass and dimension requirements and do not require a notice or permit to operate on the road network. These vehicles have general access to the road network unless the road is sign-posted otherwise.
Restricted Access Vehicle
Restricted Access Vehicles (RAV) include Class 1, 2 or 3 vehicles that operate under a notice or permit and vehicles operating under higher mass limits (HML) that have restrictions on the parts of the road network they can access.
Classes of heavy vehicles in the HVNL chart (PDF, 2.6MB)
This chart shows some of the most common heavy vehicle combinations that are part of each vehicle class as defined in the Heavy Vehicle National Law. It is not a comprehensive list and other heavy vehicle configurations are used which are not represented.
Vehicle classes will appear on legal documents such as permits and notices.
The Classes of heavy vehicles fact sheet (PDF, 1.6MB) illustrates some common examples from the 3 different classes of heavy vehicles and is provided for guidance only.
See Regulatory Advice - Obligations for Restricted Access Vehicles for guidance on HVNL obligations for the operation of Restricted Access Vehicles (RAVs).
