Advocacy delivers improvements to NHVR notice for HVIA members

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by Adam Ritzinger, HVIA Chief Technical Officer

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The NHVR has responded to HVIA member feedback with practical improvements to resources accompanying its Class 3 Truck and Dog notice.

In late 2022, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator released a new Class 3 Truck and Dog notice. The notice enabled 20-metre-long 3-axle truck and 4-axle dog trailer combinations to gain mass and dimension exemptions that were previously only available under Performance Based Standards.

When the notice was first published there was confusion from industry on how the notice would work and concerns over the complexity of the guidance material provided by the NHVR.

HVIA immediately developed a webinar to allow members to talk directly to the NHVR about their concerns and suggest improvements to the guidance materials.

The forum was well attended with more than thirty industry participants and key NHVR staff involved in the development of the notice.

Members voiced specific concerns about the NHVR’s excel-based ‘check sheet’ for determining the mass limits applying to existing truck and dog trailer sets; they said it was complex, unintuitive and difficult to use.

During the webinar, the NHVR undertook to work on improvements to the guidance materials.

This week the NHVR has released an updated version of the ‘check sheet’, amended specifically to enhance useability and now featuring practical graphics, definitions of acronyms used, and more intuitive results tables.

The updated version of the check sheet is available here – https://www.nhvr.gov.au/media/107/download

Detailed information regarding the Class 3 Truck and Dog notice is available here on the NHVR’s website – https://www.nhvr.gov.au/C2022G01207

Thanks to the many members who engaged proactively and constructively on this issue.

HVIA will continue to work with the NHVR and other regulatory bodies to deliver improvements for its members.  

To discuss any aspect of the notice, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Greg Forbes or Adam Ritzinger.