The National Transport Commission (NTC) has announced it has released a draft of the proposed amendments to the National Heavy Vehicle Law (NHVL) and that the first tranche of regulations sitting under this law.
The NTC says that most notable for its members is the decision to move various sections of the legislation relating to vehicle standards, including PBS, notices and permits, as well as warning signs into the regulations.
The NTC says this will make it easier to implement future changes to the law such as the mass and dimension increases outlined in the Reforms to Heavy Vehicle National Law Decision Regulation Impact Statement (D-RIS) and agreed to by ministers in two tranches in June 2023 and September 2024.
The NTC says the D-RIS changes include an increase in general mass limits to match the current concessional mass limits and increases in the general access height limit from 4.3m to 4.6m and vehicle length from 19m to 20m.
The mass and dimension increases require further consultation which is planned for the first quarter next year and will be included in a future tranche of regulatory amendments with the intention of passing the legislative amendments and both regulation packages in the first half of 2025.
Key changes included in the consultation drafts include, shifting parts of the legislation surrounding PBS vehicles into the regulations to make them easier to administer, moving some of the provisions surrounding the granting of notices and/or permits into regulation. The NTC said that these provisions relate to vehicle standards exemptions, heavy vehicle modifications, and mass or dimension exemptions;
Other key changes also include moving some of the provisions related to warning signs and signals into regulations, changes to the definition of twin steer axle groups; and the provision for alternative compliance accreditation for mass limits.
The NTC said for operators, the reforms will also include updates to fatigue record-keeping and enforcement regulations to simplify certain work diary requirements and enable authorised officers to issue formal warnings for a broader range of breaches, including fatigue record-keeping.
The Commission also said that the change aim to make the law fairer on drivers for minor work diary errors. It assed that following further work to confirm a cost-effective implementation pathway, the HVNL will also include ‘formal education’ as an enforcement option for work diary administrative offences.
