New mass transfer allowance means industry has more flexibility when it comes to distributing load across axle groups.
A new loading rule slotted into national heavy vehicle regulations has been introduced to make the task of loading a truck easier.
A provision permitting one tonne tri-axle mass transfer allowance is now available in the jurisdictions that have signed up to national regulations, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
Operators working under general mass limits (GML) can now load each tri-axle group with up to one tonne more than permitted as long as the mass limits across the non-steer axle groups drop by an equivalent amount to offset it.
The measure is designed to give operators more flexibility when it comes to distributing the weight of a truck’s load across its axles but does not permit any increase in a vehicle’s total mass.
“For many parts of the trucking industry, the old rules gave them a difficult task in making sure they perfectly placed a load across all axle groups,” National Transport Commission (NTC) CEO Paul Retter says.
The allowance does not apply to vehicles under concessional mass limits or higher mass limits or trucks enrolled in schemes that permit increased mass, such as the Grain Harvest Management Scheme.
The allowance applies to all roads in Victoria, NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania, but is limited to select declared routes in Queensland.
It is not available in Western Australia or the Northern Territory because both jurisdictions have not adopted national heavy vehicle regulations.
The NHVR says vehicles operating under the transfer allowance do not need to have any identification, while drivers do not need to carry any documentation with them.
A new guide has been published detailing the conditions of the allowance and how it works.
The NHVR says trucking operators in Queensland need to contact the state’s Department of Transport and Main Roads for details on approved routes and areas.