Industry Celebrates as PBS Tyre Changes Given Green Light

Trailer manufacturers, tyre manufacturers and suppliers, heavy vehicle operators and PBS assessors will all win once the decision by the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers Meeting (ITMM) to use generic tyre data in PBS assessments is fully implemented.

Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) has spearheaded a three-year advocacy campaign, supported by a coalition of industry stakeholders, to simplify the PBS system.

HVIA CEO Todd Hacking praised the ITMM decision and heaped praised on the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) for listening to industry and recommending the change.

“This simple change is a win for common-sense and will save the industry millions of dollars without impacting on safety, heavy vehicle performance or productivity,” Mr Hacking said.

“It goes to show the power of coming together and speaking with one voice,” he said.

“The reality is the system was broken, inefficient, costing industry millions and causing delays. 

“The NHVR listened, worked with industry, and now has a greater appreciation for the complexity of the system, which we hope will lead to further improvements for the PBS system in the near future.”

The reform will see the end of using specific tyre performance data in PBS simulations and listing specific tyres on Vehicle Approvals (VAs) instead being replaced by agreed generic tyre performance data in the simulations, and removing this restrictive requirement to list specific tyres on a VA.

The practical result of this change is five-fold:

• Trailer manufacturers will no longer incur tyre anomaly fees,
• The transport operator has greater flexibility to choose the tyre of their choice for their vehicle,
• The tyre manufacturer and supplier no longer needs to invest in onerous tyre testing and marketing to have their tyres considered as “PBS approved”
• A simpler system for Heavy Vehicle assessors thereby removing tension with the applicant, and
• A more efficient PBS system for all, expediting the approvals process.

The PBS system is world leading, it leads to safer, more productive vehicles on the road, but if we want industry to continue to use the system it has to be an efficient, cost effective system.

HVIA first raised this issue at ComVec in 2018 and as a result the NHVR agreed to appoint independent expert Dr John Du Pont, who identified this reform as the recommended best practice approach to the management of tyres within the PBS scheme.

“The industry recognises that COVID-19 has delayed the finalisation of this issue, but we are just so thrilled with the outcome,” Mr Hacking added.

“This is a positive change for everyone involved in the PBS system”,