THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE BASED STANDARDS FOR HEAVY VEHICLES IN AUSTRALIA

The National Road Transport Commission and Austroads are developing performance based standards which will augment prescriptive regulations for heavy vehicles in the areas of mass, dimensions and configurations. Two major projects central to the development of a PBS approach to the regulation of heavy vehicles in Australia are, 'Specification of Performance Standards for Heavy Vehicles' and 'Documentation of the Performance of the Current Fleet'. The primary aims of these projects are to: determine and establish agreement with the jurisdictions and industry on the performance standards including the performance measures and levels within those standards; and document the performance of nominated vehicles within the current heavy vehicle fleet. A Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) is currently being prepared which evaluates the appropriateness of the recommended standards and the impacts of applying the standards. The focus of the RIS is on the development of suitable performance standards. This paper presents details of the project, including the major outputs and also details of the proposed RIS. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E208402.