NHVR and RMS strike agreement to help trucking firms operating under HML.
Paperwork requirements for trucking companies operating at higher mass limits (HML) in New South Wales will be eased from early next month.
The NSW Government and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) have struck a deal to introduce a HML notice to end the need for trucking operators to lodge a permit to access the state’s HML network.
NSW roads minister Duncan Gay says his department, the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), is currently working closely with the NHVR to finalise the drafting of the notice.
“That will be in place by Friday, April 3,” Gay told this year’s Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association (LBCA) conference.
He says 96 per cent of the state-owned road network in NSW is approved for HML and that further improvements to heavy vehicle access are on the way.
“Within the coming months, we will have a significant number of pre-approved HML routes across the state,” Gay says.
NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto has congratulated Gay and the RMS on agreeing to replace individual access permits for HML, which brings NSW into alignment with other jurisdictions.
“What Duncan and the RMS have agreed to is to move away from the requirement to lodge a permit to have access to the HML network. And we’ve agreed that we will implement that on April 3,” Petroccitto told ATN.
“It’s a simplification and a reduction of permit requirements for industry, so a really good outcome for NSW industry.”
Petroccitto says the final wording of the notice is being worked on now.
“It will basically determine the requirements and what you need to do to then run as-of-right. It’s a good outcome, it’s a permit reduction and one I think Duncan needs to be acknowledged for and RMS.”
Photography: Brad Gardner