Some trailers are not able to meet the performance standard
The NHVR and Road and Maritime Services (RMS) will further extend the current brake testing transition arrangements in NSW until June 30.
NHVR safety director Daniel Elkins said the NHVR and RMS are working to determine the best approach to achieve national consistency in regards to brake testing requirements in the National Heavy Vehicle Inspection Manual.
“We are continuing to review national brake test results collected by Roads and Maritime and industry to determine the most appropriate way to test types of trailer brakes,” Elkins says.
“We need to better understand why some types of trailers are not able to meet the brake performance standard.
“It is applicable that we extend the current transition period in NSW to June 30.”
The initial transition period in NSW allowed heavy vehicles that achieved a brake test result greater than 3kN/t, but less than 4.5kN/t, to be given an official warning on first time detection.
The organisations have agreed that during the extended transition further official warnings will be issued for intercepted vehicles that do not conform to the brake performance standard.
The current transition period was due to end on January 31.
“The NHVR encourages operators to regularly maintain their vehicles and take appropriate steps to ensure they exceed the standards in the National Heavy Vehicle Inspection Manual, which was implemented in NSW on July 1 last year,” Elkins says.
The manual provides a nationally consistent approach to assessing compliance to the vehicle standards across participating states and territories.