HVIA has lodged its submission to the Productivity Commission in response to the Interim Report on the Impacts of Heavy Vehicle Reform, strongly supporting the direction of the inquiry while calling for decisive, system-wide reform to lift productivity and enable practical emissions reduction.
The member-based association welcomed the Interim Report as a thorough and well-considered analysis that provides a strong foundation for action. The submission builds on HVIA’s earlier feedback to the Commission and reflects extensive consultation with members across manufacturing, supply and technology.
Feedback from industry was clear and consistent: reform is overdue, incremental change will not be sufficient, and a step change in approach is now essential.
HVIA’s submission emphasises that access constraints remain the single largest barrier to productivity in road freight.
While the Performance Based Standards (PBS) framework is technically sound, HVIA notes that its current operation is overly complex, fragmented and administratively burdensome. Inconsistent access decisions frequently force high-productivity vehicles to operate well below their engineered capability, reducing payloads and undermining commercial viability.
HVIA strongly supports reforms to provide as-of-right access for eligible PBS vehicles where it is safe to do so, including the automatic inclusion of approved PBS combinations into existing notices and gazettes without repeated jurisdictional approvals.
The submission highlights that key freight corridors are often constrained by isolated infrastructure decisions, resulting in unnecessary additional trips and lost productivity.
The submission also supports modernising the PBS framework by removing the requirement for all designs to be reviewed by the PBS Review Panel, establishing a national library of pre-approved PBS templates for common combinations, and strengthening industry input into advisory processes.
HVIA advocates for a “default access unless proven otherwise” approach for lower-risk PBS vehicles, supported by mandatory publication of asset capability data and consistent national decision-making criteria.
The organisation strongly endorses the Productivity Commission’s recommendations to fast-track the National Automated Access System (NAAS), stressing that automation must deliver network-based access rather than entrenching today’s prescriptive route approvals.
The submission calls for targeted investment in asset data, engineering capability and a single national access decision engine to ensure consistent and timely outcomes.
On decarbonisation, HVIA supports nationally consistent mass and axle limit concessions for heavy zero-emissions vehicles, noting that battery weight can significantly reduce payloads if not addressed.
HVIA also supports reforms to remove regulatory barriers to charging infrastructure and identified low-cost opportunities, such as reducing curfews for quieter zero-emissions vehicles.
Our submission concludes that Australia’s growing national freight task requires a coordinated national response. The Productivity Commission’s inquiry represents a critical opportunity to deliver meaningful reform that improves productivity, supports safety and accelerates emissions reduction across the heavy vehicle sector.