The ATA has submitted its response to the NTC’s draft amendments to the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Regulation.
The submission supports the amendments as positive steps toward improving heavy vehicle productivity, safety and environmental performance, but stresses that the changes remain incremental and risk being undermined by inconsistent road manager access decisions.
The submission backs aligning GML with existing CML, while calling for overdue improvements to HML and fairer treatment of quad axle groups. It supports increasing the prescriptive vehicle length from 19 to 20 metres but recommends greater flexibility in how operators can use the additional length.
The submission endorses extending Euro VI mass concessions to prime movers in road train configurations and calls for further allowances for twin steer vehicles, road train front axle mass and improved axle mass distribution options.
The submission reiterates the ATA’s strong support for a 4.6 metre height limit and urges the adoption of a tare mass concession for tri-axle converter dollies to remove unnecessary productivity penalties.