News & Opinion
On the 1st of April 2019, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) expanded the Performance Based Standards (PBS) pre-advised (PA) design approval process. The changes allow three new types of vehicles to get faster Design Approvals (DA), mostly at PBS Level 2. This batch of changes is centred around expanding the process to include more… Read more »
Q: How long is an A-double? A: Well, it depends… An A-double is any heavy vehicle combination featuring a prime mover towing two semi-trailers that are connected to each other by a converter dolly. ‘A’ signifies a converter dolly coupling, as opposed to ‘B’ which signifies a direct piggy-back fifth-wheel coupling, as in a B-double…. Read more »
I saw this interesting article posted on LinkedIn by NTI’s Adam Gibson and thought I’d share it here. I wholeheartedly agree with Adam’s conclusion. Just a quick article here, I was doing some other analysis and by coincidence ended up with the datasets for the Australian road freight task and employment data open at the… Read more »
The NHVR and ARTSA have jointly released a report on the size and make-up of the Australian PBS vehicle fleet. The report characterises the fleet by configuration, number of axles, age, and truck/trailer manufacturer. A copy of the report can be downloaded here.
Earlier this month the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) released new figures on growth of the Performance Based Standards (PBS) Scheme. The statistics speak volumes on how PBS is fast becoming the preferred framework under which new Australian heavy vehicles operate. In 2017, 20-25 per cent of all new heavy vehicles were PBS approved. In… Read more »
The National Transport Commission (NTC) recently published a discussion paper titled “Assessing the effectiveness of the PBS marketplace.” The purpose of the discussion paper was to determine if the PBS Scheme was meeting the original policy intent, to evaluate the effectiveness of the approval processes and to suggest any improvements that could help benefit all… Read more »
Paul Nordengen, Vice President (Africa) of the International Forum for Road Transport Technology (IFRTT) recently published a statement outlining the success of the Performance Based Standards (PBS) pilot project in South Africa. Paul’s statement is reproduced below: The Performance-based standards (PBS) pilot project officially started in South Africa in Nov 2007 with the commissioning of… Read more »
The PBS Scheme is finally breaking out of the truck and dog niche and finding acceptance in the wider transport community. But specifying the right solution is an expert’s job, as Trailer Magazine found. Published in Trailer magazine, Mar 2015 edition [Download PDF]
Mass. Distance. Location. Three little words, fairly inoffensive in their own right, but when brought together capable of causing fierce debate and divide within the road transport industry. In the name of charging reforms, the notion of the state charging operators for every heavy vehicle trip on the basis of the weight of the vehicle,… Read more »
Performance-based size and weight regulation is changing the way Australia’s trailer manufacturers do business. Free of the encumbrances of conventional size and weight rules, early-adopters are building the equipment they want, and gaining market share. The ink had barely dried on the ministerial approval of Australia’s Performance Based Standards (PBS) Scheme when the naysayers collectively… Read more »
