This year, 2024, marks a significant milestone for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), as it is 10 years since the NHVR began enforcing the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), revolutionising Australia’s heavy vehicle industry and road network.
After a somewhat rocky start, the NHVR has committed to its role as the central body for regulating heavy vehicles in Australia, enforcing the HVNL across the majority of states and territories.
This anniversary is not just about looking back at our achievements over the past decade. It’s also about embracing new challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of the heavy vehicle industry over the next 10 years and beyond.
Our goal at the NHVR is to have a safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle industry serving the needs of Australia.
Over the last 10 years we have made significant strides to achieve this by working with industry and our partner agencies to bring a consistent approach to compliance across Australia, from roadside interactions to enforcement action and I’m proud of the way we continue to deliver our inform, educate and enforce approach.
This approach means where we can, we inform and educate drivers on how to stay safe and compliant through meaningful engagement and education, however when there is a severe, deliberate or negligent safety breach, it is our job, as Australia’s national heavy vehicle regulator, to take appropriate compliance action.
As we look ahead, a major focus this year is the Queensland transition. This is a significant step in bringing the states under one regulatory system and this will see the NHVR move to fulfilling its aim of having consistent regulation of heavy vehicle movements across Australia.
In late 2023, we released the National Network Map, a major milestone for us. For the first time, we’ve brought together road network information from across Australia into one place.
The new map enables industry to determine access-availability across vehicle combinations and map their fleet’s journeys across Australian state boarders.
A full program of work will see further enhancements added during 2024. These will not only contribute to improved safety, they will also improve productivity and turn around times.
Continuing our commitment to safety, we’re focusing on our safety campaigns like ‘Don’t #uck With A Truck’ and ‘We All Need Space.’
These are focused on educating light vehicle drivers, from Learner and Provisional licence holders, to caravanners and everyday motorists, on how to safely navigate around heavy vehicles.
These campaigns cover important safety tips such as the rules for overtaking, stopping, and turning near trucks and are integral part in doing our part to keep all road users safe.
On this 10th anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to road safety. NHVR is proud of the strides we’ve made and is dedicated to continuing our work in making Australian roads safer for all road users,
I know working in partnership the next 10 years will deliver even more. I’m definitely looking forward to it and I hope you are too.
- Sal Petroccitto is the CEO of the NHVR.