Online portal will allow trucking operators to monitor the progress of their permit applications.
Trucking operators could soon have the ability to track the progress of their permit applications in real time.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) will this month begin a pilot program with a select group of trucking operators to test an online dashboard that displays detailed information about permit applications.
The tool, which the NHVR has developed and currently uses internally, provides information on which road agency currently has the permit and how long it is taking to process.
A separate pilot will also begin later this month with councils with the aim of using the dashboard to identify bottlenecks in the permit approval process.
NHVR CEO Sal Petrocitto announced the pilot programs at this year’s Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association’s (LBCA) annual conference, and told ATN the online tool could be formally implemented within months if the pilot is successful.
“I think by mid to late this year we probably should be able to have those dashboards either on our website or on council and even state websites that show where the permits are up to,” Petroccitto says.
“I think it will help potentially resolve where some of the confusion is around whether it is with the local government, is it with the state manager or is it with me. So I think the transparency of where the permit is up to will be beneficial to all of industry. So I think it is a positive step.”
Petroccitto says the NHVR is using the dashboard internally to keep track of permits it has responsibility for.
“This dashboard basically allows me to monitor a permit that comes through my organisation so I can ensure I can get it out the door as quickly as possible to a road manager, to a local government area and ultimately back to you [the trucking operator],” Petrocitto says.
“It’s a significant tool we use to manage our performance and also keep track of what’s going on. So we now have a very good grasp of what is coming through the door.
“What we’re trying to do is ensure that we maintain that performance level and continue to reduce the amount of time that we deal with it and then be able to work more collaboratively with external agencies to improve their performance.”
The NHVR has also provided state road departments with their own dashboards to monitor their individual permit application processes.
“So they’re now able to manage their performance, I manage my performance and we can start to get things out the door quicker,” Petroccitto says.
“If there is a bottleneck we can start to identify which particular permit it may or may not be.”
Photography: Greg Bush